Pumpkin Spice Mudslide Martini with Baileys

This Pumpkin Spice Mudslide Martini is a fall-inspired take on the classic Mudslide cocktail. Made with Baileys, real pumpkin, coffee vodka, and pumpkin spice, it’s the perfect creamy treat to celebrate everyone’s favorite season!

If you love sweet and creamy cocktails, check out these Jam Donut Shots or this Lemon Cheesecake Martini.

Mudslides vs. White Russian Cocktails

Mudslides are often confused with White Russians, another sweet, creamy cocktail. In fact, that’s kind of their origin story. Mudslides are a creation of the Wreck Bar on Grand Cayman Island in the 1970s. Someone ordered a White Russian, but the bar was out of heavy cream. Instead of heavy cream, they used Baileys Irish Cream. Essentially, Mudslides are a White Russian variation.

This has morphed into a classic Mudslide, which is made with vodka, coffee liqueur, Baileys Irish Cream, and heavy cream with either chocolate shavings and/or a drizzle of chocolate inside the glass. TLDR: Mudslides are adult milkshakes.

Ingredients Notes

Coffee vodka: I chose coffee vodka since I decided to skip the coffee liqueur (Kahlúa is typically used). I used a local Charleston coffee vodka called Early Bird by Cannon Distillery. Highly recommend.

Pumpkin puree: You can use canned but make sure you’re getting 100% pure, real pumpkin. Avoid the canned pumpkin pie mix as you will have less control over the flavors since it’s pre-sweetened and spiced.

Pumpkin pie spice: You can buy a prepared pumpkin pie spice from the grocery store or make your own. I have a recipe for a DIY spice blend in the recipe notes below if you want to make your own.

Baileys Irish Cream: I used regular Baileys, but they do make a Baileys Pumpkin Spice liqueur – which would be great too to punch up the flavor. There is also a Baileys made with almond milk if you want something without dairy.

Half and Half: Traditionally, a Mudslide is made with heavy cream, but I made mine with half and half, which worked out great. If you need a dairy-free option, a reader recently told me about a plant-based cream from Country Crock (comes in a red box) that would work great. 

Caramel sauce: The drizzle of caramel sauce inside the cocktail glass is a must in my book. I used Ghiradelli Caramel Sauce – it’s basically a caramel ice cream sauce and you can typically find it in the baking aisle.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Add the coffee vodka and pumpkin pie spice to an empty cocktail shaker.

Step 2: Then, add the pumpkin puree, Baileys, and half and half to the shaker. Add ice cubes and shake until well chilled.

Step 3: Drizzle the inside wall of the martini glass with caramel sauce. The Viski faceted martini glasses are my favorite – they have such an amazing design and I think that the unusual shape of the glasses works really well when you are drizzling syrup on the inside of a cocktail glass.

Step 4: Strain the cocktail into the glass and garnish with a cinnamon stick and/or more pumpkin spice dusted on top. 

Variations and Substitutions

If you want to have a little fun and make a variation of this Pumpkin Spice Mudslide, you could try these ideas:

• Extra Whipped Cream Pumpkin Pie Mudslide: Swap the coffee vodka for whipped cream vodka so bring out more of a pumpkin pie with whipped cream or pumpkin ice cream. You could add half of an espresso shot or a half ounce of strongly brewed coffee to this as well if you’re missing the stronger coffee flavor of the original.

• Pumpkin Pecan Mudslide: Swap the Baileys for something like Sugarlands Butter Pecan Sipping Cream, or other pecan cream liqueur. Add a drizzle of both caramel and chocolate sauce on the inside of the glass. You can also check out my Pecan Pie Martini.

• Apple Pie Mudslide: Swap the regular Baileys for Bailey’s Apple Pie Irish Cream and you have a Caramel Apple Pie Mudslide.

• Espresso Martini: Try a traditional Espresso Martini with Kahlua or fall twist on an espresso martini with a Pumpkin Spice Espresso Martini or Hazelnut Espresso Martini.

Ideas for Serving

Clearly, a Pumpkin Spice Mudslide was made for Fall. So it’s a natural fit anytime in the “ber” months – September, October, November, and December.

• Halloween: I like to enjoy a cocktail on the porch while I hand out candy. I also think this would be an amazing adult drink for a Halloween party.

• Thanksgiving: I love the idea of serving this at Thanksgiving as a pre-dinner drink – I think my whole family will enjoy it. It can be something to sip on while we wait for the rest of the food to cook. You can also serve it as an after-dinner dessert drink option among your other Thanksgiving desserts.

More Drink Recipes to Try

• Fluffernutter Peanut Butter Whiskey Cocktail
• Pumpkin Spice Margarita
• Apple Cider Hot Toddy with Bourbon
• Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew (Starbucks Copycat)