We love gingerbread houses and gingberbread cookies, so why not…gingerbread martinis? The only problem is with its 480-plus-calorie price tag, you’d be sipping the equivalent of 15 gingerman cookies.

I concocted a trimmer version that goes for just 257 calories, so you can enjoy the yummy cocktail without overdoing it. The trick to my Gingerbread Martini is a delicious, simple syrup infused with ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Feel free to double, triple, or quadruple the amounts of water and sugar in order to prepare this recipe for a party. (The key is to keep the ratio of water and sugar the same.) I like to make a batch ahead of time and keep it in the fridge so everything is ready come party time. Give it a shot for your next festive get-together.