Santa Hat Jell-O Shots

I used these plastic shot cups (paid affiliate link) from Amazon.

Of course! Any Jell-O shot can be made non-alcoholic by simply removing the alcohol. For this recipe, you will need to replace the cold vodka with cold water (using the same amount.)

For the part directly on top of the Jell-O Shot, I used a 1M Large Star tip. For the smaller little cotton ball on the tip of the “hat” or strawberry, I used a #16 Small Star tip . Also, I used these piping bags (all the links provided here are paid affiliate links).

If you don’t have piping bags or tips, don’t worry! You can use a Ziploc bag and cut the corner off to create your own. You can use two separate Ziploc bags for the whipped cream and pipe the larger part of the hat with a bigger hole cut out of one bag, and a second bag with a smaller hole cut for the pom pom on the end of the hat. Just push all the whipped cream towards the corner of the bag and gently push to get the whipped cream to come out.
Alternatively you a use the canned whipped cream like Reddi-Wip. It’s a little harder to control with adding the “pom pom” part of the hat on the strawberry but you can make it work even if it doesn’t look exactly the same.

I would be very careful making these ahead of time. Decorated jello shots will only last a day or two in the fridge. The whipped topping will start to melt and change texture and the strawberries can start losing their juice, making things breakdown even faster. I’d wait to decorate until just ready to serve. Undecorated, just jello shots, can be stored up to a week in advance, covered in the refrigerator though.

This recipe can easily be doubled or even tripled. If doubling, you can use 1 (6-ounce) box of jello rather than 2 (3-ounce) boxes.

To increase the alcohol content of these Jell-O shots, simply add extra vodka. But, remember to reduce the amount of cold water by the same amount that you increased the vodka by. However, do not exceed 1 cup of vodka or these will not set properly.

There two potential causes for Jell-O shots failing to set properly. The first possibility is that you may not have thoroughly mixed the Jell-O and boiling water, preventing the Jell-O from completely dissolving. It is important to ensure a thorough mixing process, typically taking around 1-2 minutes. The second reason could be an excessive amount of alcohol added, which hampers the Jell-O from setting properly. I wouldn’t use more than 1 cup of alcohol per 3-ounce box of Jell-O.

You would obviously want to eat the strawberry with the whipped cream first. Then just squeeze the sides of the shot cup and the Jell-O will slide right out. Now, if you want to get fancier with it, you could set out some cocktail spoons for everyone to scoop it out with.

If you aren’t serving these right away, you need to store the Jell-O shots covered (without the strawberries or whipped cream) in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Right before serving, add the strawberries and whipped cream.