This homemade apple cider recipe starts with apple juice to make life a little easier, and is a fragrant and delicious combination of aromatic spices, cinnamon and orange. It takes just 5 minutes of prep time and makes the whole house smell amazing! It’s one of my favorite holiday drinks along with Thanksgiving punch, slow cooker hot chocolate and grinch punch.
How Do You Make Slow Cooker Apple Cider?
To make this slow cooker apple cider recipe, first pour apple juice into your crock pot. Next, stir in brown sugar. Place cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, cloves, star anise and orange slices in the slow cooker. Cover and heat the cider. The spices and orange slices infuse the cider with delicious flavor. When the cider is done, remove whole spices and orange slices. Feel free to garnish your crock pot or individual mugs. Enjoy the warm holiday drink! If you want some boozy beverages to be the hit of your party try my poinsettia cocktail, cranberry margarita, Christmas sangria and cranberry mimosa.
Apple Juice: I use an organic, unfiltered apple juice, it has SO much more flavor than your standard grocery store brand apple juice. It really makes a difference in this recipe! Cinnamon Sticks: You can find whole cinnamon sticks in the baking aisle of your grocery store. Not only do they give the cider a fantastic flavor, but they look great in the cider. Allspice Berries: Dried, whole allspice berries are sold in the baking aisle of your local supermarket. As the cider heats, the allspice provides a warm spiced flavor to the drink. Star Anise: Star anise is optional. It has a good licorice flavor and looks amazing in the cider, but it can be difficult to find. The cider is fantastic with or without star anise.
Tips For The Best Slow Cooker Apple Cider
I garnish my cider with sliced oranges and apples to add a little color, and to give my guests a hint about the flavors in this drink. I also add a handful of fresh cranberries just because they’re so pretty and seasonally appropriate. It’s best to use whole spices to let them slowly infuse the juice as it simmers in the crock pot. You can actually let it simmer for longer, just be aware that the longer it simmers, the more prevalent the spice flavors will be. For the garnish I tend to use slices of two different apples for a color contrast. I use a red or pink apple like a red delicious apple or a pink lady apple and a green apple like granny smith apple. If you have kids enjoying the cider, you may want to remove the garnishes to make it easier for them to drink the cider.
What Spices Are In Apple Cider?
I use a combination of cinnamon sticks, allspice berries and cloves to add a little spice to this cider. I also add in one star anise. Star anise have a licorice flavor and add a unique touch to the cider. However, star anise can be expensive and some people don’t like the licorice flavor, so feel free to omit.
Flavor Variations
While this slow cooker apple cider recipe is warming and delicious, you can change up the flavors to suit your taste.
Cranberry: You can turn this into a cranberry apple cider by using 4 cups of apple juice and 4 cups of sweetened cranberry juice. Sweetener: You can use other sweeteners in place of brown sugar like honey or maple syrup. You can even use a combination of sweeteners. Apples: For more apple flavor you can place apple slices in the slow cooker with the apple juice. Then after the cider is done heating, remove the apple slices. Mash them in a separate bowl with a potato masher and pour the juices back in the slow cooker. Strain the juices going into the slow cooker with a fine mesh strainer. You could use any kind of apple you prefer including tart apples like Golden Delicious or McIntosh apples or sweet apples like Gala, Fuji or Honeycrisp apples. Spice: For a spicier drink, you can add some ground cinnamon and ground allspice to taste. You could even finely grate some ginger into the cider. Alcohol: You can make your apple cider into an adult beverage by adding some bourbon to the finished cider.
Slow cooker apple cider is a must-have for all of your holiday gatherings. Enjoy this drink for Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas. You won’t believe how good it tastes, and it makes the whole house smell wonderful! This recipe serves 8, but if you need to serve more people, you can simply add more juice to your crock pot along with the stated proportions of spices in the recipe.
