Warm Spiced Apple Cider

Making some warm spiced Apple Cider when it gets cold outside warms us up from the inside and makes our home smell like the holidays.

Our family always makes this during the holidays and is a great party drink.  You make this in big batches, which is perfect for those holiday parties! This recipe is made in a stock pot on the stove, but you can easily make this in a slow cooker on your counter.  You will use the same ingredients, set the heat to low and let it cook for 8 hours (or on high for 4).  Letting the cider cook for a longer period will allow the flavors to come out even more.

Most of the ingredients (which isn’t a lot) you can get from your local grocery store or market. Though sometimes we like to go extra fancy with the apple cider and get it from a nearby orchard.  Being in Northern California allows us a unique opportunity to go to a town called Apple Hill.  They have some of the freshest cold apple ciders we have ever tasted.

If you like more spice in your cider, you can always add some whole cloves (about 2 tsp) to the pot.

Kitchen Tools Needed:

• Stock Pot: We use a 16 quart sized stock pot for this. It allows us to have ample space for all the ingredients as well as extra room at the top so there is no chance of it overflowing.
• Chef’s Knife: a multi-purpose knife that you use to slice, dice, and chop. Usually medium to long in length.

Ingredients:

• Apple Cider: We get the gallon size from the produce section of our grocery store. 
• Orange: Cut into thick slices.
• Ground Cinnamon
• Whole Cloves (optional)

How to make the Warm Spiced Apple Cider:

1.  Grab your Gallon of apple cider from the fridge and pour it into a large stock pot.
2. Add in the sliced orange and cinnamon sticks (and cloves for a little bit more spice).
3. Simmer on low for a minimum of 2 hours.  This can be cooked for longer which will bring more of the spice flavor out.
4. When it’s ready, ladle into your favorite cup and enjoy!