Slow Cooker Homemade Apple Cider
Did you know you could make homemade apple cider from scratch with just a few ingredients?
This homemade apple cider is the perfect, cozy holiday drink. It’s an easy recipe and it will make your house smell amazing!
Simply add quartered apples, an orange, cinnamon, cloves, and water to a slow cooker, and let it cook on low heat for 6-7 hours, or on high heat for 4-5 hours. Then, mash everything with a potato masher or a spoon, let it simmer for another hour or so, and strain out the pulp and spices through a fine mesh sieve.
You don’t have a slow cooker? Place all of the ingredients into a large pot, and bring to a simmer over a high heat, stirring occasionally. Then, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 2 hours.
For this batch, I used a combination of tart and sweet apples (Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith), but you can really use any apples you want: Honeycrisp, Fuji, Braeburn, Pink Lady, etc.
The recipe is totally customizable to your taste. I didn’t add any sugar, as apples are naturally sweet, but if you want it sweeter, you could add a sweetener such as honey, pure maple syrup, coconut sugar, or brown sugar. About 2-6 tablespoons should be enough.
Homemade apple cider is great warm or cold! For an adult gathering, mix in some rum, bourbon, or caramel vodka. You can also use it in recipes like donuts, cupcakes, muffins, etc.
Leftover cider keeps well in the fridge for up to 5 days. Warm it up on the stove before serving.
If you try this slow cooker homemade apple cider, let me know what you think! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #aseasyasapplepie on Instagram! I love seeing what you come up with!
How To Make It: Homemade Slow Cooker Apple Cider
Ingredients
- 9 apples washed and quartered (I used 3 Red Delicious, 3 Golden Delicious and 3 Granny Smith) – Don’ worry about removing peels, seeds, or stems.
- 1 orange washed and quartered
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 1½ teaspoon whole cloves
- 6 cups (1.4 L) water
- optional: 2-6 tablespoons maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar or brown sugar
Instructions
- Place the apples and orange in the bowl of your slow cooker. Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, and cover with water.
- Cook on high heat for 4-5 hours, or on low heat for 6-7 hours.
- About an hour before the apple cider is done cooking, use a potato masher or the side of a spoon to mash the apples and orange.
- Let it simmer for one more hour.
- Strain the apple cider through a fine-mesh strainer or strain through a cheese cloth (I did it twice).
- Stir in your desired amount of sweetener until it is dissolved and serve warm or cold.
- Refrigerate the homemade apple cider for up to 5 days.
