Happy fall, my beautiful chickpeas! Today we are celebrating this wonderful cozy season with what I consider to be the ultimate fall treat: Homemade Spiced Apple Cider! This apple cider recipe is simple to make, makes your house smell amazing, and can be enjoyed hot or cold.
If you want to soak up all the fall vibes, this recipe is definitely the way to do it. It's of course got that delicious apple flavor that we all know and love, and it's perfectly spiced for ultimate coziness!
Inspiration for Homemade Spiced Apple Cider
I have a very good friend who LOVES apple picking in the fall. She and I used to be roommates, and I have many lovely memories of her coming home from apple picking and making a big batch of homemade apple cider. It always made the apartment smell amazing, and I loved enjoying a hot mug of it with her and our other friends when it was done.
I asked her last year if she would be willing to share her recipe with me, and she was more than happy to. She even gave me permission to use her recipe as a starting point to create my own blog version, so here we are! Overall mine is very similar to hers, with just a couple of small twists and some more exact measurements.
I wanted to make sure that this recipe was as wholesome as possible, so we are using pure maple syrup as our sweetener today. We are also packing in lots of great spices to bring in tons of fall flavor. You definitely don't want to miss out on this one!
Ingredients
This recipe is mostly apples and spices, making it super simple and super delicious!
- Apples: obviously the star of our show. My favorite type of apples for this are Red Delicious, but feel free to use whatever your favorite is!
- Orange: this will add a touch of citrus flavor, which compliments all of our spices beautifully.
- Star anise, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg: our spices of choice! These all come together beautifully to create such a fun fall vibe.
- Pure maple syrup: our sweetener of choice!
How to Make Homemade Spiced Apple Cider
You can of course find the full recipe further down this page, but here are the basics!
- Add apples, orange slices, spices, and water to a large pot.
- Bring to a boil on the stovetop.
- Reduce heat, cover, and allow to simmer for 2 hours.
- Mash the apples against the sides of the pot. Simmer for another hour.
- Strain out the solid chunks and collect the apple cider in a large bowl.
- Add maple syrup to taste.
- Serve warm OR let cool to room temperature and refrigerate. Enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
This Homemade Spiced Apple Cider is such a fun fall treat! Let's talk about some of the ways you can best enjoy it.
- Don't forget that this cider can be enjoyed hot or cold! It's delicious served hot in a mug, or served cold straight from the fridge!
- This may sound like a weird concept, but when enjoying this cider cold my husband and I also love to add a bit of sparkling water to our cup just before serving. This makes it a little more interesting and refreshing!
- You'll notice that this recipe lists whole spices, but also gives measurements for ground spice substitutes. Whole spices are nicer because they are easily removed in the straining process. However, I also recognize that sometimes it is easier to find the ground versions of these spices. If using the ground versions, just be sure to shake (or stir, if hot) before serving!
- Looking for other cozy drinks this holiday season? Be sure to check out my Easy Vegan Hot Chocolate next!
Homemade Spiced Apple Cider (Hot or Cold!)
Ingredients
- 3 lbs apples (my favorite for this are Red Delicious) - core and seeds removed, roughly chopped
- 1 large orange - cut into large slices (optional to remove peel, peel will give a slightly bitter flavor)
- 1 whole star anise
- 2 whole cinnamon sticks - (or 1.5 teaspoon ground)
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves - (or ¾ teaspoon ground)
- 1 teaspoon whole allspice - (or 1.5 teaspoon ground)
- 1 whole nutmeg - (or 2.5 teaspoon ground)
- 12-16 cups water - (12 for stronger apple flavor, 16 for a slightly more diluted flavor)
- ½ cup pure maple syrup - (or more or less to taste)
Instructions
- Add your chopped apples, orange slices, star anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg to a large pot. Cover with your 12-16 cups of water.
- Bring the pot to a boil on the stovetop.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, bringing the water to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 2 hours.
- Using a wooden spoon (or a potato masher), mash the apples against the sides of the pot. This will release even more apple flavor. Allow to simmer for another hour.
- Using a strainer over a large bowl, strain out the solid chunks and collect the apple cider in the bowl. Feel free to use a wooden spoon here to press the contents against the strainer to release all of the juices. Discard the solids.
- Add pure maple syrup to taste (I think ½ cup is perfect, but will depend on personal preference!). Give it a taste test (once cool enough), If the flavor is stronger then you want then you can and add more water if desired to dilute the flavor.
- Serve warm OR let it cool to room temperature, transfer to a large pitcher, refrigerate until cold, and serve cold. (If you used ground spices instead of whole, be sure to shake the pitcher before serving cold, or stir the contents of your mug before enjoying hot).
Notes
Happy cooking! If you made this recipe don’t forget to tag me (@joyfulbalanceofficial) on facebook or instagram so I can cheer you on for your cider-making ways.
Stay joyfully balanced!
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