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This slow cooker apple cider is easy to make and only calls for a few ingredients! Warm, spiced, and sweet, it is the perfect drink for the fall and winter.
Freshly made apple cider is a drink that is hard not to love! Each time I make this recipe for a party, it’s gone in no time. I love that this recipe uses fresh apples and oranges rather than juice. By doing this, the flavors are more vibrant and blend together beautifully!
The warm, earthy cinnamon sticks and cloves perfectly balance the sweet apples and oranges. Brown sugar is added at the end for an extra hint of sweetness and to help the flavors stand out. Here is a great article on how to soften brown sugar too.
As the cider cooks in the slow cooker, the warm spicy smell will permeate throughout your home, making it feel nice and cozy! This is a fall drink that you can’t pass up.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The cider is made completely from scratch with fresh apples, oranges, and spices.
- It is easy to add everything to the slow cooker and let the flavors come together.
- This drink is fun and delicious for any parties or large gatherings.
Recipe Ingredients
- Apples—Any kind of apples will work!
- Orange—Optional. To contribute a subtle citrus flavor and tang.
- Cinnamon Sticks—Make sure you use whole sticks and not ground cinnamon.
- Whole Cloves—To add some extra spiced flavor.
- Water
- Brown Sugar—To add a rich sweetness to the cider.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Slow Cooker Apple Cider
Step #1. Gather all of your necessary ingredients.
Step #2. Wash the apples and orange and roughly cut them into quarters. Place the cut fruit and spices in the bowl of your slow cooker.
Step #3. Add water until it’s about an inch from the top of the bowl. Cook on high. Once the cider is almost done, crush and mash the apples, and then let them continue to cook.
Step #4. Strain the cider to remove all of the fruit. Rinse your slow cooker bowl to remove any extra pieces of fruit or spices. Return the cider to the bowl. Heat on low and add the brown sugar. Stir well to combine.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, there are different types of sweeteners you can use for this recipe. If you use a crystalized sugar such as coconut sugar or white sugar, be aware that you will need to stir it very well to get the sugar to dissolve and avoid the cider from being gritty. Aside from brown sugar, honey or maple syrup are great sweeteners that will combine easily into your cider!
Yes! It all depends on your preference. This spiced apple cider is a delicious drink heated to keep you warm on a chilly day. But, you can absolutely serve it cold or even over ice if that is what you would like. If you want to serve it cold, after you strain the cider and add the sweetener you can transfer it to a pitcher and keep it in the fridge, then serve it chilled.
To strain your cider and remove the fruit and spices, use a pasta colander with a large, clean bowl underneath. This will hold the cider and prevent losing any of your drink. It might be a good idea to have someone help you with this step! If you find that there are still small bits of fruit in the cider, you can strain the drink again through a cheesecloth. This will ensure there are no chunks and it is all cider!
How to Serve and Store Slow Cooker Apple Cider
This apple cider is the perfect fall or winter drink. You can serve it with Simple Maple Sugar Cookies as a sweet snack, or with Slow Cooker Vegetable Bean Soup. Apple cider is also a great drink to serve when hosting a holiday party since it can be made in large batches and kept warm in the slow cooker for hours! To garnish your drink, you can add additional cut orange slices and cinnamon sticks.
If you have leftover apple cider or just want to save it for later, this tasty drink will stay good in your fridge for up to a week. Store the cider in a pitcher with a lid or a mason jar and enjoy as you wish!
More Holiday Recipes To Consider
Pancake Recipes
Gingerbread Pancakes
Simple Gingerbread Recipes
Cozy Gingerbread Scones: Perfect for Holiday Mornings
Simple Gingerbread Recipes
Easy Gingerbread Loaf – Better Than Starbucks!
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Slow Cooker Apple Cider
Ingredients
- 10-12 medium apples, assorted types (I used a mixture of all kinds of apples)
- 1 orange, optional
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 2 teaspoons whole cloves
- 10-14 cups water
- 1/3 – 2/3 cup brown sugar, or your sweetener of choice, see notes
Instructions
- Wash the apples and orange and roughly cut them into quarters, no need to remove seeds or stems. Place the cut fruit and spices in the bowl of your slow cooker. Add water until it’s about an inch from the top of the bowl. Cook on high for 4 hours.
- When you have an hour left in the cooking process, use a potato masher or a large spoon to crush and mash the apples and then let them continue to cook.
- After 4 hour strain the cider to remove all of the fruit. I strained it through my normal pasta colander and then again through cheesecloth to make sure it was all cider and no chunks.
- Give your slow cooker bowl a quick rinse to remove any extra pieces of fruit or spices and then return the strained cider to the bowl. Heat on low heat and add sweetener of your choosing, such as brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup to taste, stirring well to combine. Serve warm with additional orange slices and cinnamon sticks as a garnish.
I make this every year. My son in law loves it, so he requests I make it. Very good and makes the house smell so good!!
Hi how do I store the left overs and for how long are they good for I am going to try this tommarrow thank you I hope it is all I hope for
Just store them in the fridge (in a pitcher or even a mason jar) and it’ll be good for about a week. I hope you love it! You can also freeze it for longer storage.
My neighbor brought me a bunch of apples the same day you posted this. Tonight my house smelled amazing and I am having a hard time staying out of the cider! Before sweetening, it had a very distinct bitter taste. I wondered if I was a little overzealous with the masher and squashed the orange peels a bit too much. But it was so much fun! After adding a couple of tablespoons each of pure maple syrup and light brown sugar……….ahhhhhhhh…..this is some great stuff!!!! Thanks for the wonderful idea!!
Thank you for bringing up this point. I’ve made it a few times since posting too (I love it!) and so I added this note today: Additional notes: I’ve made this a few times now and sometimes I like the orange in it, and sometimes I think it makes it a little bit bitter. If you add the orange plan on adjusting the sweetener as needed, generally you’ll need a bit more than indicated in my directions. When smashing the apples you could remove the orange at that point or try to avoid crushing it too much.
Do you feel like that’s a fair warning and some good tips? I’m so pleased you liked it and let me know. Totally made my morning!
I have been rethinking things..the orange may have not been the culprit after all. Once the apple yumminess sat in the fridge for a day or two or three….flavors developed more. And the more was the bitter! I really think……the bitter came from the sub-par fake cinnamon sticks! These are the brands that come in a nice big plastic containers and are very reasonably priced at the big stores when we venture to the city. I remember being excited when I found them…what a deal! I searched around on the net and discovered my brand is fake. Then a bell went off in the ol’ noggin…..Alton Brown did a show once and talked about the real and fake sticks. At the time, I vowed never to use the fake. What can I say….I do believe my children sucked my brains out and never returned them(after not using them!) Its the only excuse I have for my memory loss that sounds plausible! The bitterness reminds me of over-brewing loose leaf tea…..the tannins begin to come out, and bitter is the best word to describe it! If I have to use these sticks for the next batch, I would only drop them in for an hour or so. That might be the trick. But, I have to wait for the next trip to town to get more apples. I too have limited conveniences close by and all the apples are gone from the orchards….boooooooo
Who would have known!! How does one find real cinnamon though?! I’ve got to do more research!
That is going to have to be tried one of these days!
A slow cooker ebook! YAY! That is going to be awesome!
Also, this looks awesome. Can’t wait to try it out, I wish I wasn’t already using my crockpot for dinner tonight, hahaha!
I have 2 crock pots now that I bought the new one and I have one from our wedding. I’m shocked at how often I use them both! You’ll have to get a second when your boys and house are bigger.
This sounds fabulous! Thanks so much!