Homemade Apple Cider

Good morning friends! It’s that time of the year for cozy drinks and homemade apple cider always tops my list. This recipe is really easy to put together and will make your home smell amazing while it’s cooking!  

The best part about this recipe is it’s adaptability. You use whatever kind of apples you like, or a combination. Spices…completely up to you. Sugar-you decide whether you want a little or none. Brown sugar or granulated. Crock pot or stove, take your pick! 

You’ll need 8-12 apples. I used around 10, and a few different varieties-Gala, Honey Crisp, and Granny Smith. I also had some clementines, so I peeled 2 and tossed those in as well. 

Spices are based your preferences. I’ll give you suggestions and you try what you like.

Ingredients:

• 8-12 apples, quartered.
• 1 orange or 2 clementines, peeled and pulled apart 
• 3 cinnamon sticks or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 to 1 cup sugar, or your preferred sweetener
• Water-enough to cover fruit

Instructions:
Add your fruits and spices to your crock pot or stock pot. I used a crock pot. Fill with water to cover the fruits. The problem-the fruit floated of course. Oh well. I pushed my fruit down and it looked like I had plenty to cover the fruit, so I went with it. 

Crock pot: Cover with lid and turn on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. After several hours, the fruit will soften. Use a potato masher to mash the apples and oranges until they are pulp like. Cook for 1 more hour. 

Stock pot on stove: Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and then cover and simmer for 2 hours. After 2 hours, use a potato masher to mash fruit to pulp consistency, and then cook for 1 more hour. 

Let cool for a bit, then strain through a sieve into a bowl. Grab a spoon and press the fruit in the sieve to get the most out of your mixture. You can also strain and squeeze through a cheesecloth. 

Now is a good time to taste test your mixture and if you need to add extra sweetener, go ahead and do it now and stir until it’s dissolved. Did you taste it? Isn’t it awesome?! Let’s go enjoy your cider! 

You can store your cider in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat either on the stove or in the microwave before serving.  

If you’re feeling extra fancy, serve with whipped cream on top, drizzled with caramel sauce 🙂 

Doesn’t this look yummy? And we haven’t even added the water yet! So once I added the water, the fruit just floated right on up with it. I think I had mine about an inch or two from the top of the crock pot. Let’s turn it on and cook! And a few hours later….snap a pic and tell the world how awesome you are for making apple cider at home. 😉 

Print Recipe

Homemade Apple Cider

Ingredients

• 8-12 apples quartered
• 1 orange or 2 clementines peeled and pulled apart
• 3 cinnamon sticks or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 to 1 cup sugar or your preferred sweetener
• Water-enough to cover fruit

Instructions

• Add your fruits and spices to your crock pot or stock pot. I used a crock pot. Fill with water to cover the fruits.
• Crock pot: Cover with lid and turn on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. After several hours, the fruit will soften. Use a potato masher to mash the apples and oranges until they are pulp like. Cook for 1 more hour.
• Stock pot on stove: Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and then cover and simmer for 2 hours. After 2 hours, use a potato masher to mash fruit to pulp consistency, and then cook for 1 more hour.
• Let cool for a bit, then strain through a sieve into a bowl. Grab a spoon and press the fruit in the sieve to get the most out of your mixture. You can also strain and squeeze through a cheesecloth. 
• Taste test your mixture and if you need to add extra sweetener, go ahead and do it now and stir until it’s dissolved.
• You can store your cider in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat either on the stove or in the microwave before serving.  Just for fun: serve with whipped cream on top or drizzled with caramel sauce.

Hope you all are enjoying fall!  Looking for more apple recipes? Try these:

Sour Cream Apple Pie

Apple Crisp