Spiced Apple Cherry Cider
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Servings: 10 -12 glasses
Ingredients:
1 gallon of apple cider
12 oz. frozen dark sweet cherries
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 oranges, sliced
1 apple sliced Pink Lady, Fuji, or Honey Crisp
4 cinnamon sticks
5 star anise pods
8 cloves
Additional sliced fruit and spices for adding to each individual glass.
Directions:
Combine apple cider and all the other ingredients in a slow cooker.
Cook on low for 2-3 hours. Then set it on warm if you’re serving later.
Serve by the glass with fresh fruit slices, a cinnamon stick, a clove, and a star anise pod.
Tips for making Spiced Cherry Apple Cider:
When you make this, you want to make sure the slow cooker is set on low and only cook it for a couple of hours. If you go much over 3 hours or cook on high, the cherries will start to truly cook, and then they don’t tend to look appetizing. They give the Spiced Cherry Apple Cider its beautiful color and beautiful flavor, but you might not want to include them in the final served drink.
Make sure to use a cinnamon stick versus ground cinnamon. The ground cinnamon will flavor decently, but it doesn’t dissolve well, and the flavor doesn’t seem to permeate throughout the drink as well.
Feel free to try adding other fruit to this if you want to! Cranberries and pears would also be lovely.
You can also make this ahead of time and serve it cold. In that case, remove all the fruit, and let the cider come down in temperature before storing. Store it in an airtight pitcher in the refrigerator.
Recipe courtesy of Sugar Maple Farmhouse.com