Winter has arrived here in central New York, and between our endless gray skies, arctic temps, and obscene amounts of snow, it can be reeeeaaaaally tempting to hibernate from November to March. Two things make it bearable (three if you count stretchy pants) – 1. a roaring fire in the fireplace and 2. a steaming mug of spiked mulled cider.
I’m not exaggerating, BTW – Syracuse is LITERALLY at the top of the list for “Snowiest Cities in America”.
I’ve tinkered around with this recipe over the last few years and while I’ve never made a bad batch, I think my current version is damn near perfect. It will give your cheeks a rosy glow and warm you to the tips of your toes.
Or, go a little heavier on the booze and you’ll be so looped you won’t care how cold it is.
Just kidding. Kind of. 😉
I make this pretty regularly during cold months using locally made apple cider. If you’re not serving a crowd, strain the fruit, cinnamon sticks and spices out and store the leftover mulled cider in the fridge and it will keep for at least a week. Having a batch of hot toddies ready to go is never a terrible idea.
HOT TIP:
I’m not sure if this is true everywhere, but cinnamon sticks can be insanely expensive. The recipe calls for 4 sticks and I was paying $3.99 for 4 or 5 of them at my favorite grocery store. I’m not sure why I didn’t think to look there first, but one day I stumbled on them at the warehouse store and they were a much better deal.
The same brand in the bigger container packed full of sticks was only $7.99. SOLD.
If you want to keep the recipe kid-friendly, just skip the alcohol in the Crock-Pot and add shot of rum into the mugs before serving to your over-21 guests.
|
|
Print Recipe
|
|
|
Print Recipe
|
| Servings |
| 16servings |
| Servings |
| 16servings |
- 1 gallon apple cider
- 1 cup orange juice
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 2 tsp whole cloves
- 2 tsp allspice
- 1 orange
- 1 apple
- 4 cups Captain Morgan spiced rum
|
Ingredients
Servings: servings
Units:
|
- Core apple and cut into thin slices.
- Cut orange into thin slices.
- Combine all ingredients in a 6qt Crock-pot. Turn on HIGH and cook for about an hour.
- Switch Crock-Pot to LOW, strain cloves, allspice and cinnamon sticks out for serving.
If you like your cider a bit sweeter, add some vanilla vodka or vanilla extract.
