Fall is kicking in around here. The nights are cooling down and the pumpkins and chrysanthemums are showing up at the grocery store. Do you feel it in the air? One of our favorite treats during the fall, holidays and well, any other cool time, is Hot Mulled Cider. The smell of Hot Mulled Cider creates a sweet memory for all who take the time to sit and enjoy the changing of the seasons.
As I like to have foods prepped ahead during the holidays, in the past I have prepped the cider ahead in two different ways.
1 – I will bag several sets of the dry ingredients into a plastic zip bag and store in my spice cupboard. I will store the unopened apple juice in the pantry to pour in.
2 – When we are camping, I will freeze everything except the water into a solid frozen chunk. The day we will use it, I will pull it out of the cooler, add water and put it into a slow cooker for 2-3 hours.
Ingredients
- Serves 6-8
- 4 c. apple juice
- 2 c. water
- 1/4 c. decaf instant tea
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 4 pieces of cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
Instructions
In a medium sized pot, combine apple juice, water, instant tea, sugar, lemon juice, cloves and cinnamon. Stir until well mixed.
Turn the stove onto medium heat. Stir the apple cider until the sugar is dissolved. Do not let it come to a boil.
Turn the heat to simmer and let simmer for 15 minutes for the flavors to be enhanced.
When done, place stove on warm.
Ladle Hot Mulled Apple Cider into tea or coffee cups. For additional garnishes, core an apple and cut into slices. Let them float at the top of the cup. Another options is to add a cinnamon stick sticking out of the mug for a garnish.
Notes
In most recipes, seasonings or spices can be optional depending on the needs of the person with food allergies. However, I have found that in this recipe, that all ingredients are necessary to make the drink taste complete.
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