Fall Recipe: Crockpot Apple Cider

It is officially fall! However, Illinois did not get the memo and it has been around 80 degrees all week. No sweatshirt weather here, which is my favorite kind of weather. Keith is back to full time work and full time school, so our visiting hours are very limited. He asked if we could go to the apple orchard after work on Saturday, but everything closes at 6 and he didn't get home until 5:30. So, I decided to bring it to him. I went to the farmer's market in town and picked up two cider mill donuts. Then I made a pot of apple cider in my crockpot. It was super easy and really, really delicious.

Recipe: Crockpot Apple Cider

Ingredients: 

• Apple juice (since it was only two of us, we got a small one)
• Cinnamon sticks
• Caramel Syrup
• Crockpot
• Mulling spices (optional, but delicious)

So, how do I make this delicious beverage?
Pour the apple juice into the crockpot. I have done this for a large crowd and used around 2.5 large bottles of apple juice, but this time it was only us so we went with a small bottle. Then add cinnamon sticks. Again, this depends on your crowd, for our small bottle we only put one in, for a larger bottle I would add 2. So, for around 2.5 of the larger bottles I added about 5 or 6 sticks in there. I also put in a tablespoon of mulling spices for good measure. Put the crockpot on high for about 1 hours, then low for 1 hour. (or you could do low for 3 hours, it's just to get the cinnamon and mulling spice flavor spread out through the drink).

When its time to serve, I had to use a ladle and a sieve, to get out the larger pieces. Some recipes will tell you to put the caramel syrup into the crockpot and let it cook. I did that last time and it became almost like a pulp and didn't add anything for me. This time, I poured the warm apple cider in a mug, then put in the caramel syrup into my mug. It worked like a charm.

Optional, again: Keith and I had some caramel apple flavored vodka we had laying around and since we were staying in for the night decided to add some of that to our drinks. The result was delicious. But again, you need to drink responsibly and be over 21 to indulge :) 

Well, I am ready for the fall and hope you are now too with this recipe. Cheers.