Nothing says Autumn like hot apple cider. Peak season, sweet and crisp apples make the base, accompanied by bright citrus and warm baking spices. This classic combination makes for one pretty perfect cup of cider. This cider incorporates all the elements you already know and love, but with much less sugar! By omitting commercial apple juice as the base, we greatly reduce the sugar content of the final product. So feel good about this Autumn tradition knowing it's lower in sugar, more gut-friendly, and made just like your Grandma would have.
And what do I do with the apples that we puréed you’re asking? Well, surprise! Now you have homemade spiced applesauce! Store it in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to a week. Just like that, two recipes in one with hardly any effort. What could be better than that?
Happy Autumn!
Ingredients
Prep: 10 min
Chilling: 6 hours
Prep: 10 mins
Chilling: 6 hours
Total: 6 hours 10 min
- 8 Gala or Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
- 1 orange, peeled, then cut into segments
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 3 cloves, whole
- 1 star anise
- 60 ml honey
- 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1.9 l of water, filtered: 6 hours 10 min
- Gather and prepare all the required ingredients and set up your slow cooker.
- Add the peeled and quartered apples, orange peel and segments, spices, honey, apple cider vinegar and water to the slow cooker.
- Stir the mixture until the honey is completely dissolved.
- Set the slow cooker to low heat and cook for six hours. If you prefer more distinct flavours, you can choose to cook for eight hours on low heat.
- Once the cooking time is completed, use tongs or a slotted spoon to
remove the spices, orange peel and orange pieces from the mixture and dispose of them. - Prepare a high-speed blender or food processor.
- Place the quartered apples in the blender.
- Blend the apples on high speed until they become smooth and then set them aside.
- Strain the cider through either cheesecloth or a sieve to remove any remaining solids.
- Ladle the strained cider into mugs and enjoy your delicious apple and orange spiced cider!
Abigail Marie is the Chef with IBD, sharing better recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) on her blog. She has culinary arts and food service management degrees. Despite having ulcerative colitis, she has worked in restaurants and is now at Novant Hospital. Abigail believes in incorporating diet, lifestyle, stress management, movement and medication to help treat IBD. Join her on this incredible journey of managing chronic illness together!