The Best Homemade Apple Cider Recipe

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Have you ever wished you could skip the grocery store and make fresh apple cider right in your own kitchen? Well, you’re in luck! This homemade apple cider recipe is surprisingly simple and requires just a handful of basic ingredients.

Forget about finding cinnamon sticks or pricey whole spices. All you need are some fresh apples, ground cinnamon, raw honey, and a little lemon juice. The best part is that this recipe contains absolutely no processed sugar, brown sugar, or artificial additives.

My husband and I actually prefer this homemade version to anything we’ve bought at the store!

Why Make Homemade Apple Cider?

Picture this: your slow cooker bubbling away with the most incredible apple and cinnamon scent wafting through every room of your house. That’s what fall afternoons are made for! When you create your own apple cider, you get to decide exactly what ingredients go into every sip.

Most store-bought apple juice is loaded with additives and unnecessary sweeteners, but when you make fresh apple cider at home, you’re getting nothing but the natural juice of fresh apples enhanced with just a few wholesome ingredients. Whether you’re planning an autumn get-together, curling up by the fireplace, or simply craving something warm and delicious, this sweet cider hits the spot every time.

Never made homemade apple cider before? This is the perfect drink for your first time! The process couldn’t be easier, and you don’t need fancy equipment like a cider press. Your slow cooker and a potato masher are all it takes to create this cozy beverage.

Tips for Making the Best Homemade Cider

This apple cider recipe is wonderfully flexible. You can use any variety of apples you have on hand, making it perfect for using up extra apples from your fall harvest or farmers market haul.

Best Apples for Cider:

The wonderful thing about this recipe is that you can experiment with different apple varieties and discover your own favorite blend! I’m personally obsessed with Pink Lady apples, but feel free to try Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Fuji, or create your own combination. When you blend sweet and tart apples together, you’ll get layers of flavor that make each sip interesting.

Just be sure to pick ripe apples that are at their peak for the richest taste. Here’s a little secret: combining a variety of apples is what takes sweet cider from good to absolutely amazing. If you want extra sweetness, some people love adding maple syrup, though I find the raw honey gives it just the right amount of natural sugar.

About Apple Cider vs. Apple Juice:

Ever wondered how apple cider differs from regular apple juice? Here’s the scoop: fresh apple cider is basically the pure, unfiltered juice of fresh apples without any pasteurization. It’s thicker, has a more robust apple flavor, and that homestyle quality that makes it special!

Because this recipe makes unpasteurized cider, the shelf life is shorter than what you’d buy in stores. Plan to drink it up within a week if you’re keeping it in the refrigerator.

(Quick note: We’re talking about sweet cider here, not the alcoholic versions like hard cider or dry cider. And this definitely isn’t apple cider vinegar either, even though they all begin with fresh apples!)

Ingredients:

For the Cider:

• 15 medium-sized apples
• 3 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cup raw honey
• 3 teaspoon lemon juice
• water (about 12 cups)

Tools You’ll Need:

How to Make Slow Cooker Apple Cider

Step 1: Begin by giving your apples a good rinse under cold water. Use a kitchen towel to dry them off completely.

Step 2: Grab a sharp knife and remove the core from each apple, then slice them into pieces. Don’t peel them! Leaving the peels on is key for getting rich color and deep flavor.

Step 3: Toss all your apple slices into the slow cooker. Top them with the ground cinnamon, pour in the raw honey, and squeeze in the lemon juice.

Step 4: Fill the slow cooker with water until you see the apples start to lift and float (you’ll need somewhere around 12 cups, though it depends on your slow cooker’s size). Mix everything together so all the ingredients are well distributed.

Step 5: Pop the lid on and set your slow cooker to HIGH for 4 hours, or if you have more time, LOW for 7-8 hours. The toughest part? Don’t lift that lid! Keeping it sealed is how you capture all those incredible flavors.

Step 6: Once the timer goes off, it’s mashing time! Use your potato masher or a sturdy fork to completely break down the cooked apples right in the slow cooker. Don’t be shy about this step! The more you mash, the more flavor you’ll extract. This is what transforms plain cooked apples into delicious cider!

Step 7: Cover everything back up and let it cook for 2 more hours on HIGH or 4 hours on LOW. This second round of cooking is where the magic happens. It pulls even more apple goodness into the liquid and creates that rich, full-bodied flavor you’re after.

Step 8: Now it’s time to strain! Set a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl or pitcher and pour the cider through. Use the back of a spoon or your potato masher to push down on those mashed apples, squeezing out every drop of flavorful liquid. You want to get all the juice without any apple chunks sneaking through the strainer.

Step 9: Your homemade cider is ready to enjoy! Pour yourself a warm mug right away, let it cool down before storing it in an airtight container in the fridge, or keep it in the slow cooker on the warm setting if you’re serving guests.

Serving and Storage

This homemade cider is fantastic served piping hot, and if you want to get fancy, pop a cinnamon stick in there for garnish! Chilled cider is equally delicious. We break this out for Thanksgiving, Christmas, holiday parties and fall birthday celebrations.

Storage Tips:

Keep any leftover cider in an airtight container in your fridge for up to one week. Want to save some for later? Pour it into freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

When you’re ready to drink it, just move it to the refrigerator the night before to thaw.

What to Do With Leftover Apple Mash

Before you toss that leftover apple pulp in the strainer, wait! There are so many ways to use it. Try making homemade apple butter, stirring it into your morning oatmeal, or adding it to your compost pile to enrich your garden soil.

Waste not, want not!

Variations and Add-Ins

This recipe is delicious exactly as written, but feel free to get creative! Here are some ideas to customize it:

• Toss in a few whole cloves during cooking for a warming spice note (remember to strain them out)
• Use maple syrup in place of honey if that’s what you have on hand
• A splash of vanilla extract adds a cozy sweetness
• Play around with other warm spices in small amounts
• Want a tart cider? Load up on tangy apple varieties like Granny Smith

If you love extra cinnamon flavor, you can nestle cinnamon sticks into individual mugs when serving. This presentation looks beautiful and tastes amazing! Do what makes you happy!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

There’s something incredibly satisfying about making your own cider from scratch! Not only does your kitchen smell absolutely divine, but you’re also in complete control of what goes into your drink. Plus, it costs so much less than buying fresh cider at the grocery store.

And if you have kids, they’ll love helping with this fun weekend project on a chilly day. When fall arrives, this becomes the perfect drink for every occasion. Whether you’re throwing a harvest party, spending a quiet night in, or looking for something special to share with the people you love, this slow cooker apple cider is guaranteed to become a family favorite.

Trust me, once your family tastes this, they’ll be begging you to make it over and over! The combination of natural apple sweetness, warm cinnamon, and honey creates an unbeatable flavor that simply can’t be matched.

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