Homemade Apple Cider

Homemade apple cider screams fall! The combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and apple cooking all day in a slow cooker will make your whole house smell amazing. I can't think of anything more autumn than going to a pumpkin patch or corn maze and coming home to warm, homemade apple cider.

Besides being simple and making your house smell wonderful, this recipe is frugal too. Apples and oranges are often on sale in the fall. Most people have the spices and brown sugar in their cupboard, so for just a couple of dollars you can make a big batch instead of paying $5.00-$10.00 for a jug of quality apple cider at the store.

First, fill slow cooker with 8 cups of water. Next, peel and chop 5 apples. In a medium bowl, combine apples, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and brown sugar. Pour apple mixture into slow cooker. Add a whole orange and 3 cinnamon sticks to slow cooker. Cover and cook 4 hours on high. Uncover and remove cinnamon sticks and orange. Next, mash apples with potato masher.

After mashing the apples, let it cook 1 more hour. Then, pour contents of the slow cooker through a fine mesh strainer. I like to use the back of a spoon to mash the cooked apples to release as much of the delicious apple juices as possible. You can serve it immediately or keep it in the slow cooker on warm until you are ready to enjoy. It will produce approximately 7 cups of the most delicious apple cider.