maple hot apple cider recipe

home-made hot apple cider this time of year is a must. i’m not the biggest fan of the store bought ones as i normally find them far too sweet. so i normally make a couple batches of this in the fall to get my cozy drink fix.  and it’s easy!!! if you have all the ingredients, you can be drinking that first cup of warm, delicious cider within an hour.

some of you may know that i just finished a two-week no processed sugar cleanse. i don’t normally do these sorts of things as we generally eat pretty healthy, but some of my girlfriends were doing it, so i decided to join along. i had some bad habits that i was wanting to break, and the cleanse was exactly what i needed to nip those  habits in the bud.

i’m now so much more aware of the amount of processed sugar we eat. it hides in everything! i guess that’s the whole point of doing a cleanse in the first place. right? i’m using honey in my tea in the morning, making more salad dressings and eating fruit for dessert in the evenings. i’m not sure how long this will last, but for now i feel like i have more energy throughout the day.

for this recipe i wanted to use a natural sweetener. in the past when i made this recipe i would use brown sugar (which you are more than welcome to replace with the maple syrup with.) but, i feel like the maple syrup still gives it a lovely flavour and smell.

ingredients:
2l organic, unsweetened pure apple juice (i use this one)
1 red gala apple
1 green granny smith apple
2 large cara cara oranges (these are the large navel oranges)
1 green pear
1 red pear
4 cinnamon sticks
3/4 c. pure maple syrup (taste as you add to see how sweet you like it)
1 tbsp. whole cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. all spice

instructions:
1.) in a large pot, heat the apple juice over medium heat and stir in the maple syrup
2.) cut the apples in half and keep the skin on. push the whole cloves into the apple like shown below. this makes it easier to scoop out at the end.
3.) slice the rest of the fruit in 1/4” slices and keep the skin on.
4.) add all fruit to the apple juice
5.) add nutmeg and all spice
6.) bring to a simmer and let cook for 20-30 min. (this is when the heavenly smells will start to fill your home)
7.) strain into a large jar for storage. (i used the one the apple juice came in)
8.) serve hot!

for the fruit, you don’t need to be that picky with the variation of fruit you select. i just wanted to be detailed with what we used this batch. it does vary each time i make it. we don’t normally add pears, but we had some sitting in our fruit bowl and decided to throw them in. if you just had apples and oranges, just add those. i also try to use all organic ingredients, but that’s just a preference, and i don’t think will affect the taste.

enjoy!!!