It’s fall, you say? Wait. Wait just a second.
Grab an orange. Stick some cloves in it. Throw it in your Crock Pot along with a few cinnamon sticks and a bottle of apple cider. Turn it on. Wait four hours.
Okay. NOW it can be fall.
Not only is this recipe seriously that easy, it’s also quintessentially autumn. It looks like fall. It tastes like fall. It makes the entire house smell like fall.
It warms you up after an hour or two of kicking around in the fall leaves or picking out that perfect pumpkin or trick-or-treating on a perfectly frosty night when you can see your breath. And for the adults, you can add a perfect extra little warming factor: rum.
I know, I know, by now we’ve all seen a gazillion hot spiced apple cider recipes. But this one, I think, is special because it takes only four whole ingredients – no special mulling spices required. Plus, it utilizes that wondrous kitchen appliance – the slow cooker – so you don’t have to stand over the stove or worry about keeping it at the perfect temperature once it’s ready to be served. It just sits there on your kitchen counter, being awesome, until everyone happily drinks it all down.
Yep. Bring it on, fall.
- 2 quarts (64 ounces or 8 cups) apple cider
- Six 3-inch cinnamon sticks, plus more for serving if desired
- 1 medium orange
- ⅛ cup whole cloves
- Rum of your choice (optional)
- Additional cinnamon sticks for serving.
- Pour apple cider into a 2.5-quart or larger Crock Pot or other slow cooker. Add cinnamon sticks to cider.
- With a toothpick, poke holes all around the orange, about ½ inch to 1 inch apart. Carefully poke the cloves into the toothpick holes in the orange (see photo below). Place orange into the cider in the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for about 4 hours. Ladle into mugs along with an ounce or so of rum if using. Place a cinnamon stick in each glass. Serve.
Yum, I can smell the cinnamon from here! And I love your pictures in mittens. Living in LA, all I can say, is I want this cold weather.
It’s actually been unseasonably sunny and warm up here in the Pacific Northwest too! We’re loving it though. The gray, drizzly, cold winter will be here soon enough. Ah well, more excuses to drink warm cocktails. ;)
I make this several time a year often adding a cup of whole cranberries to add a bit of tartness.
I love that idea, Bruce! That reminds me, I also have a mulled cranberry drink I’ll have to dig up and make soon. Thanks!
Oh yum! This looks so amazing, I can almost smell it over my computer monitor. Your pictures are so great– I love those blue gloves!
Thanks, Sara! :)
Hello! afbbfbe interesting afbbfbe site! I’m really like it! Very, very afbbfbe good!
Served this at a party last night, and it was a hit! Linked back to your recipe on my blog today. Thanks! This will be a new tradition around our house.
Yay! Glad to hear it. Isn’t it a little surprising just how great it is, with so few ingredients? Thank you for coming back and rating the recipe.
I’m drinking this as I type and it is AMAZING! House smells good too. Thanks for sharing!
Gotta love those recipes that double as an air freshener … or in my case, with two dogs and a cat, a smell-masker. ;) So glad you liked it.
Can you use the pasteurized cider found chilled in the produce section?
M
Hi Carol, I’ve never used that type of cider for this recipe, but not only am I confident it would work fine, I think it would taste amazing!
I just have a quick question. Do you peel the orange first or leave it whole?
Hi Katy, that’s a good question! I should edit the recipe to specify; thank you for bringing it up. Leave the peel on – the great flavor comes from the oil in the orange peel.
If usingu Rum, do you add the Rum into the crock pot? And if so, how much?
Katy, I have been doing this for years on the stove top (in a large pot), and for the first time this year, I tried it with my handy 5Q crock pot. Wonderful!
BTW, I used *unfiltered* apple juice instead of cider and peel the (naval) orange. It’s not only less expensive, the juice of the orange makes the juice taste a lot like cider.
Best regards,
Nancy