Hot Apple Cider With Cinnamon

This hot apple cider recipe with cinnamon is the perfect fall drink to warm you up! It's healthy and simple with no added sugar.

This is one of my favorite fall drinks and it's so simple it barely even needs a recipe. With just two ingredients, it's naturally sweet and refined sugar-free. There's nothing like hot spiced apple cider to warm you up on a crisp autumn day.

Here's the basic formula: heat one cup of apple cider and one cinnamon stick per serving. That's it. Just make sure you use organic apple cider with no added ingredients. I like to go to a local farm this time of year to get apples and fresh-pressed cider. You can even make your own apple cider.

This recipe is completely flexible. You can heat the apple cider on the stove top, in a slow cooker, or even in the microwave. I usually heat it on the stove so the smell of the apple cider and cinnamon sticks simmering goes throughout the house. Sometimes I even set the pan on top of the wood stove to heat. It's perfect for a cozy fall weekend at the cabin.

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Ingredients you'll need

• Apple cider - the ingredients should just be apples. Fresh-pressed from a local farm has the best flavor, but any 100% apple cider works. You can also use unfiltered apple juice if you can't find cider.
• Cinnamon sticks - whole sticks, not ground. They infuse the cider as it heats and make a nice garnish in each mug.

How to make it

1. Heat the apple cider and cinnamon sticks in a small pot over low heat.
2. Pour into mugs and serve with the cinnamon sticks.

Variations

And of course, you can add any other flavorings you like. Here are a few ways to change it up.

• Pumpkin pie spice - stir a spoonful into the pot along with the cinnamon stick for extra warmth. I use my homemade pumpkin pie spice blend.
• Orange slices - add a few slices to the pot while it heats for a hint of citrus.
• More spice - for more of a mulled cider flavor, add a few whole cloves to the pot.
• Maple syrup - if you want it a little sweeter, a splash of maple syrup adds extra fall flavor.

Big Batch in the Slow Cooker

For a crowd, this scales up easily. Use a half gallon of apple cider with 3 or 4 cinnamon sticks to make about 8 servings. The longer cook time in the slow cooker infuses more cinnamon flavor, so you don't need as many sticks as the quick stove top method.

Set the slow cooker to low for 2 to 3 hours, then switch to warm to keep it hot for serving. (I use this slow cooker and it switches to warm automatically.)

More Hot Drinks

Looking for more ideas for a warm fall or winter drink? Try these.

• Pumpkin Spice Latte - all the flavors of fall in a coconut milk latte, no coffee shop stop required.
• Healthy Peppermint Hot Chocolate - rich and dairy-free, with a cool peppermint twist.
• Easy Keto Hot Chocolate - a sugar-free hot cocoa with just three ingredients.
• 7 Healthy Hot Drinks To Warm You Up - cozy drinks for cold days, from hot cocoa to slow cooker bone broth.