Lower sugar apple cider with elderberries

I feel like we completely skilled fall here and went right to winter. It got cold and cold fast! This cold makes it hard to warm up, but it’s nothing some warm apple cider won’t fix. Most apple ciders are so sweet that we end up watering them down. So, I thought I’d make a lower sugar apple cider and add some elderberry to give it a boost!

Thank you to Juicy Juice for partnering with us for this post. 

A quick trip to a local grocery store had me ready to go with some loose cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice berries and elderberry. I just purchased a couple tablespoons, but you could of course purchase an entire container of them. These spices won’t go unused. 

To make the lower sugar apple cider with elderberries

I had our 7 year old pour a bottle of Juicy Juice Fruitifuls Organic, now available in a 59 oz bottles with 45% less sugar into a dutch oven. This comes in classic flavors like Apple, Fruit Punch and Grape.

To prevent the chance of her burning herself, I didn’t yet have the stove on. 

Next I had our 5 year old put 3 cinnamon sticks, and a tablespoon each of cloves, allspice berries and elderberries into the juice.  

Then it was time to turn the heat on and let the lower sugar apple cider simmer. 

Let me tell you. This smells amazing! 

We let the apple cider simmer on the stove for about an hour to let the spices and elderberries release into the juice. We didn’t add any extra sugar or sweetener to the apple cider. Allowing it to simmer on the stove did cook it down a bit so the sweetness of the apple juice got a little more concentrated. We cooked off about 1 cup of the juice. 

It was quite the hit and wow did the house smell good. 

Look at the rich color from the spice and the elderberry. 

While you are drinking your lower sugar apple cider, save the bottle caps from your Juicy Juice (or you can use pennies) and print off this family version of Thanksgiving Bingo. 

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Yield: 6 cups

Lower sugar apple cider with elderberries

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A super tasty, no sugar added lower sugar apple cider with elderberries

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 bottle Juicy Juice Fruitifuls Organic Apple Juice
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1T tablespoon cloves
• 1T tablespoon allspice berries
• 1T tablespoon elderberries

Instructions

1. Pour the bottle of Juicy Juice Fruitifuls Organic Apple Juice into a dutch oven on the stove.
2. Add all of the spices to the dutch oven.
3. Heat on the stove to a simmer for approximately an hour.
4. Strain the spices out of the cider and serve and enjoy.
5. This can be enjoyed hot or cold!

Notes

The longer you heat the apple cider, the more concentrated the flavor and sweetness.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 70Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 27mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 2gSugar: 10gProtein: 0g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

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