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ByAnn Drake
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Fill your home with the scent of Christmas by making this homemade wassail recipe for family and friends in your slow cooker. Easy and delicious!
Here we come a-Wassailing
among the leaves so green.
Here we come a-wand’ring
so fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
and to you a Wassail too,
And God bless you and send
you a Happy New Year,
God send you a Happy New Year.
What Is Wassail?
We’ve all heard this familiar Christmas carol, but have you ever wondered what exactly is a wassail or wassailing? It turns out that they are two very different things. A traditional wassail recipe is an apple cider based drink that is made spicy with cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Even more flavor is added by including fresh fruit. This traditional holiday drink tastes very much like hot mulled cider.
What Is Wassailing?
Wassailing is actually the centuries old, British custom of wandering around apple orchards singing to the trees, hoping all the while that the next harvest will be abundant, and that everyone will enjoy good health. This ritual eventually evolved into groups of people going from one home to the next, singing Christmas carols. Wassailing ceremonies typically take place on Twelfth Night (January 5th or 6th) depending on the tradition. Somewhere along the way, these small groups of people began carrying a bowl filled with wassail (the drink) to share with their neighbors.Traditionally, a wassail bowl was made from wood, and had a pedestal bottom.
Wassailing has enjoyed a revival in recent years, with families and communities bringing back the old customs as a way to connect with their cultural heritage, and celebrate the changing seasons.
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How To Make This Hot Drink
- Add to a 4 quart slow cooker: cranberry juice, apple juice, orange juice, ginger beer, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and fresh cranberries.
- Stir until combined.
- Thinly slice the orange and lemon.
- Add orange slices and lemon slices to the slow cooker ingredients.
- Cook on low for at least 2 hours before serving.
Helpful Tips
- I tried to cut out as many calories from this recipe as I could. I used diet Ocean Spray cranberry juice, Trop50 orange juice, and diet ginger beer. Knowing it was a skinny 60 calories per serving made it even tastier and more enjoyable!
- Other items that can be added/substituted: pineapple juice, lemon juice, apple slices, ground cinnamon, star anise, whole allspice berries, or any other fruit juices.
- An added bonus to warming this delicious drink in a Crock-pot is that as it simmers, it makes your house smell wonderful.
- If you don’t have a Crock-Pot, it works just as well to simmer the mixture on the stovetop in a large pot or stock pot, using medium-low heat.
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Even if you don’t plan to go wassailing this holiday season, I enthusiastically recommend that you whip up a pot of this hot wassail recipe anyway! It’s a delicious and spicy treat that’s the perfect drinkfor Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day. Start a new family tradition by serving this warm drink at your holiday gatherings.It also makes a wonderfulcozy drink on a cold day!
More Festive Holiday Drinks
- Crockpot Hot Chocolate
- Cranberry Christmas co*cktail
- Pomegranate + Lime Spritzer
Homemade Wassail Recipe
Fill your home with the scent of Christmas by making this homemade wassail recipe for family and friends in your slow cooker. Easy and delicious!
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5 from 2 votes
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Ann Drake
Prep Time 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time 2 hours hours
Total Time 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes
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Equipment
4 quart slow cooker
Ingredients
- 2 cups cranberry juice
- 2 cups apple juice or apple cider
- 2 cups orange juice
- 1 1/2 cups ginger beer or ginger ale
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 orange
- 1 lemon
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
- 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
Instructions
Add to a 4 quart slow cooker: cranberry juice, apple juice, orange juice, ginger beer, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and fresh cranberries.
Stir until combined.
Thinly slice the orange and lemon.
Add slices to slow cooker ingredients.
Cook on low for at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
I used Ocean Spray Diet Cranberry, Tropicana Trop50, diet ginger beer, and apple juice (no sugar added.) When calculated with these ingredients, a 10 oz. serving has 60 calories.
This recipe can be doubled if a larger slow cooker is used.
Nutrition
Serving: 10oz. | Calories: 193kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 14mg | Potassium: 407mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 42g | Vitamin A: 268IU | Vitamin C: 72mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 1mg
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