Who is ready for a Sugar Free Apple Cider Recipe, which can then also be made into a latte? 

​Since it’s apple season, I wanted to share my easy apple cider recipe with you.

Regular Apple Cider

I’m not saying there is anything, necessarily, wrong with your traditional apple cider. 

If you want it, go for it.

But if you’re paying attention to extra sugar (and I do believe we should be when trying to heal the gut), then it’s not likely the best option.

Probably the most popular regular apple cider on the market is Musselman’s Apple Cider. The ingredients include: Pasteurized apple cider and ascorbic acid (vitamin C).

The nutrition facts are (per 8 fl oz):

• 120 calories
• 0g of fat
• 31g of carbohydrates
• 26g of sugar

For just one glass of apple cider, 26g of sugar is a lot.

And so, I wanted to share with you a way to make fresh apple cider with far less sugar for curbing sugar intake.

Sugar Free Apple Cider Recipe

Click HERE to save this sugar free apple cider recipe post for later.

This recipe actually comes from how I make apple cider in the Instant Pot. 

You only need 5 ingredients and, of course, the Instant Pot. I have THIS 8-quart Instant Pot. 

I use and recommend this one because it’s large enough for bone broth. Which, if you’ve been hanging out here long enough, you know I make all the time!

So, what ingredients do I use for this recipe?

Let’s walk through them, one by one:

• 10 medium unpeeled apples, cored and sliced
• ½ cup Monk Fruit
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie spice
• 2 whole cinnamon sticks
• 12 cups water

Fresh Apples

​I love apples; always have and always will.

Yes, apples are high FODMAP, but even still, many with SIBO will tolerate this recipe because you’re not eating the full apple; it’s just the juice.

And, in order to make homemade apple cider you’ll obviously need to use apples. 

You can choose your favorite apples you want to use for this recipe, but I personally love organic granny smith apples or fresh apples picked locally during the fall season.

The natural sweetness of the apples mean that you really don’t even need to add much sugar at all.

Monk Fruit

Which brings me to our second ingredient; monk fruit.

The monk fruit is what makes this a sugar-free apple cider recipe.

While monk fruit is technically a non-nutritive sweetener, it will not add calories or sugar in the way a traditional sugar, like cane sugar, will. It’s probably my favorite for natural sweeteners. 

Monk fruit is the brand name. It’s official name is luo han guo or “Buddha fruit.”

It is a very sweet and round dried fruit typically grown in southern Chinese provinces such as Guangdong, Guizhou, Hunan and Jiangxi. In the U.S., luo han guo or monk fruit is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) for use as a sweetener or flavor enhancer for food and beverages, excluding meat and poultry products.

Monk fruit extract is 150-250 times sweeter than table sugar, has zero calories and carbs, and does not raise blood glucose levels.

Now, you may not want to use this sweetener for one reason or another. If not, the alternative I’d recommend is Stevia. HERE is an article all about monk fruit vs stevia.

Ground Cinnamon

Besides those two main ingredients, what makes apple cider drinks taste absolutely incredible are the warm spices added.

The first one I use is cinnamon. 

This recipe calls for both ground and sticks. That’s because it’s a delicious fall addition with many benefits.

Cinnamon:

1. Has the ability to modestly lower blood sugar levels and improve insulin sensitivity.
2. May help relieve diabetic neuropathy and promote weight loss.
3. Could lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels.
4. Indications for digestion, diarrhea, and bleeding and as a potent antimicrobial, astringent, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant herb.
5. Can help tighten, tone, and heal gut damage.
6. Since it’s sweet, it can also replace sugar sometimes.
7. Can improve heart health.

Cinnamon Sticks

Adding in a couple cinnamon sticks is just icing on the cake. 

But it’s icing that you need to add; all part of the delicious recipe.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Finally, you’ll add in Pumpkin Pie Spice.

True pumpkin pie spice consists of:

• cinnamon
• ginger
• cloves
• nutmeg

There are no additives or preservatives in the best ones out there; just whole spices ready to use.

The pumpkin spice blends are made of common, favorite fall spices that make a great addition to overall gut health year-round.

Two brands I like are:

1. Simply Organic
2. Primal Palate

You can get both of them (for cheaper than the grocery store) at Thrive Market online HERE.

Now that you have all the recipe card ingredients, here is how to make it.

Now, if you want to stop there and just enjoy this delicious drink, you can. 

You can also add items to the pot such as:

1. star anise
2. orange slices (keep the orange peel on, too!)
3. a splash of vanilla extract
4. whole allspice berries
5. any additional spices that make sense for you

But wait….there’s even more!

The next time you make it, I also have a latte recipe you can add the Sugar Free Apple Cider Recipe to.

Spiced Apple Cider {latte recipe}

Click HERE to save this recipe for later.

Here we go with a unique spin on the fall latte using warm apple cider.

Latte Recipe

The traditional latte recipe consists of:

• espresso
• milk

Mine follows suit-ish.

I had the idea for this recipe after creating my hot apple cider recipe.

And once I figured out that part, the rest of this recipe easily fell into place.

To make the Spiced Apple Cider Latte, all you need are some key things:

• apple Cider
• “milk”
• coffee
• collagen peptides
• and Monk Fruit (or sugar of choice)

You see, the Sugar Free Apple Cider Recipe, on its own, isn’t very thick. Which, is obviously to be expected since it’s pretty much just fresh apple juice.

So, to get a thicker latte-like beverage, there are two critical components to add:

Collagen Peptides

Unlike gelatin (HERE are the differences between collagen and gelatin), which will clump if you’re not careful with how/what you add to it, collagen peptides are easily incorporated into any liquid such as this. 

Collagen is also going to give this (already boosted-with-health-benefits) latte a boost of goodness as it aids in healing leaky gut syndrome (along with THESE four other top overall health benefits). 

I always use my own collagen peptides which contain no added sugar, Re-Build.

Steamed Milk 

The other ingredient that helps thicken the recipe is steamed milk.

For this recipe, I used Elmhurst Milked Cashews, which is a non-dairy, Vegan milk I choose and recommend over-and-over.

It’s thick and despite its thickness includes no gums, Carrageenan, or emulsifiers.

In case you are interested in learning more about emulsifiers in food, I have also written about that HERE.

Due to its thickness, it also makes for an incredible steamed milk, which is key for the best drink and incredible latte.

Spiced Apple Cider Latte Recipe

This is an easy drink to drink all season, or perhaps all year, long.

If you liked this homemade apple cider recipe, you might also enjoy:

1. Does Apple Cider Vinegar Make You Poop
2. Slow Cooker vs Instant Pot
3. How to Make a Gut Healing Latte

Disclosure: All opinions started here are 100% my own. I appreciate your support, as this compensation helps with expenses to keep this website up and running, and for me to continue sharing all that I can with you. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

Xox,
SKH