Apple Vanilla Chai Hot Toddy

RECIPE: Reprinted from Half Baked Harvest Quick & Cozy. Copyright © 2024 by Tieghan Gerard. Photographs copyright © 2024 by Tieghan Gerard. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.

Photo: Tieghan Gerard

November 13, 2024

A warm and spicy toddy for cool evenings.

For Tieghan Gerard’s fourth book, Half Baked Harvest Quick & Cozy, the bestselling author demonstrates her favorite way to cook through quick, easy recipes that use simple ingredients. Her recipe for an apple vanilla chai hot toddy is especially perfect for the fall and winter seasons. “The chai mixed with cider and a touch of vanilla creates the most wonderfully warm and spicy mix,” she writes. It’s only lightly sweetened to allow the apples in the cider and the spices in the chai to shine through.

Ingredients

Yield:2

1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 cup water
2 organic chai tea bags
3 small cinnamon sticks
1 orange slice
Cayenne pepper
Fine pink Himalayan salt
4 oz. bourbon
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. honey
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Tools:small saucepan
Glass:mug
Garnish:apple slice, cinnamon stick, star anise

Preparation

In a small saucepan, bring the cider and water to a boil over high heat. Add the tea bags, 1 cinnamon stick, the orange slice, and a small pinch each of cayenne and salt. Remove from the heat, cover, and let steep until very fragrant and darker in color, about 10 minutes.

Return the pan to medium heat and warm until steaming. Remove from the heat and add the bourbon, lemon juice, honey, and vanilla.

Divide the drink between two mugs. Garnish each one with an apple slice, cinnamon stick, and star anise and serve immediately.

Make it a mocktailOmit the bourbon; replace with additional apple cider.