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Merry Christmas Eve Eve! Yes, that’s a thing. 😛 This cranberry wassail is a thing too – a very good thing, a Christmasy thing, a vibrant thing comprised of many delicious things like cinnamon and orange and allspice. It will make your house smell like Christmas (plus it tastes good).
The recipe below makes approximately one quart, so there’s a good chance you’ll want to multiply the batch so you can share your wassail with friends or have some left over. I’ve included a suggestion for making it in the crockpot; just check the Notes section of the recipe.
Trim Healthy Mamas, I don’t know if this qualifies as an all-day sipper or not. The only reason it might not be is because of the cranberries involved, but most of those get strained out anyway so I would personally feel comfortable sipping on this all day without worrying about trickle-feeding my body with extra fuel. Don’t quote me on that, though.
As written, this wassail packs some strong flavors, which I love. (You should know that by now….) If it’s too strong for your tastes, feel free to dilute it with some extra water.
Don’t have the spices I used? Feel free to improvise with others that you think will taste good (such as cinnamon). However, without the allspice and cloves, it won’t be quite the same. Fair warning. 😉 I definitely recommend using cinnamon tea bags in this; they provide a lovely, full-bodied backdrop for the bright cranberry and other subtler flavors in this wassail.
As always, check out the Notes section of the recipe for extra info. Check out the links in and below the recipe to see the products I use and recommend. Some of the links included in the recipe and blog post are affiliate links, which means that if you make purchases through these links, I make a small commission to help defray the costs of running this blog (at no extra charge to you). Thanks for your help!
You may also enjoy:
- Starting THM
- my recipe index
- my recipes grouped by fuel type, allergy info, and theme
- Christmas-themed recipes
- Monday’s roundup of peppermint recipes
- all my cranberry recipes
- 5 c. water
- 1 c. whole cranberries
- 3 cinnamon spice tea bags
- Zest from one orange
- 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp. THM Super Sweet Blend
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp. allspice
- ⅛ tsp. each cardamom, ground cloves
- ⅛ tsp. THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
- 1/16 tsp. salt
- Whisk all ingredients together in a saucepan, bring to a boil, use a potato masher to mash the cranberries, and simmer (uncovered) over medium heat for one hour. Strain and serve. If the wassail is too strong for your liking, dilute it with more water. Adjust the sweetness as desired.
You could probably cook this in the crockpot for a few hours (on high until it starts to bubble around the edges, then low). Crack the lid open for the first hour, then cover it so too much liquid doesn't evaporate.
Suggested products:
If I added baobab powder how much would you add?
I’m really not sure – I haven’t used baobab that much.
Is this something that could be made in the instant pot? If so, how long should I program it for?
I’m sorry – I’ve never used an instant pot so I’m not sure!
Made 2 quadruple batches of this yesterday because when I got to Walmart early in the morning looking for Cinnamon tea, I didn’t pay attention to the fact that the only Cinnamon tea they had was Black Tea….and it was for a evening Christmas party/dinner and I did NOT want to have caffeine at that time of day. lol So, I finished that batch and later went back out to the health food store that carried a larger selection of Celestial Seasonings teas and got the Cinnamon Apple Spice that I was originally looking for. ha! Anyway, this wasn’t a THM friendly gathering and most people were drinking sugar-laden iced tea or soda and weren’t even interested in something hot. {{sigh}} Oh well. But I drank hot wassail, then iced wassail. Both yummy. And of course I’ve brought home most of the batch and decided I would freeze it in muffin tins so I can enjoy it over the next few weeks!! Thanks for this recipe!!!
I am doing a Fuel Cycle and today and tomorrow are Deep S. The moderator says this recipe is not allowed in Deep S because of the cranberries. I am not sure I agree. What do you think?
I’m sorry for the delayed response…I’ve been out of town. Cranberries are technically a berry, and berries are not allowed in Deep S, I’m afraid. 🙁
This is exactly what I needed! What should I do if I don’t have that kind of tea?
I highly recommend getting some kind of cinnamon tea for that extra cinnamon flavor. 🙂
Thanks! I’ll grab some at the story today. I did make it with Rooibos (all I have) and added some cinnamon, and it was delicious. Now to try it with the right tea! Thank you for all of your wonderful, spicy, and delicious recipes!
I’m glad you enjoyed it with your tweaks!
I’m making this tomorrow. Do you boil the tea bags first or rip them open, pour in the loose tea, and steep with everything?
You add the tea bags (whole and unscathed) along with the other ingredients and simmer, then when you strain the mixture, you strain those out as well. 🙂
Thank you! 🙂 I’m really excited to try this!