An apple a day

I don't know about you but I believe that apples and cinnamon is a match made in heaven, and fortunately this time of the year it's also the best comfort food to warm your heart on ...ahem, cold days.
Truth be told, it's not really been all that cold here in NE Florida but that's okay in my book. I don't need snow and freezing temperatures to get into the Christmas spirit.

One of my favorite seasonal treats is spiced apple cider caramel from Starbucks. It's sweet and warm and just plain yummy! It's in fact so yummy, that I couldn't stop thinking about recreating it at home for easier access to my treat of the season (without busting the budget).

After some quick experimenting, here's what Little Man and I came up with and have been indulging in ever since. You could almost say it's better than the version from Ye Olde Coffeeshoppe ...

[Oh, baby, watch me stage the ingredients ...]

You'll need apple cider, whipping cream (or whipped cream in a can), cinnamon
and Hershey's Caramel sauce.

[That's my Lucy mug. Little Man chose Linus; and the rest of the
Peanuts gang was in the dishwasher]

Pour some apple cider into your mug and dust with cinnamon.

[This is liquid apple pie ... delicious!]

Nuke your mug with cinnamon-spiced apple cider briefly in your microwave
(or heat it on a stove, without the mug, of course). Depending on how hot you like it
and your settings, 45 seconds is adequate.

Add a splash of caramel sauce (a solid squirt from the bottle - about 2 tbs,
I reckon) and top it off with whipped cream.

Both, the caramel sauce and the cream mellow the acidity of the apple cider
and the cinnamon adds interest and flavor - heaven!

Enjoy!