Honey Baked Ham

So, this year for Christmas I was in charge of the ham. I was very nervous about it, because I've never cooked a ham before. I even thought about buying one from Honey Baked Ham, but because I love my hubby so much I didn't want him to have to stand in the line forever to get it! So - I courageously decided to make my own. This ham was SUPER duper easy to make. The main thing is that you have to baste the ham religiously every 15 minutes to keep it juicy/ tender. It was a huge hit for Christmas. 

Recipe Courtesy of: Chew Out Loud

INGREDIENTS

• Fully cooked, spiral-sliced ham (4-5 lbs)
• 1 cup good apple cider
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup coarse ground mustard (the kind with whole mustard seeds in it)
• 1/4 cup honey

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350F with rack on lower position.
2. Mix together apple cider, brown sugar, mustard, and honey in a bowl.  Mix well to fully incorporate basting sauce.
3. Place ham in a 13×9 baking dish.  Coat ham with a generous amount of sauce.  Bake for 60-70 minutes, basting thoroughly  every 15 minutes.
4. To serve pre-cut slices, arrange slices neatly on a serving dish and brush leftover sauce all over ham slices and serve.  If serving ham whole, be sure to have leftover sauce available for drizzling.  The sauce is what makes this ham so great!
5. *Note:  This sauce is more of a thin au jus consistency, rather than a thick gravy texture.  If you prefer your sauce to be thicker, simply thicken it by bringing leftover sauce to a low boil.  Dissolve a bit of cornstarch (start with 1-2 tsp) in a little bit of water (about 1-2 tsp) and add dissolved cornstarch to the boiling sauce.  Stir constantly until sauce is thickened to your liking.  If you still want it thicker, add more dissolved cornstarch.  (Never add undissolved cornstarch directly to any boiling sauce, or it will become clumpy.)