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You wont believe how easy and DELICIOUS homemade Eggnog is, and this recipe really is the best! Thick and creamy with the perfect mild flavor and hint of nutmeg. You'll never buy store-bought eggnog again!
Eggnog
I absolutely love eggnog! I have nothing against store-bought eggnog–we have it all the time in our fridge this time of year–but this homemade eggnog recipe is truly what dreams are made of! If you've ever thought you didn't like it, you just have to try it made from scratch.
Several years ago I sought out to make homemade eggnog. My first attempt was not a success and left my husband cringing. Let's just say that the completely “raw egg” method of making eggnog is just not for me.
I pressed forward, determined to succeed, and ended up loving this recipe from Cuisine at Home. I used ground nutmeg instead of fresh, because I always have ground on hand. I also ignored their ice-water bath suggestion and just refrigerated it instead.
The end result was liquid gold, and it's become our family's favorite eggnog recipe ever since! Seriously, this homemade recipe will “WOW” even the biggest eggnog snob! For a fun flavor twist, try my Pumpkin Spice Eggnog recipe!
This eggnog recipe is thick, sweet, creamy and smooth, with the perfect flavor. It doesn't contain alcohol (if you'd like to add some, read on for my suggestions), but we are non-alcohol drinkers at my house, and I wanted an eggnog recipe my kids can enjoy too.
How to make eggnog:
Start by whisking the egg yolk and sugar together in a small bowl. Then, in a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine cream, milk, salt, and nutmeg and stir the mixture until it just reaches a simmer. Next temper the eggs by adding small spoonfuls of the hot mixture to the egg mixture.
Stir each spoonful and once most of the hot mixture has been added, add the entire mixture back to the saucepan. Continue cooking and whisking for just another minute or two until it barely thickens. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Then remove it from the heat and add the vanilla. Refrigerate the eggnog mixture until chilled.
We like to serve it with a some whipped cream and an extra little dash of cinnamon and nutmeg on top.
What type of alcohol goes in eggnog?
If you would like to add alcohol to your eggnog, choose a drink with a high alcohol concentration to help counterbalance the sweetness of the eggnog. Common choices of alcohol to add to eggnog include brandy, rum, bourbon or whisky.
Don't miss my Eggnog French Toast!
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Homemade Eggnog
Ingredients
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ground cinnamon, , for topping
- alcohol, optional, see note
Instructions
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a medium bowl until light and creamy.
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cream, milk, nutmeg and salt. Stir often until mixture reaches a bare simmer.
- Add a big spoonful of the hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking vigorously. Repeat, adding a big spoonful at a time, to temper the eggs.
- Once most of the hot milk has been added to the eggs, pour the mixture back into the saucepan on the stove.
- Whisk constantly for a minute or so, until the mixture is just slightly thickened (or until it reaches about 160 degrees F on a thermometer). It will thicken more as it cools.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, and alcohol*, if using.
- Pour the eggnog through a fine mesh strainer into a pitcher or other container and cover with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate until chilled. It will thicken as it cools. If you want a thinner, completely smooth consistency, you can add the entire mixture to a blender with 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk and blend until smooth.
- Serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg, and fresh whipped cream, if desired.
- Store homemade eggnog in the fridge for up to one week.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
This is my second time making this and it is so good! I made homemade whip cream with it and it literally tastes like ice cream!!
Can I ask how you made whipped cream from
This? Wouldn’t the added milk and ingredients to the cream make the eggnog not able to whip up into a fluffy whip cream? Ty! 🙂 I’d love to learn
She made whipped cream to accompany the drink.
You add the whipped cream to top it off at the end when your put it in your glass.
If you’d like eggnog flavored whipped cream you can add eggnog syrup or extract instead of vanilla to your whipping cream
Ummm, it’s exactly the same recipe for an ice cream base that NYT Cooking uses. Unfrozen nutmeg ice cream.
That’s because the custard for homemade ice cream is the same as the custard for egg nog, pudding, custard pie.
I made this eggnog for Christmas Eve. It is out of this world delicious!
Oh. My. Word. So delicious and so easy! As others have said…I’ll never buy eggnog again! Thank you so much for sharing!
Oh wow!!!! This is awesome!!!! My husband loved it!!
Amazing!!! I moved to Germany last March for love and to get married. I was super worried about not having eggnog this Christmas, because it’s not a thing here. Christmas is my birthday, and eggnog is one of my favorite things about my birthday. I tried it and seriously could not be happier!! Going to make my other half and family here try this for sure! Thank you for saving my birthday, and I hope you had a very merry Christmas.
PS. Do you think you could add conversions (Grams/Milliliters/etc.) to the ingredients in this recipe? It would make anyone (American or not) in a foreign country happy. 😂 Thank you again!!
Weird guess you’ve never been to a supermarket? Eierlikör is absolutely a thing here, we just don’t have non-alcoholic ones…
I’ve definitely seen that here. But I was looking for a family-friendly recipe. I have 3 kids that LOVE Eggnog, and there were just no options here. Unless you have found some place that sells it without alcohol? Thanks for the comment though, and please let me know if you have found it in a Supermarkt without hard alcohol. ❤️
So good! and I loved that it wasn’t overly sweet like the kind at the store.
Eggscellent! 😉 And easy!
Thank you for the recipe on how to make this. You actually made my holiday. A bit of background about me: I currently live in Romania and having (non-alcoholic) eggnog was my personal Christmas tradition. …In fact, giving me alcoholic eggnog invoked my rage.
But living in Romania, they do not sell them at stores. Using the recipe gave me a very wonderful personal Christmas and provided me an alternative to the point where I cannot go back to store bought eggnog.
THE BEST EGG NOG EVER!
I will never buy egg nog again.
I have made this twice since Christmas Eve and it is the best. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I am now a big fan of homemade egg nog!
Absolutely fantastic !
This was so delicious. Thank u for sharing
We made this yesterday and shared it with guests last evening. It was delicious, both hot and cold! We did learn the hard way that reheating in the microwave needs to proceed with caution. If you heat it too much, it will turn into custard chunks. 🙂 But SO delicious! Definitely bookmarking this recipe! I am not a fan of storebought eggnog and this is a real treat! I also used Purecane sweetener to cut the sugar in half and it was still amazing! It’s a very rich drink, but perfect for Christmas!
This is perfect homemade eggnog! Thank you so much.