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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!!
I am a teacher and one of my students was asking me to make eggnog for a long time. But I could not find something simple and easy. And I found this recipe this morning and followed exactly the way it’s described. Omg! It tastes sooo delicious. My students loved it. So am I .
I am definitely going to make some for my family.
Loved this recipe, it turned out just perfect!
I found putting all ingredients in a blender with just a shake of nutmeg and 1 tsp vanilla and 1/3 more sugar, then pouring into large sauce pan and heating to 160+ to kill the chance of samonilla it tastes like my favorite eggnog- Hood Golden eggnog.
I went and made this recipe, step by step, and the texture was very chunky and smelled of rotten scrambled eggs. I’m not entirely sure what it was, but we couldn’t get past the smell to taste it.
Unfortunately it sounds like the eggs were not tempered properly (Step 3).
This is absolutely wonderful! I noticed a few comments mentioning the chilled eggnog was chunky – ours also was a little chunky once chilled. As suggested, we added a few tablespoons of whole milk and mixed it with a hand held immersion blender. Absolute perfection!
One note – if you have a candy thermometer, clip it to the side of your pan in the last step (careful not to let it touch the bottom) to cook to exactly 160°F.
Looking forward to trying this with some lower fat and calorie options as well. Thanks so much for the recipe and very thorough instructions!
I don’t know what I did wrong, but it turned out to have the texture of pureed baby food. It wasn’t like egg nog at all ?
Did I over beat the eggs? Maybe overheated it?? Help!
My best guess is that your eggs were not tempered properly (step 3). You want to add the simmering milk just a little at a time to the egg yolks so that they don’t “cook” but slowly get warmed up by the milk, before being added to the pot. They may have also been overcooked in step 5.
You could try blending the batter in a blender with a little milk or cream.
I only added 1/3 cup at a time to the eggs. Should the eggs have been room temperature? Would that help?
I may have overcooked it at the end because I am overly paranoid about raw eggs and I was making sure it reaches 160 degrees.
Also try starting with your eggs at room temperature and adding the milk mix along the side of the bowl when it’s time
I want to try this recipe, as Costco was out of eggnog when I was there today. But I am scared. Rawish eggs? No no no, not at all. It’s a great fear of loving it too much and having it available year round… And I’m already heavier than I’ve ever been.
AHHHH I don’t know what to do!!!
In step 5 the eggs are cooked to a safe temperature for eating.
This is the first time I’ve ever had and made eggnog, and I am so happy I used this recipe. I followed it exactly, and my whole family LOVED it. I did add a splash of vanilla whiskey in for those that wanted it. It was so creamy yet not too sweet. It was the perfect addition to our Christmas meal. Thanks For sharing Lauren!
We were in the store, went to grab eggnog for my 83 year old Dad, and they were sold out, as he said they have been all season. Sooooooo… I pulled out my phone, found this recipe, grabbed the ingredients (enough to double) and made it last night.
WHOA! We are NEVER BUYING EGGNOG AGAIN! ? Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipe!
I waited until the last minute to buy my childhood favorite Christmas drink..eggnog. Store shelves were empty! So I pulled up recipes while in the store and this was the first one that popped up. I bought the cream and headed home. I will never buy store bought again! This recipe makes the most delicious nog I have had yet. Such simple ingredients and so quick and easy to make. It thickened in the fridge but, as the recipe stated it was easy to thin down with a little milk. Beautiful beautiful recipe! Will pass down to my kids.