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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!!
This is wonderful as is, but I added a pinch of ground cloves, a dash of cinnamon, a bit of freshly grated nutmeg, and used vanilla paste. It’s fabulous! I like mine sans alcohol, but for my husband, I add a shot of a smoky scotch or rum, then top with cloud of whip and more freshly grated nutmeg. I save orange juice jugs to store it in the fridge. What a treat!
Excellent recipe! I just made it and doubled the vanilla …so creamy and tasty. I also blended it to make it smoother.
This was delicious! It is milder than a store bought egg-nog, but very good. My kids loved it too, especially our one year old. It’s a great drink to add needed fat and protein to her diet!
What if I don’t have heavy cream? Will 3 cups of whole milk work as well?
Yes, that’s fine, the taste just wont be as creamy.
Made this Christmas morning (although should have made night before as everyone was impatiently waiting for it to cool 😉 and it was excellent. I couldn’t find my “go to” recipe, and this seemed to be the closest version. It was a huge hit… family said it was the best batch ever. I made two additions… added about 4 x 1″ pieces of orange peel into the mixture on the stove, and only strained them out at the end; plus I beat the egg whites and added about 1/2 of them into the eggnog, whisking them in completely, just before serving. This is my new “go to” recipe! Thank you 🙂
Solo good! Way better than store bought! Thank you bunches❤
I made eggnog my first time ever with fresh eggs from my ducks. Everybody really liked the eggnog !Thanks for a great recipe.It will be a new tradition for me!
So I might have messed something up but I tried to get this to 160 degrees. It got to 150 and then the egg started cooking and it thickened so much that there are chunks of egg in it. I made sure to whisk it the whole time, too. I’m bummed because I looked forward to it. It looked really good til the last minute or so. I don’t recommend letting it cook too long. R
The cooked egg chunks would have most likely happened because the eggs were not tempered properly (step 3). You have to slowly raise the temperature of the eggs up so that they don’t cook, and then you can add it to the rest of the mixture. And then when cooking the remaining mixture you don’t want it over a high heat.
Don’t be dismayed, the same thing happened to me this morning and I started not to attempt to ever try this again, but I hate defeat, so I decided to give it one more try this evening and it turned out perfect.
I didn’t temper it correctly the first time, so I started out with a punch bowl dipper full, and kept adding and whisking it this way until the pot was almost empty. Then I addeded it back on the stove, but I turned the temperature down to just below medium and only beat for 2- 3 minutes until I saw steam rising and the mixture began to coat the back of the spoon. It was ready then.
Give it another try….it’s worth it!
OMG so incredibly good. I’ll never buy it again! Makes it keto with Monkfruit sugar substitute and it was still delicious.
Delicious. I added a little cinnamon with the nutmeg and doubled the vanilla called for, but otherwise kept everything else the same. I also strained the eggnog into the pitcher, just to be sure I didn’t have any egg bits (I didn’t). The recipe easily doubles. Thank you!
How long did you refrigerate your eggnog before serving?