How to Make Eggnog at Home
Eggnog is really easy to make and inexpensive, and by making this easy eggnog recipe, there are no sketchy ingredients of the store-bought version. Let me show you how to make a delicious holiday eggnog without alcohol!
If you’ve been following me for a while, you might know that I love to make food from scratch. Oftentimes, they are super easy and quick to make. Better yet, not only are you skipping sketchy ingredients, but you can also control what goes in it (how much sugar, etc). Homemade eggnog is one such example!
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Why make this easy eggnog recipe?
I get it. Sometimes, it seems so easy to just grab it from the dairy shelf. Done. But have you checked the ingredients? Often, store-bought eggnog contains all sorts of thickeners, stabilizers, artificial colors, and flavors. That is how they make them so thick and creamy. Worst of all, most of them are overly sweet and contain high fructose corn syrup. You can skip all these additives and make eggnog with real ingredients in no time!
Ingredients
All you need for this recipe are eggs, sugar, cream, milk, and spices. That’s it!
Eggs
I use raw eggs to make eggnog. We like to buy local eggs from pasture-raised chickens. If the thought of using raw eggs makes you uncomfortable, you can absolutely use pasteurized eggs. Pasture-raised egg yolks have a deep yellow, almost orange color as opposed the pale yellow egg yolks of caged chickens, which will give your drink that distinct creamy yellow color.
Sugar
Sometimes, I use organic cane sugar, and sometimes, I use organic coconut sugar (I prefer to buy them in bulk, though to avoid plastic packaging and get a better price).
Coconut sugar is my first choice, but it will give your eggnog a darker color. If you want a “clearer yellow” you can use regular sugar. Also, we don’t like our drink too sweet. Therefore, I use less sugar than most recipes.
Feel free to add more to taste! If you’d like to further reduce the amount of sugar, you can substitute stevia for traditional sugar. I find that mixing stevia with sugar hides that distinct off-taste of stevia. My favorite one for this recipe is an English toffee stevia.
Milk and cream
Our family drinks raw milk, so that is what I use for this easy eggnog recipe. Again, if that makes you uncomfortable, you can use pasteurized milk. Organic milk from grass-fed cows would be best, but use what you can afford.
The same goes for the cream. I really encourage you NOT to use ultra-high pasteurized milk and cream. These have been heated long and high enough to kill everything in your milk so that it becomes completely shelf-stable. I don’t even know why they stock them in the refrigerated section.
Spices
The most important spice in eggnog is nutmeg. Obviously, you can use less for a subtle nutmeg flavor or use more to really feature it. I do think that’s the beauty of homemade food: that you can adjust the ingredients and taste to your liking. We will also add a bit of cinnamon and some vanilla extract.
Again, this is an eggnog recipe without alcohol, but you can spike yours with alcohol if you’d like.
If you’d like to spike it, or if you’re uncomfortable with using raw eggs and dairy, you can add some rum, bourbon, or cognac to it. If you do that, reduce the amount of milk so that it doesn’t become too runny.
Equipment
You’ll need some measuring cups and spoons. Any blender works but I have been loving my Vitamix for over a decade. Alternatively, you could use a hand-held immersion blender.
How to make eggnog with no alcohol
- Put 4 eggs and 1/2 cup of sugar into your blender and blend on medium for about 20 seconds
- Add 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon, and 2 tsp of vanilla extract and blend to combine.
- Now add 1 1/4 cup of milk and 1 1/4 cup of cream and blend until creamy (about 15-20 seconds). Done!
- Pour the eggnog into a glass bottle or mason jar and store in the refrigerator. You can enjoy it immediately but I think that it tastes better the next day. Since you are not using any stabilizers, your eggnog might separate a bit. If that’s the case, simply shake it before serving.
Hint: If for any reason you can’t make eggnog at home and are looking for a store-bought version, try this one if you can find it!
Easy Eggnog without Alcohol
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup sugar (adjust to taste and/or add some stevia)
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- 1 ¼ cups cream
Instructions
- Put the eggs and sugar into a blender and blend on medium high for about 20 seconds
- Add the spices and quickly blend to combine.
- Add the milk and cream and blend for about 15 – 20 seconds.
- Pour the eggnog into a glass bottle or mason jar. Store in refrigerator. You can enjoy this immediately but it tastes better after 14 hours.
- If the eggnog separates a bit, simply give it a good shake before serving.
- You can also make this eggnog with a handheld immersion blender.
Notes
- Optional: you can make this an adult eggnog by spiking it with some rum, bourbon, and/or cognac.
Nutrition
Other Holiday Favorites
Healthy Classic Cinnamon Star Cookies
Well, you never seize to amaze me Anja! I’ve had several of your recipes on my “to-make” list for awhile. While I’m not the type to be a show stopper at holiday gatherings, I may just have to be with this eggnog.
Awww … thank you for your sweet comment, Dana!! This eggnog may just be the show stopper you’re looking for (and you don’t need to tell anyone how quickly you whipped it up)!
This looks delicious and I will definitely be making an adult and child friendly version this Christmas season! Yummy!
That’ll be so cheery and you’ll love how quick and easy it is to make 😊
Homemade eggnog is the way to go. I usually make mine with coconut sugar, too. I wish I could make mine with raw milk and cream! It’s not available in Canada and farmers can get slapped with a steep fine if they’re caught selling it on the side. I can only imagine how much more delicious this would be with raw milk though!
Yep, us homemade ladies 😉. I am so sorry that you can’t get raw milk but it will still be delicious!!
Everyone always makes things seems to scary using raw. It’s scared me times when I’ve so badly wanted too! We have our own chickens, ducks, and there eggs are so amazing! To be honest I didn’t think I could make eggnog this way. I wish I could find raw milk and cream!! That would be Amazing. Thank you sooo much for sharing such a organic re recipe and not being afraid to actually tell everyone to make it raww!!! Bless you. Can’t wait to try it!
Depending on what state you live in, you might be able to get raw milk and cream from farms or in grocery stores. You can use this link: https://www.realmilk.com/raw-milk-finder/ Hope this helps ~ Anja
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to make it!
Thank you and have fun making it!!
I love eggnog. I can’t wait to make this!
Yeah – and enjoy 💜
I didn’t know egg nog was this easy! Definitely want to try this spiked for the holidays!! thanks so much!
Thank you! Spiking definitely makes it more festive 😊
I am so making this. Love your suggestions and we will be using our raw milk for sure. Thanks for this!
Thank you! I am sure you’ll enjoy your (raw) eggnog as much as we do 🙂