The winter holiday season is known for its many treats and seasonal foods. These range from hot cocoa and cookies, to ginger bread-flavored Mountain Dew and Kentucky Fried Chicken Christmas dinners (a popular tradition in Japan).

One of the most divisive holiday food items is, of course, eggnog. Some love it, many hate it, but it’s an undeniable staple of the season. Usually it’s found in paper cartons in the dairy section of the grocery store but this recipe will be an all-natural alternative to the traditional nog fare.

If you’re an eggnog fanatic, this will be a great recipe to step up your game, and if the thought of sipping on a combination of eggs and milk makes you gag, this recipe might just change your mind.

Homemade, non-alcoholic eggnog

Eggnog can be dated back to the 13th century, when medieval monks were known to be seen sipping on a “warm ale punch made with eggs and figs.” The thought of bald men in robes wandering around drinking egg ale probably doesn’t help eggnog’s image, but I swear I’ll sell you on the drink by the end of all of this.

This recipe is non-alcoholic but making a traditional hard eggnog (which is a gross sounding phrase) is as simple as adding an extra ingredient into the mixing process.

One more important note is that this recipe does include raw eggs, which can pose an increased risk of foodborne illness.

Ingredients

• Four eggs
• Five tablespoons of sugar
• Two cups of whole milk
• One cup of heavy cream
• Approx. one-and-a-half teaspoons of ground nutmeg
• One-quarter teaspoon of vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

This recipe is fairly straightforward, and should result in a smooth, tasty eggnog.

The first step is to separate the yolks from the whites of your eggs. There are a few ways to do this that you may see more experienced chefs use, like juggling the yolk back and forth between the two halves of the shell while the white drips into a bowl, but these only serve to show off.

Instead, feel free to simply crack your eggs into a bowl and scoop out the yolks into a separate bowl with a spoon. Not as flashy, but essentially just as effective.

Next, combine the egg whites with about one tablespoon of sugar and beat, either by hand with a whisk or on the slow setting with an automated mixer, until the mixture becomes smooth and fluffy.

If you’re taking this all very seriously, you can specifically beat this mixture until it forms “stiff peaks,” which means that when you lift up your whisk the mixture holds its shape around the peak of the whisk. If you’re not, smooth and fluffy works fine.

Next, combine the rest of your ingredients in another bowl and mix thoroughly.

Finally, combine the two bowls, folding the egg whites in with a spatula, until the mixture forms into a single, smooth liquid. 

Wrap the bowl in plastic and cool, then serve to anyone willing to try it, preferably in a moose-shaped mug.

Hopefully, this recipe will help change your mind if you’re an ardent eggnog hater, or provide a homemade alternative to store-bought cartons for the dedicated eggnog fan. Happy Holidays!

Porisch can be reached at [email protected].