Healthy Eggnog (dairy and non-dairy options)

A healthy eggnog that’s cooked (meaning no raw eggs) and honey-sweetened. This eggnog can be made with dairy milk or non-dairy milk if preferred.

Buying eggnog from the store is really convenient but I’m definitely not loving the ingredient list. So here’s a healthy eggnog recipe that’s even naturally sweetened with honey!

If using full-fat milk, you’ll get an incredibly thick and rich eggnog.  But the nice thing about this recipe is that you can make it low-fat (if that’s your thing – I prefer whole milk dairy), using whatever kind of dairy milk you like or you can make it dairy-free (and especially low-calorie) using unsweetened non-dairy milk.

If you use almond milk and tapioca starch / flour (instead of cornstarch), then this healthy eggnog is also paleo. 

You can also add rum if you’d like, but consider reducing the milk slightly to maintain the eggnog flavor.  This is just how we enjoy it so feel free to play around with the recipe and make it your own. 🙂 

Since starting to use freshly grated nutmeg, I completely 100% recommend it, but if you don’t have any, store-bought ground nutmeg will work.  We love the nutmeg flavor but if you’re not too sure, you can start out with less and taste your drink before adding more. 

You can even play with the spices and add some cinnamon if you want. You can also make it sweeter by adding a little more honey, or for a really delicious drink try scraping half a vanilla bean into the milk and letting it cook for a few minutes at a simmer before adding the egg.

If you try out this healthy eggnog recipe, I’d love to hear what you think! If you make more than you need, try this eggnog baked oatmeal!

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Healthy Eggnog

Ingredients

• 3 cups (710 ml) milk - any kind except canned coconut milk (use almond milk for paleo)
• 2 large eggs (50 grams each, out of shell) + 1 yolk
• Very tiny pinch of sea salt
• 1/4 cup (80 grams) honey
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch or tapioca starch for paleo
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• tiny pinch of cloves
• 1/2-1 teaspoon good quality vanilla

Instructions

1. In a medium-sized pot, heat the milk over medium heat. 

2. To speed the cooling process if you're not serving it warm, you can start with 2 cups of milk in your pot and add 1 cup of cold milk after the honey has been added and stirred in. 

3. In a small bowl beat the eggs and yolk along with the cornstarch and pinch of salt.  The cornstarch may clump but keep beating and it will combine.  Set aside. 

4. Measure out your honey and set aside and grate your nutmeg directly into the milk and add the cloves while the milk is heating.

5. Once the milk is hot but not quite boiling, take a small ladle-full and pour it into your bowl of eggs while whisking the eggs to temper them. 

6. Then pour your eggs directly into the hot milk while whisking quickly.  Keep whisking until the milk comes back up to temperature and thickens.  Once it's thick and completely cooked, remove from the heat and stir in the honey and vanilla. 

7. Consider running the eggnog through a fine-mesh sieve or strainer before serving or sealing tightly and storing in the fridge to catch any pieces of egg that have cooked or large pieces of nutmeg and to ensure it's nice and smooth. Keep refrigerated for 2-3 days.

Recipe Notes

For a non-dairy version use only 2 1/2 cups milk, and increase the honey by 1-2 tablespoons.  The non-dairy version will naturally not be as thick so you can increase the cornstarch by 1/2 teaspoon if desired.

Post updated 12/2019. Here’s one of the old photos. 🙂

Tagged as: cooked, dairy, drinks, eggnog, honey, honey sweetened, no raw eggs, no refined sugar, non-dairy, nutmeg, recipe, sweet