Recipes

Sugar Free Eggnog

In a world of sugar free and keto products, you’d think you would find sugar free eggnog in grocery stores. Yet, I haven’t ever seen it. You can get it lactose free, almond milk, coconut milk, even oat milk based. But they all contain a lot of sugar, and most often, it is high fructose corn syrup. Add in thickeners (all those gums), fake flavorings and other ingredients…and it isn’t good. I find eggnog is so much sweeter these days, and it increasingly tastes fake.

So I got to working on recipes for eggnog. Now, my sweetener of choice won’t be everyone’s choice. And that is OK. For me, it works. I don’t like cooking with monkfruit when I am heating it up, it tends to crystalize. So in this recipe I opted for Sucralose, which blends well when heated up. But you can use what you like, and yes, monkfruit granulated will work. So because of using Sucralose, this recipe isn’t keto. Now…this is where I just don’t care. I am not 100% keto. I still eat carbs (just a lot less of them). I have tried hard to rein in my sweets consumption, so wether or not it jacks up my blood sugar is a thing (some claim it does, others say it doesn’t), it’s OK for me. It’s a treat. A rare treat now. But when I do have a sweet treat, I just want to enjoy it! So depending on what I am cooking, is what sweetener I use. For baked goods and cold recipes I use monkfruit, which is keto friendly. But if it’s being cooked, over heat (pudding, lemon curd, eggnog), it’ll be Sucralose.

Now that I got that out of the way, let’s get cooking! This is best made a day early, so it can chill and develop its flavors. And yes, you can make it full fat, using all half and half, or even heavy cream instead. I prefer it a bit lighter in chugging texture……I am not in the “sipping on liquid butter” crowd yet.

Sugar Free Eggnog

Ingredients:

  • 6 large eggs
  • ¾ cup sugar free granulated sweetener
  • 2 cups half and half
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Set up a double boiler on a smaller burner. Turn the stove to low. (If you don’t have a dedicated double boiler, place a heat safe mixing bowl – such as Pyrex – on top of a heavy saucepan with an inch or two of water in it.)

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, save the whites for another purpose (egg scrambles are a good use).

Whisk the egg yolks together and add to the double boiler, whisking in the sweetener. It will be a thick paste, very thick. Whisk it for a minute, then slowly whisk in the half and half. Take a small spatula and scrape the bowl sides to ensure all the egg is whisked in as well.

Let cook for 15 to 25 minutes, whisking often. It will slowly thicken and then become very thick.

Turn off the heat, whisk in the remaining 2 cups milk, nutmeg and vanilla.

Take a fine mesh sieve strainer, and pour the eggnog through it into a heat safe container. While you can skip this step, it catches any egg whites and produces a smooth drink.

Pour into a quart mason jar, let cool in refrigerator with lid off for a few hours, then seal.

Shake well before serving. And always top with sugar free whipped cream (did you know Safeway carries this?)

~Sarah