Rich and Creamy Homemade Egg Nog

This post brought to you by Dollar General. All opinions are 100% mine.

My mother-in-law’s homemade egg nog is famous in at least 3 states. Those would be the three states in which her kids now live, plus any other states where the word has gotten out about this rich and creamy goodness. And since she was recently here visiting us for Thanksgiving, I talked her into teaching us all how to make it.

The first thing we did was take a quick trip down to Dollar General to get everything we needed. From sugar and spices to eggs and dairy, Dollar General has what you need for your holiday baking — at great prices as well!

Here’s what you’ll need for the egg nog:

2 quarts of milk (we used 2%)
1 pint whipping cream
1 dozen eggs
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp nutmeg, plus more for each glass

Start the process by heating one quart of the milk over medium heat until it’s hot, but not boiling.

Meanwhile, crack and whisk the dozen eggs together in a separate bowl.

Next, add the sugar to the hot milk. Mix it well and continue to heat, but still not to boiling.

Next comes the only tricky part. The eggs must be tempered before being added directly into the hot milk, so it doesn’t end up as Scrambled Egg Nog. To do this, slowly add some of the hot milk from the pan in small amounts at a time, whisking the eggs as you go, to bring the eggs up to temperature. Continue this until you’ve added a total of about 2 cups of the hot milk to the eggs.

Once the eggs have been tempered, pour the entire egg and milk mixture into the pot.

Continue heating over low to medium heat for around 5 minutes, whisking to prevent scalding or sticking. You will know the mixture is ready when it passes the “spoon test”, which is simply dipping a clean spoon into the pot and then running your finger over the back. If it makes a clean line, it’s ready. If not, heat a little longer.

Once it passes the spoon test, remove the pot from the heat and mix in the remaining milk, vanilla, and nutmeg.

Then, cover the pot and chill in the fridge for at least a few hours or overnight.

After the mixture has chilled, whip the cream until just before it starts to peak.

Then, carefully fold the cream into the egg mixture and pour into a punch bowl or large pitcher for serving.

Top each glass with another sprinkle of nutmeg, and enjoy!

It didn’t take long for the crowd at our house to dive in…

A big thanks to my mother-in-law for sharing this family favorite! Hope you enjoy it, too.

And don’t forget to click over for more great recipes and savings on the Dollar General Holiday page!