On our way home from picking out the perfect Christmas tree from our favorite farm last weekend, my love turned to me and said:
We need to pick up some egg nog…
Dun dun dun…
Pick up some egg nog?
You can imagine where this conversation was headed…
You see, he’s a traditional kind of guy. And egg nog is part of his tradition, in all of its chemically-laced, artificially-flavored glory. Eye roll…
I mean, would you look at that ingredient list?
It was settled. Second to taking care of the littles and decking the halls, my Saturday bucket list had cracking the code to **the perfect** egg nog added.
So I set out in search of some inspiration, and attempted this one from my fellow real foodie, Craig over at Fearless Eating. It was fantastic – so delicious – but my darling, the Simon Cowell of recipe experiments, deducted points for the thickness factor. You see, he likes that “coat your throat” effect that conventional egg nog gives its drinkers. Oye.
In fairness to Craig’s recipe – I got a little lazy and probably only used 25% heavy cream to 75% milk. My open container of raw milk didn’t have as much of the heavy cream as I’d have liked. Minor detail.
It was time wing it. My two secret weapons?
Coconut milk and gelatin.
I threw a little of this and a little of that into my trusty Vitamix and went to town. It turned into a metabolism-boosting powerhouse that put the store-bought stuff to shame. Between the medium-chain fatty acids in the coconut milk, the pure protein in the egg yolk and gelatin (read more about gelatin here), and the anti-inflammatory and blood-sugar stabilizing effects of cinnamon, this nog is one to go down in the records books as…wait for it…healthy!
Rejoice! It’s a Christmas miracle! Take that, Hood!
Thick? Check.
Delicious? Check.
Healthy? Check.
Guilt-Free? Check.
Do you loved ones have food traditions around the holidays that they just won’t budge on? Cranberry sauce out of the can? Store bought egg nog? Please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear (so we can commiserate)!
- 2 cups homemade or one can of full-fat organic coconut milk {buy here}
- 2 egg yolks {ideally from pastured-hens}
- 2 tbsp. cold water soluble grass-fed gelatin {buy here}
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract {buy here}
- 1-2 tbsp. raw honey {buy here} or Grade B maple syrup {buy here}
- ½ tsp. ground cinnamon {buy here} or 2 drops Cinnamon Bark Vitality Essential Oil {buy here}
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg, plus more for garnish {buy here} or 1 drop Nutmeg Vitality Essential Oil {buy here}
- Dash sea salt {buy here}
- Optional: good quality rum, bourbon, or brandy
- Place all ingredients in blender {like this one} and blend until smooth and creamy
- Serve with a sprinkle of nutmeg and (optional) dollop of Supercharged Coconut Whipped Cream {recipe here}
Serving Size: 4 ounces
- Calories: 87
- Total Fat: 3 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5 g
- Cholesterol: 92 mg
- Sodium: 19 mg
- Total Carbohydrate: 8 g
- Dietary Fiber: 0 g
- Sugars: 7 g
- Protein: 2g
Image courtesy of Dinner Series
Craig says
December 16, 2013 at 9:20 amThanks for linking to my recipe! And great variation with the coconut milk and gelatin. I’ll send my dairy-free folks this way.
Kristen Boucher says
December 16, 2013 at 11:24 amRight on, Craig! Thanks so much for sharing it with me! Screw Hood! :)