16 Ways To Use Up Leftover Eggnog
If you thought eggnog was just for sipping, you've been missing out on tons of opportunities to use leftover eggnog to infuse all sorts of dishes. According to Homer Simpson, who likes to fill his fridge with eggnog during the holidays, "You only get 30 sweet noggy days. Then the government takes it away again." While the season is usually longer than that, you still sometimes end up buying more eggnog than you need to take advantage of the short buying season. Luckily, if you have leftover nog, there are plenty of ways to incorporate the holiday drink into a variety of everyday recipes.
We've uncovered 16 different foods and drinks that taste amazing with eggnog subbed in for its normal liquid. Once you see our list, you're going to wonder why you didn't think of some of them sooner. A few you may even want to add to your holiday cooking repertoire for years to come. So as the holiday season comes to an end, don't let that carton sit in the fridge until it's too questionable to drink. Turn it into something that will taste amazing.
1. To make French toast
One of our favorite ways to use up eggnog is to use it to make French toast. While you will find recipes that include extra ingredients, we've been making eggnog French toast for years with nothing except bread, eggnog, and butter to grease the skillet. We've found that you don't need extra eggs, sweeteners, or spices because there's already plenty of each in most brands.
However, you can always ramp the recipe up a notch. If you prefer your French toast eggy, go ahead and add the regular amount of eggs to your favorite French toast recipe and substitute in nog for the milk. Some people like to add extra spices and sweeteners too. So you might consider adding cinnamon and nutmeg or pumpkin spice along with vanilla to ramp up the flavor. If you find that it's not sweet enough or want a more caramelized end result, you can add extra brown sugar. Then top it all with real maple syrup.
2. As an ingredient in mashed sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a root veggie that tastes amazing with warm spices like the ones you find in eggnog. Eggnog mashed sweet potatoes are extremely easy to make since a simple version might include just mashed sweet potatoes, butter, and enough nog to reach the right consistency without being too wet or dry.
If you start with a mashed sweet potato recipe, you'll need to substitute the liquid in your recipe (like half and half) for equal amounts of nog. Everything else can stay the same. However, if your recipe normally includes adding spices like cinnamon or nutmeg, you might want to taste the dish first before adding them to ensure you're not adding too much of a good thing and ruining the dish. Too much nutmeg (which is already in eggnog) can especially be overwhelming and ruin the dish. Some fun extras might include golden raisins, brown sugar or maple syrup, and pecans.
3. Instead of milk for hot and cold cereals
If you're looking to add a little holiday cheer to your hot breakfast cereal, substituting eggnog for milk might be just the flavor you didn't know you were looking for. Eggnog might be a little odd in some cold cereal (like Cheerios) because of the texture, but you're welcome to try it. However, with cereal like oatmeal already being on the sticky and thick side, it's more likely to be something you will enjoy both hot and cold.
You can add it to both hot oatmeal and cold overnight oats. Go ahead and make your oatmeal as usual, just substituting eggnog for any liquid you would normally use. If you're making overnight oats with yogurt, you might want to go with half yogurt and half nog. For an extra flavor punch, add in a little cinnamon and vanilla, plus any toppings — like a sprinkling of nuts (especially pecans), dried fruits like golden raisins, and butter. Brown sugar or maple syrup would make excellent sweeteners.
4. To make ice cubes for other beverages
Interestingly enough, you can freeze eggnog for later. So if you find yourself tired of it before you finish the carton in December, you can freeze some for when you're craving it in January. Or, you can just freeze some to have noggy ice cubes for a creamy, nutmeg infusion in your favorite drinks. Just pour the liquid into a regular ice tray and put it in the freezer for a couple of hours to freeze. Then they're ready to use.
These ice cubes work great for a variety of cold drinks. If you want to try them in blended drinks, consider adding them to your morning smoothie, or try blending them with vanilla ice cream (and maybe even some brandy) to make frozen eggnog.
They're also a fun addition to your iced coffee. Since chocolate eggnog is a thing, you could even try putting the spicy ice cubes in your chocolate milk. As the ice melts, it will flavor your drink more and more, so try not to chug it too quickly.
5. In coffee and chocolate drinks
Eggnog helps to bring a little holiday cheer to a variety of coffee and chocolate drinks. The first time we attempted to add some nog to a hot coffee drink, we were worried that we'd end up with scrambled eggs. Never fear; the egg part of the drink blends right in without curdling. You can dress your coffee or chocolate nog drinks with fun flavors like vanilla extract, rum extract, and whipped cream.
To make eggnog coffee or an eggnog latte, you can completely replace the amount of milk or creamer you normally add to your coffee or espresso with the nog. If replacing it completely is overkill, you can go with a mixture that's only about ⅔ nog.
To make eggnog hot chocolate or eggnog chocolate milk, you'll want to switch out about ½ of the milk for nog in your favorite recipe. The same proportions go for making mocha with eggnog (although some people go heavier on the milk than the nog in a mocha). Another idea is to add a little almond flavoring since almond nog is a thing.
6. As a scone or biscuit ingredient
Eggnog makes an intriguing addition to both scones and biscuits. Adding sweet eggnog makes the two far more similar than usual, providing a sweet edge for the biscuits that aren't normally part of a biscuit profile. Consider choosing one as part of your holiday breakfast lineup. You can even double up the flavor experience by serving them with a glass of cold nog.
For eggnog scones, you'll replace the milk and half and half and one of the eggs with eggnog. If it's the flavor of nutmeg that you're craving, go ahead and add nutmeg and/or cinnamon to the scones. Cinnamon chips might make an interesting addition, too. Cinnamon sugar finishes these beautifully.
Eggnog biscuits come even closer to scones when you replace the buttermilk or cream with eggnog and add a couple of teaspoons of sugar. Extra nutmeg and cinnamon will intensify the flavor, too. Serve with your favorite biscuit topping or alone so that the biscuit's unique flavor is the star.
7. To make a White Russian
It's common to spike eggnog with liquor like rum, cognac, or bourbon. However, you can also use it in a creamy cocktail like a White Russian. Imagine everything you love about a White Russian but with the warmth of nutmeg and cinnamon. Suddenly, your White Russian goes from an ordinary drink to one that's destined to make the holidays jollier and brighter.
Eggnog White Russians are a simple creation. A glass for one gets two ounces of vodka, an ounce of coffee liqueur (like Kahlúa), and an ounce of nog. If you're looking for a more intense version, you can use two ounces of each ingredient instead. Then add a spare dash of nutmeg over the top before drinking.
Now that you've tried a White Russian with eggnog, you might try it to replace cream in other cocktails. For example, a mudslide might be another good candidate to nog up for the holidays.
8. As an ingredient in dessert frosting
Eggnog frosting is a decadent addition to a variety of desserts. So put your leftover nog to good use by adding a few tablespoons of it into your frosting recipes instead of — or in addition to – milk. The more of the milk you replace in the recipe, the stronger the spiced flavor will be without needing to add extra nutmeg or cinnamon. This might be another place where almond flavoring might taste good alongside the warm spices.
It's especially delicious in buttercream frosting and cream cheese frosting. You can use eggnog frosting on cakes and cupcakes. It's also an excellent holiday baking choice for topping cookies, filling sandwich cookies, and spreading on top of cinnamon rolls. So the next time you're doing holiday baking that calls for frosting and have some leftover nog in your fridge, don't hesitate to make a substitution and turn your baked creations into something people will be talking about. The nice thing about frosting is that it lasts a few days in the fridge or a few months in the freezer, so you can repurpose it for various treats.
9. As a cake, muffin, or sweet bread ingredient
Eggnog shows up in stores when the weather is cooler and we often start making more sweet baked goods. As your oven is preheating and you're starting to mix together all the ingredients, you might consider substituting nog for some or all of the liquid in the batter of your sweet baked treat. Most recipes we've seen that include eggnog keep the traditional amount of eggs just to ensure that everything comes out as usual.
Perhaps it will jump-start your creativity to imagine adding nog to cake, pound cake, cupcakes, muffins, and coffee cake. It can also add an extra kick of flavor to banana bread. Add even more cinnamon and nutmeg if you want a more intensely spiced end result. Don't shy away from using it to intensify the flavors of already-spicy baked goods like fruitcake or using it in cakes that already have flavors like lemon, almond, or chocolate. Keep in mind that nearly any of these delightful baked goods will pair well with eggnog buttercream frosting.
10. To make pancakes or waffles
Plain pancakes and waffles are fine, but they're even better when you upgrade them with extra ingredients and flavors. If there's a container of leftover eggnog in your fridge, you'll want to grab it next time you make pancakes or waffles. If you're looking for a special twist for your holiday breakfast, this might be it.
Eggnog pancakes and eggnog waffles are easy to accomplish whether you're making them from a mix or from scratch. Just replace the liquid in the recipe with spicy nog. You'll keep the normal amount of eggs in the recipe to ensure the texture stays the same. Some other stir-ins for these spicy pancakes and waffles could include extra cinnamon and nutmeg, vanilla extract, or even rum extract. When they're ready, top them with some real maple syrup and perhaps some roasted pecans. You could even add in apples for a spiced apple version. With a little nog in your pancakes and waffles, you'll have a delightful breakfast or brunch dish with an unexpected twist that fits the holiday season.
11. To make pie
You may have never had eggnog pie before, but once you do, you'll be wondering why you haven't turned this delicious concoction into pie every year. There are two versions that we know of, and both are delightful desserts for the holidays.
The first version of eggnog pie is a no-bake pie that starts with a prepared pie crust. You'll make up a box of instant vanilla pudding using eggnog instead of milk. Then you'll stir in a couple of cups of whipped topping (like Cool Whip) and add a dash of nutmeg. After you fill the crust with the pudding mixture and refrigerate it for four hours, it's set and ready to serve.
The other version is a coconut eggnog pie. It's basically an old-fashioned coconut pie that substitutes eggnog for milk. Using this logic, you could experiment with other creamy pies by switching out the two liquids to make a spiced holiday version.
12. In cookies
Eggnog is an excellent vehicle for transferring holiday flavors to cookies. You can add it to the cookie, the frosting, or both.
Since most sugar cookie recipes don't include milk, you can't just do an easy substitution to make these cookies. Instead, you'll want to find an eggnog cookie recipe to use to get the proportions right. Most seem to contain butter, white or brown sugar, eggnog, baking powder or baking soda, nutmeg, flour, and either egg whites or egg yolks. Some also add in vanilla flavoring, rum flavoring, and/or cinnamon.
Some eggnog cookies also have an eggnog-infused glaze or frosting. Taking from this concept, you could turn any holiday cookies into eggnog cookies with an eggnog glaze or frosting. So let your creativity run wild and add the frosting to anything — from chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies to red velvet cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies — to give them a spicy holiday flavor.
13. As a fudge ingredient
If your normal holiday tradition has been making chocolate fudge to share with friends and family, maybe it's time you branched out to another holiday fudge: eggnog fudge. Those who have had the pleasure of trying different flavored fudges at fairs and festivals know that chocolate isn't the only way to go. And a noggy version makes a perfect foray into the world of creative holiday fudge flavors.
Other than eggnog, butter, and nutmeg, there aren't common ingredients in every version of this creamy treat. Many eggnog fudge recipes start with white chocolate fudge, and some even contain marshmallow cream for more yumminess. Other ingredients that elevate this flavor of fudge include vanilla flavoring and cinnamon. Some people even add rum flavoring, which gives it a flavor more reminiscent of the alcoholic version without alcohol. A sprinkling of nutmeg over the top of the fudge gives it a more festive look and adds even more flavor.
Fudge makes an excellent gift for the holidays. Consider making some to keep and some to give away.
14. As a liquid in bread pudding
If you have leftover bread and leftover eggnog at the same time, it's the perfect chance to make eggnog bread pudding. Everyone makes their bread pudding a little differently, tucking in dried fruits or adding different spices and flavorings as tradition dictates or the mood hits. However, one element is always the same; you have to have liquid to moisten the bread to turn it into a dessert. So substitute your milk, cream, or other liquid with eggnog and watch it transform your favorite bread pudding recipe into something even cozier than usual.
Go ahead and add in some cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla flavoring. Rum flavoring takes it a little closer to the liquor-filled version of the drink. We've even tried it with lemon flavoring, which is a next-level addition. Plenty of bread puddings contain whiskey or whiskey sauce, so why not add a little real dark rum to your pudding or to the syrup or glaze you pour over the top? Extras like golden raisins, apples, or even pecans also taste amazing tucked into the pudding.
15. To make a milkshake
One of the best parts of eggnog season is finding it as an ice cream flavor or ice cream treat flavor. However, if you have both eggnog and ice cream at home, you won't need a great ice cream store to turn them into a milkshake.
To make one at home, you'll need three parts vanilla ice cream to one part eggnog. You can also add a pinch of cinnamon and/or nutmeg depending on your tastes. Then blend the ingredients together in the blender on high until it's all combined. Of course, a milkshake is always better with a huge pile of whipped cream on top. You can sprinkle a little nutmeg on top for garnish and maybe even add a bit of chocolate sauce. However, if you're lucky enough to have some holiday cookies like gingersnaps, you can crumble them up as a garnish, too. If you're feeling fancy, stick a cinnamon stick in the whole thing.
16. As a cheesecake ingredient
A rich, velvety cheesecake is just the place to use up leftover eggnog. The drink adds a hint of holiday spices and a subtle warmth to this already-indulgent dessert.
To add it, simply substitute it for sour cream in your favorite classic cheesecake recipe. If you're making your crust from scratch, you can add nutmeg to the crust. You'll also want to add some nutmeg and maybe even some cinnamon to the filling itself. If you're not worried about nutmeg overkill, you could even add it to the whipped cream topping as well. The extra nutmeg on top will help alert any people digging into the dessert that they shouldn't expect it to be a plain cheesecake.
Adding leftover nog to a classic cheesecake base helps infuse it with a distinctive flavor that embodies the essence of the season. So it's an excellent option for bringing to a holiday feast ... although you may want to keep it home and eat it all yourself.