Use your Egg-Noggin with this one...

While I intended the Triamisu brownies to be the last recipe post before Christmas, I had a request for my Low Carb Eggnog recipe. Who am I to deny such a simple request?

Traditionally, eggnog is extremely sugary and thick, so obviously very outside of the boundaries of what we should have as low carbers/bariatric patients. But living post-op doesn't have to be miserable. You don't have to sit there and watch your loved ones eat the good food without you!

example of nutrition for traditional eggnog

This version isn't quite as thick, but is just as sweet with a much lower carb count! If you'd prefer to thicken it up a bit so it's closer to the traditional texture and viscosity, you can whisk in 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum. This will thicken it without really changing the nutrition at all. The nutrition for my eggnog includes spiced rum. If you prefer to make it non-alcoholic, go right ahead! The lack of fluid will make it slightly thicker, so keep that in mind. I replaced part of the heavy cream you'd usually use with a vanilla flavored protein shake to up the protein in this, which you can always cut out and just use an additional cup of heavy cream. Additionally, you can use regular milk, Fairlife milk, any milk substitute that you prefer or nut/grain milk with protein added. I intended on using Orgain's protein added almond milk, but I couldn't find it at my local store, so I just got regular almond milk. Obviously, any of these changes will significantly impact that nutritional information, so keep that in mind. As long as you make good choices with your substitutions, this can be an incredibly delicious and still relatively healthy indulgence to go with your Holiday celebrations. I will list additional alterations below the recipe. This is one of those recipes that you can very easily tweak to suit your tastes without ruining anything.

Low Carb Eggnog (W/ Rum)

• 2 cups almond milk
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 11-13 oz protein shake of choice
• 6 eggs, seperated
• 1/4 cup sugar free salted caramel syrup
• 1/2 cup baking Splenda
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• dash of ground cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup powdered Swerve
• pinch of salt
• 2 cups of spiced rum
• alternately: 1 oz per serving

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar free syrup, splenda, almond and vanilla extracts and heavy cream.
2. In a medium sauce pan, combine almond milk, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and salt and heat on low until steaming, stirring occasionally.
3. When milk mixture is steaming, remove from heat and slowly temper into egg yolk mixture. Pour back into the pan and place back over low heat, stirring continuously until mixture is thickened to a thin custard consistency.
4. Remove mixture from heat and pour into your mixing bowl. Place bowl in the fridge for 30-60 minutes or until custard is fully cooled.
5. When custard is cooled, whisk in almond milk and protein shake. If you're not serving this immediately, this is when you would put your eggnog into a container to store until you're ready to serve. Once ready to serve, continue on to the following steps:
6. In a separate glass or metal mixing bowl, add egg whites and cream of tartar. Using a hand mixer (or a whisk if you're really industrious), whip egg whites until they begin to get foamy. Continue whipping and slowly add powdered Swerve. Whip until egg whites reach stiff peaks.
7. Remove cinnamon sticks from cooled eggnog mixture and add rum then mix to thoroughly combine. Add whipped egg whites and gently fold in.

Substitutions:

• A mix of protein powder of choice and milk of choice in place of pre-made protein shake.
• If you aren't a huge fan of nutmeg, you can lower the amount to 1/2 tsp.
• Sub spiced rum out for cognac or whiskey. Or leave the alcohol out completely.
• If you are uncomfortable with consuming raw egg whites, you can omit this step. Your nog will be thinner and more dense.
• Substitute whatever flavor of sugar free syrup you'd prefer for the salted caramel syrup I used.
• You can use whatever sweetener you'd like in place of the Splenda, but you need to use a powdered sweetener for the egg whites.

 
Of course, there's any number of other things you can do to change this recipe up, but this is the basics of the options I've thought of while creating this recipe. This isn't the best recipe when it comes to being nutritionally bariatric friendly, but it is much better than some. I sacrificed a bit of the nutrition for the taste of nostalgia.