Every year the same thing happens at our holiday table. Someone buys a jug of party punch that is mostly sugar and soda, and by the second glass everybody is already full and a little sleepy.
This sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch goes the other direction. It starts with a real cooked eggnog base, gets tinted pale pink, chills for hours, then gets very cold sparkling water poured into it about a minute before it hits the table.
I already keep a classic sugar-free eggnog on this site for the pitcher-style pour, and that recipe is not going anywhere. This is the fizzy pink peppermint party punch version, made to sit in a 1½-quart glass bowl while a crowd helps itself. If you want something you can hand around in cups instead, the classic is still the better recipe.
A quarter teaspoon of nutmeg, a quarter teaspoon of alcohol-free peppermint flavoring and two or three drops of sugar-free red food coloring do all of the holiday work here. There is no sherbet, no soda and no rum in this sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch, and there is no raw egg in it either.
Why You’ll Love This Sugar-Free Peppermint Eggnog Punch
- Cooked, never raw. The yolks are tempered with warm almond milk and stirred to 160°F (71°C), so this is a cooked base, not a dressed-up raw egg drink.
- Fizzy at the last second. The sparkling water goes in right before serving, which is exactly what keeps the bubbles alive and the foam standing up.
- Peppermint without candy canes. Alcohol-free peppermint flavoring and ground nutmeg carry the whole flavor, so nothing gets crushed and nothing sticks to your teeth.
- Eight generous glasses. Each serving comes in at about 75 calories, 2g net carbs, 3g protein, 6g fat and 0g fiber.
- Real whipped cream, not topping. A third of a cup of cold heavy cream is beaten to soft peaks, folded through, and then spooned over the surface in loose peaks.
Ingredient Notes
Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Unsweetened Original almondmilk (3 cups / 720ml) is the base, and the word unsweetened is doing a lot of work in this recipe. Heat it in the saucepan until it steams, then whisk it into the yolks a half cup at a time.
Two large egg yolks (34g) are all you need. There are no whites in the bowl, and the finished base gets heated to 160°F (71°C) and strained through a fine-mesh strainer before anything else goes near it. That heating step is what separates this sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch from a raw egg drink dressed up with a straw.
FAGE Total 0% Greek yogurt (¾ cup / 170g) is what makes the base creamy instead of thin. Whisk it smooth in its own bowl first, then temper it with a little of the cooled eggnog before that goes into the rest of the pot.
Powdered allulose (½ cup / 72g) sweetens the drink. Allulose is a rare sugar that the FDA allows to be excluded from the total sugars and added sugars declarations on the Nutrition Facts label, and it dissolves cleanly when you whisk it into the yolks at the very start.
The heavy whipping cream (⅓ cup / 80g) needs to be straight from the refrigerator. Cold cream in a cold bowl beats to soft peaks faster and holds its shape when you spoon it over the top. The two or three drops of sugar-free red food coloring are meant to tint the punch pale pink, not to make it pink all the way through.
The fizzy finish is just two ingredients. Very cold plain unflavored sparkling water (1 cup / 240ml) gives you the bubbles, and finely crushed unsweetened freeze-dried raspberries (2 tsp / 2g) go over the foam as pink flecks. Keep the bottle in the coldest part of the fridge until the moment you pour it, because the temperature of the water is half of why this sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch stays bubbly on the table.
If you want to see the per-100g figures behind any of these, USDA FoodData Central lists almondmilk, heavy cream and nutmeg.
How to Make Sugar-Free Peppermint Eggnog Punch
Prep takes 20 minutes, the saucepan work takes 8 to 12 minutes, and then the base chills for at least 3 hours 20 minutes. Almost all of that is waiting, so this sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch is done the morning of your party and poured at the end of it. The order matters more than the knife work, so read the eight minutes in the saucepan before you start the three hour chill.
- Whisk egg yolks and powdered allulose in a heatproof bowl until smooth.
- Heat almondmilk in a saucepan over medium-low until steaming, not boiling.
- Slowly whisk about ½ cup warm almondmilk into yolks, then another ½ cup. Pour back into the saucepan.
- Cook over medium-low, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 160°F (71°C). Do not boil.
- Strain into a bowl and cool about 20 minutes, until lukewarm.
- Whisk Greek yogurt smooth in a separate bowl. Gradually whisk in a little cooled eggnog, then whisk that into the remaining eggnog.
- Stir in peppermint flavoring, nutmeg, and food coloring until pale pink. Cover and chill at least 3 hours.
- Beat cold heavy cream to soft peaks.
- Pour chilled eggnog into the punch bowl. Gently stir in sparkling water just before serving.
- Fold in about half the whipped cream near the surface. Spoon the rest on top in loose peaks, then scatter crushed raspberries over the foam.
That is the whole method. Nothing in this sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch needs an oven, and nothing needs more than a 2-quart saucepan, a thermometer, a fine-mesh strainer, an electric mixer and a 1½-quart clear glass punch bowl to pull off.
Success Tips
Add the sparkling water, whipped cream and raspberry flecks only just before serving. All three of them are what make a sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch look festive, and none of them survive sitting out for an hour.
Temper the yolks slowly and use a thermometer. Rushing the almond milk into the eggs is the fastest way to scrambled eggs instead of a smooth base, so pour in about half a cup at a time and keep stirring.
Add the yogurt only after the base cools to lukewarm. Warm eggnog plus cold Greek yogurt is the other common way to end up with a grainy bowl. The 20 minutes of cooling in step 5 is there for a reason, and a thermometer in the saucepan is there for another.
Beat the cream in a cold stainless bowl if you have one. Any sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch that has been sitting in a warm kitchen loses its foam long before it loses its flavor, and a cold bowl is the cheapest fix there is.
Serve immediately for the best bubbles and foam. If the punch is for a dessert table rather than a drink station, the eggnog pairs with a slice of sugar-free eggnog cheesecake better than most anything else on the table.
Serving This Sugar-Free Peppermint Eggnog Punch
Serve this punch immediately, once the sparkling water and whipped cream are in. The base itself chills for at least 3 hours before it is poured, so start this sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch at least 3 hours before serving; the fizz and the foam are added last.
If the bowl has to travel from one room to another, pour the chilled eggnog first and add the sparkling water, cream and raspberries where it is actually being served. That is the only way this one stays bubbly.
For something to hand out with it, this sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch goes well next to sugar-free peppermint bark broken into pieces, or a small square of sugar-free chocolate peppermint lasagna that uses the same alcohol-free peppermint flavoring and pink flecks.
FAQ
Is this punch made with raw eggs?
No. The yolks are tempered with warm almond milk, then the whole mixture is cooked over medium-low with constant stirring until it hits 160°F (71°C). It gets strained and cooled before the Greek yogurt goes in, so this sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch is a cooked eggnog base throughout.
How long does the eggnog base need to chill?
Cover the finished base and chill it for at least 3 hours. Leave the sparkling water, whipped cream and raspberry flecks out until the moment you are about to serve, because that is where the bubbles live.
Is there any alcohol in a sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch?
None. The flavor comes from alcohol-free peppermint flavoring and ground nutmeg, and there is no rum or brandy anywhere in the recipe. That makes it a drink the whole table can be handed.
Why did my eggnog turn lumpy?
Almost always heat. Whisk the warm almond milk into the yolks in two slow additions instead of all at once, keep a thermometer in the saucepan the whole time, and wait for the base to cool to lukewarm before the Greek yogurt goes in.
How much does this punch make?
Eight servings, poured into a 1½-quart clear glass punch bowl. Each glass of this sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch lands at about 75 calories and 2g net carbs, with 3g protein, 6g fat and 0g fiber.
Once you have made it a single time, this is the sugar-free peppermint eggnog punch that ends up on the holiday table every year.
Sugar-Free Peppermint Eggnog Punch (Fizzy, Non-Alcoholic)
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Whisk egg yolks and powdered allulose in a heatproof bowl until smooth.
- Heat almondmilk in a saucepan over medium-low until steaming, not boiling.
- Slowly whisk about ½ cup warm almondmilk into yolks, then another ½ cup. Pour back into the saucepan.
- Cook over medium-low, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 160°F (71°C). Do not boil.
- Strain into a bowl and cool about 20 minutes, until lukewarm.
- Whisk Greek yogurt smooth in a separate bowl. Gradually whisk in a little cooled eggnog, then whisk that into the remaining eggnog.
- Stir in peppermint flavoring, nutmeg, and food coloring until pale pink. Cover and chill at least 3 hours.
- Beat cold heavy cream to soft peaks.
- Pour chilled eggnog into the punch bowl. Gently stir in sparkling water just before serving.
- Fold in about half the whipped cream near the surface. Spoon the rest on top in loose peaks, then scatter crushed raspberries over the foam.
Notes
- Add sparkling water, whipped cream, and raspberry flecks only just before serving.
- Temper yolks slowly and use a thermometer.
- Add yogurt only after the base cools to lukewarm.
- Serve immediately for the best bubbles and foam.