How to Make a Copycat McDonald’s Eggnog Shake at Home

Getty Images, Nancy Mock for Taste of Home

The most wonderful time of the year is seeing holiday fast-food menu items return, like Dairy Queen’s Frozen Hot Chocolate and the McDonald’s Holiday Pie. But it’s harder to find the McDonald’s Eggnog Shake, even in December. The exact timing for when the milkshakes will appear at McDonald’s is tricky to pin down. This seems to me the perfect excuse to create a copycat recipe, so we can all have a rich McDonald’s Eggnog Shake at home while we wrap gifts!

Here are more McDonald’s copycat recipes to help you skip the drive-thru.

What’s in an Eggnog Milkshake?

The ingredients are pretty simple: eggnog and ice cream, plus a little spice to make it nice. The best thing about making your own is that you get to skip the additives that typically go into McDonald’s milkshakes. It also gives you the freedom to play with flavors. Want to use pumpkin eggnog instead? How about extra whipped cream? Extra cherries? This eggnog shake is all yours!

How to Make a Copycat McDonald’s Eggnog Shake

Nancy Mock for Taste Of Home

This recipe comes together quickly in a blender. In fact, making these eggnog shakes takes less time than driving out to buy one! This recipe makes 2 large milkshakes.

Ingredients

• 3-1/2 cups vanilla ice cream
• 1-1/4 cups eggnog
• 1 teaspoon rum extract
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg plus extra for sprinkling
• Whipped cream
• Maraschino cherries

Tools You’ll Need

Ice Cream Scoop

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Blender

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Milkshake Glasses

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• Ice Cream Scoop: This Zeroll scoop earned top marks in our Test Kitchen’s search for the best ice cream scoop.
• Blender: Look for a Test Kitchen-preferred blender like this one to quickly whip up the milkshakes.
• Milkshake Glasses: Use two vintage-inspired glasses for an authentic soda fountain feel.

Directions

Step 1: Add ingredients to the blender

Nancy Mock for Taste Of Home

Place your milkshake glasses into the fridge or freezer to chill. Scoop the ice cream into the blender, and then pour in the eggnog, rum extract and nutmeg.

Step 2: Blend it up

Run/pulse the blender to combine the ingredients until the mixture reaches a thick, milkshake-y consistency.

Step 3: Serve!

Divide the milkshake mixture between the two chilled glasses. Top each shake with a generous swirl of whipped cream, then sprinkle a dash of nutmeg over each one. Top the eggnog shakes with a maraschino cherry. You’re ready to serve!

Here’s What I Thought

Nancy Mock for Taste of Home

If I may say so, this copycat McDonald’s eggnog milkshake may just be even tastier than the fast-food version. My family loved them! They’re rich, sweet and full of that wonderful holiday spice flavor that’s so lovely at this time of the year. The extra nutmeg helps bring that flavor forward so it doesn’t get lost in all the vanilla ice cream.

What really makes this eggnog shake taste… eggnoggy is the dash of rum extract. Even if you don’t normally drink rum, trust me. The extract is delicious here and really enhances the flavor of these shakes. Eggnog is traditionally made with spirits like bourbon or rum, so the flavors are a natural pairing. Look for rum extract in the baking aisle where the vanilla extract is stocked.

I’m so excited to make these shakes again with my family. They may just replace our traditional Christmas Eve cups of plain ol’ eggnog! (But we’ll still hang on to these other holiday traditions.)

How to Make a Boozy Eggnog Milkshake

For an adult version of this McDonald’s eggnog shake, try adding spirits like spiced rum, bourbon, brandy or a hazelnut liqueur like Frangelico. Replace the rum extract in the recipe with two shots of your preferred liquor. If this makes the shake a little thin, blend in some extra ice cream.