Homemade Mayonnaise

This month's Secret Recipe Club assignment introduced me to Sarah over at Everything in the Kitchen Sink. I have actually visited Sarah's blog to check out her SRC picks each month, which are always absolutely drool-worthy, so I was super pleased to be assigned her blog.

Sarah is a pretty awesome blogger who has been held back recently by a leg injury that has kept her out of the kitchen more than she'd like, but she's getting there. And I know when she is fully back on two feet we're going to see lots and lots of tasty treats.

I had a really hard time choosing what to make.  My first inclination was to make these Apple Streussel Muffin Bites because we like pretty much everything muffin in this house. But then I saw that she'd made homemade mayonnaise.  Hmm... that's something that had always scared me a little bit. Plus, it just uses egg yolks. What in the world would I do with the whites? So I put my laptop aside and decided I'd think it over.

The next day I went back to look again with fresh eyes.  This time, what caught my eye was this delicious sounding recipe for Strawberry Meringue Cookies.  Hmm... those look good, but they just use egg whites... What would I do with the yolks?

I bet you know where this is heading.

Yup.  Made 'em both.

Today I'll share with you the mayonnaise, and I'll share the meringues later in the week.

Mayonnaise is a tricky thing to get right, as it's an emulsion, which means that it's a mixture of two liquids that generally, on their own terms, wouldn't want to mix together.

In this case, those two liquids are egg yolks and oil.

Sarah made her mayonnaise in her food processor. I decided to use my KitchenAid mixer.

I started with the egg yolks.

I whipped those until they lightened in color and became pretty thick.  Then it was time to add the flavorings - like Sarah, I used dijon mustard, salt and pepper. You also add in an acid - usually lemon juice. Which I thought I had. I didn't. So I used apple cider vinegar and hoped for the best.

Once the acid and flavorings were mixed in it was time to add the oil. This is where you have to be super careful. You need to add a lot of oil - almost two cups (sometimes a little more!), and you have to do it slooooowly. Especially in the beginning. Seriously, I was drip-dropping a quarter teaspoon of oil into my yolks at a time for the first quarter cup of oil, then I slowly drizzled about a quarter cup more at a time in a very thin stream.

Now, I had no idea how I'd know when my mayonnaise was, well, mayonnaise. I kept hoping to peer into the mixer and see something magical.

And, believe it or not, one and three quarter cups of oil later, I did!  It looked like, well, mayonnaise!

I was still a little worried - while my mixer was working, I did a quick google search on making mayonnaise in a stand mixer (nothing like preparing ahead of time...), and found a lot of people warning that they prefer to do theirs by hand - that making it in the mixer, often times, the mayonnaise breaks (separates - remember - those liquids don't generally want to combine!).  So the true test came when I transferred the mayonnaise from the mixer bowl to my jar and let it sit for a few minutes.

And guess what?

It stayed together! Woo hoo!

Now, I am going to be completely honest with you here... I wasn't the biggest fan. It's not bad, but it wasn't "wow!" like I was hoping for. I am not sure I am going to be making my own mayonnaise from now on, but it's very nice to know that I can.

And it left me with those egg whites, which yielded very popular results, as I'll share later this week.

Sarah, I can't wait until you are full-force back in the kitchen, and I thank you for your awesome inspiration this month!


Homemade Mayonnaise
(from Everything in the Kitchen Sink)


3 egg yolks
5 tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 cups of extra virgin olive oil
pepper to taste
1/2 tablespoon honey (optional)

Mix the egg yolks together in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, at high speed, until they are thick and have lightened in color.
Add the lemon juice/vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper and continue to mix on high.  Stream in the olive oil very slowly, only a few drops at a time during the first 1/4 cup (I used a quarter teaspoon measure to slowly drip the oil in for the first quarter cup).  Use anywhere from 1 1/2 cup to 2 1/4 cup . . . I ended up using 1 3/4 cups.
Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.  I added a little squeeze of honey to balance the flavors.

Enjoy!