It’s a lame Monday morning with 1 hour less sleep than usual and you’re probably thinking about this weekend.
So let’s talk St. Patrick’s Day. :)
It’s on Saturday. Fun will be had. Drinks will be consumed and parades will be watched. And we’ll probably be missing a lot more than 1 measly hour of sleep. Consider today your sleep deprivation training for the 17th.
Picture with me if you will, a thick and creamy homemade Baileys Irish Cream, free of any glycerol monostearate, dairy cream, refined sugars, maltodextrin, artificial flavours, modified milk ingredients, and colour.
I have no idea what I just typed.
Using just 5 natural ingredients, this homemade Baileys has a light hint of coconut and espresso. It’s vegan, but you’d never know it.
I also never would’ve guessed that Jameson Irish Whiskey would be vegan either. Who needs Guinness when you have this bad boy?
Last year, when I was putting together one of my vegan recipe round-ups, I came across Janessa’s submission for her vegan Baileys Irish cream. I suddenly realized that a homemade version didn’t look so difficult after all. I filed the idea away for later and finally got around to trying out my own version last week.
Coconut milk provided the ultra creamy texture. I “cooked down” the coconut milk with some Sucanat (or use brown sugar), until it thickened, for about 10 minutes.
During my first trial, I cooked it down too long and discovered how to make vegan condensed milk!!
Check out how thick and creamy this is after about 20 minutes, cooking down 2 cans of full fat coconut milk and 1/2 cup of Sucanat. I’ll have to use this in a baking recipe…it’s crazy delicious.
I decided that I didn’t want it that concentrated for the Baileys, so I bottled up the first attempt and went back to the drawing board. This time, I only boiled it for about 9-10 minutes, instead of 20. It was perfect..slightly thick, but not overly so. I removed it from the heat and stirred in the rest of the ingredients.
Like this homemade espresso. ZING!!! Can you tell I drank espresso all weekend long? You can use coffee too, but I wanted it bold.
Let’s just say that I didn’t feel the effects of the time change at all…..wheeeeeee.
However, my hands may be a bit jittery.
With a pinch of salt and a hefty dose of Jameson, it was complete..and incredibly easy to make! My batch made about 3.5-4 cups, as shown below. The actual yield is unknown because there was a lot of sampling going on!
Ultra creamy and delicious, this vegan Baileys will knock your socks off. And not just because it’s strong! Inspired by Janessa. I’m thrilled with how this turned out. It’s very strong, but then again, the original Baileys is as well and I wanted it to be as close to the original as possible.
Homemade Baileys Irish Cream, made vegan.
Yield
3.5 to 4 cupsPrep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients
Directions
Tip:
You can serve it over ice…Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Add a shot to coffee or tea…
or even bake with it…yessss.
Now I just have to find a way to sneak my Baileys into the pub…
I made this last night and O….M….G….. Delici!
I used have almond milk which didn’t make it as thick but it’s soooooo nice I’m having it in my coffee right now:)
Thank you!
Oh my goodness, I have been waiting to try this recipe out for months now!
December is finally here! (Not that I had to wait until the Christmas season)
I will be attempting this vegan irish cream in a few days and the taste testers will be a house full of vegans and non-vegans attending our Christmas party.
Can’t wait!
You know, if you skip the coffee in this recipe and add it to Root Beer, you just made the best alcoholic root beer float EVER! Absolutely fantastic!
I had to spend christmas away from home without whisky ( the horror)! So guess what I made as soon as I got back. Used Teachers instead of Jamesons, added a dash of nutmeg- I am sooo happy right now!! Happy New Year to you!!
Oh my goodness!! If you haven’t tried this you are missing out!! I’ve made three batches. The one I’m making tonight is for friends at my office. I went to the Container Store and bought some lovely bottles and oh what a gorgeous gift!! Thank you for the recipe!! This is one for the books!!!
!!!!!! Best drink ever !!!!!
If Irish Whiskey were gluten free this would be great! Unfortunately, while the distillation process does remove the gluten protein, the alcohol is still cross contaminated by having contained the gluten to begin with. So, those of us that are extremely allergic to gluten, will react and get very ill from whiskey or any other alcohol distilled from a gluten based carb.
This is so fecking delish. I’m so happy.
This recipe kicked off some excellent St. Patrick’s Day festivities here in Oakville and Toronto. My friends couldn’t believe it wasn’t the original! Thank you Angela!
Really really nice! I infused some loose chai tea in vodka overnight then strained and replaced the jamieson with it and it’s amazing, already pissed at 12.30pm, ah well thats housewife life for you
Wow! I think I LOVE you!! LOL Thanks Angela, your the best!
I saw a non vegan recipe for this and it said it would last for 2 months refrigerated. It used heavy cream and condensed milk. Do you know why this one wouldn’t last that long? Just wondering. thanks!
Hi, just to let you know we recently featured this recipe in our latest Eluxe article.
Feel free to check it out and share it on. We personally cannot wait to try these! :)
http://eluxemagazine.com/magazine/vegan-drinks-for-winter/
Just made this and it’s PERFECT!!! Thank you♡
I came across this recipe where doing a Pinterest search. It’s just cooling, and I am so excited to try it!
Brown sugar works perfectly. I have made this a number of times and always have perfect results. I searched this recipe for a friend who could no longer have dairy and made a batch for Christmas for her. It’s delicious and better than the “real” thing.
Just made this – WOW! The coconut flavour comes thru but that only makes it better
Does this recipe have to have the coffee in it?
DELICIOUS. Though in order to get it to taste like real Baileys I had to add About 20% more sugar. But this is awesome – now I can have Bailey’s cocktails with my vegan husband!
Hi Angela! I started following your blog in 2011 when I was transitioning to a vegan diet. I bookmarked this recipe when you first posted it, and 2 years later I finally made it. Since then…it’s become a tradition for me! I love this recipe! I think it’s better than the original Bailey’s. My boyfriend has a St. Patrick’s Day Birthday, so I can vouch that this stuff works wonderfully in car bombs, coffee, or just by itself. I might have to add it to his birthday cake frosting this year! Anyways, just wanted to go back and add my rating!
Hi Lauren, thanks so much for the comment! I’m so happy to hear you love the recipe – I definitely do, too. :) I think it would be a great addition to cake frosting. Please let me know how it turns out!!
Just to let you know Guinness went vegan earlier this year, so Vegans can now have a pint on Patrick’s Day.
Sooooooo yummmmmy! I used to love Bailey’s but since I don’t drink milk anymore this is a wonderful alternative. It’s actually better because it’s not as thick as Bailey’s! Thank you for sharing your secret with us!
Glad you like it, Joanna! :)
Well, I had less than stellar results. Should have boiled the coconut milk down more, I’m thinking to 2.5 cups, before adding the coffee and whiskey. It tasted pretty good warm.
After sitting in the refrigerator over night the coconut fat congealed on top which shouldn’t have been surprising since it hardens at room temperature. We added the Baileys it to hot coffee.
I’m going to try it again because your recipes have always been superb and I know it was my error.
Should the coconut milk be boiled down to about 2 cups before adding the coffee and whiskey?
Looks delicious!
Can you I use a sugar alternative here, like agave or maple?
Thank you!
Hey Jenny, I haven’t tried another sweetener. I’d say “yes” to subbing in another granulated sweetener, but as for a liquid sweetener this would make the Bailey’s much more liquidy and I’m not sure how long it would take to cook down. Let us know if you try anything out though!
Oh boy.. love love love this recipe! Am up to my second batch this week, oops hehe. It’s as delicious warm as it is cool.
Ooooohhhhhh…… this means I can have a Springbok!!
I loved this, but I think I messed up somewhere by using normal coconut milk in a carton for the “light” coconut milk. Do you think that’s why it wasn’t as thick as it should have been? Thank you though, for this amazing recipe!!!
Hi there Sierra, If you mean the cartoned coconut milk (the kind typically found near soy or almond milk in the grocery store), I do think that’s the likely culprit! Like soy and almond milk, this type of coconut milk is really more of a dairy milk replacement that is best consumed as a beverage or used in smoothies, over cereal, and so on. It’s typically watered down and contains other additives as well, and so it tends to be lighter/thinner than even the “light” canned coconut milk. In my recipes I will specify canned coconut milk. and also indicate whether I used full-fat or light. Another possibility as to why it was thin is that the liquid needed to be cooked down longer than it was. So you could always try throwing it back on the stovetop and simmering it a bit longer until the volume reduces. I hope you still enjoyed the Homemade Bailey’s, though, even if it wasn’t quite as rich!
Nice recipe :)
Side-Note:
I know there is a lot of fighting going on the past few years, within the Vegan community, comparing Animal abuse to the good old Slavery… Doesn’t that make a lot of Vegans, Hypocrits, often supporting Human Slavery, by buying Sugar?
This just made my day. I was so excited I made two batches. I used canned full fat coconut milk (i have way to much of it) & I’m wondering if I should have used a different coconut milk because if I put it on ice the fat cools on top & is not appealing. Thanks so much!
Just made this!! Amazing! Thank you! Xx
Great to hear it was a hit, Emma :)
Wow brilliant mus try this for christmas, I wanted to share to facebook but no share button :(
So excited to try this for christmas gifts! Do you know how long it stays? Does it need to be consumed in a few days/week/etc?
Hi Madison, I’d say this keeps safely at least 4-5 days, but much longer than that and I’m not sure (it’s not very long in our house before it’s all gone! Haha).
Delicious! I used a cup of Jameson and cold brew coffee. Thanks for sharing!!
I’m making this for gifts and would love to be able to tell ppl the shelf life. Does anyone know? Also will it be okay if it’s not in the fridge for a day while transporting ? Sorry for the silly questions!
Fantastic recipe! Made a batch last year, as well as this year for St. Patrick’s Day. This time, I decided to bring a couple jars into the office. My coworkers are not disappointed with this non-dairy alternative! Now we’re all sippin’ Irish coffee until our 10am standup starts. (:
Cheers!
I’m sure your coworkers appreciated the thought! Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all!!
Hi Angela
Do you have to add coffee?
Hey Patrycja, I think you should be able to make this without coffee, perhaps subbing it for more almond milk. That will change the flavour profile a bit, but it should still be pretty tasty!
I made a recipe almost identical to yours and it didn’t call to cook the coconut milk first. The Baileys turned out thick and clumpy like full fat coconut milk. I’m going to dump it out because I can’t even get it out of the container. Does your recipe stay smooth and creamy?
Hey Geri, When chilled, it does firm up due to the fat in the coconut milk, so I recommend letting it sit on the counter before using and then giving it a gentle shake to redistribute.
Tried this recipe and love the idea, but when I put it in the fridge the coconut milk condensed and it was a bit chunky when we drank it…
Hey Jillene, Yes, the fat from the coconut milk does harden when chilled. I suggest leaving the Bailey’s at room temperature for a little bit before serving then give it a good shake.
This recipe is incredible and I am now making batches for Christmas presents. However, I am unsure of the shelf life, how long should this last in a mason jar?
Hey Becca, So glad to hear you love it so much! It should be refrigerated and will last in the fridge for 1-2 weeks I would imagine. It’ll solidify a bit when chilled so let it come to room temp before using and give it a good shake. Hope this helps!
Nice recipe! I am lactose intolerant, and love Baileys! This is a lovely substitute. I used half brown sugar, half golden. It tastes coconutty, which is lovely.
This is so delicious! I just finished making a huge batch and will gift some to my family for Christmas. I used coconut sugar and it worked beautifully. Thank you for a fantastic recipe!!
Hey Tara, I’m so glad you love it so much! Thanks for letting me know. I hope your family loves it too :)
I just made some; it’s beautiful! I love it! Thank you for the recipe!
Hey Armandine, I’m so glad to hear that! I’m making some today too. Have a great holiday!
I just tried making this recipe and it worked really well! I am not keen on coconut flavour in things, so wasn’t sure how this would work out. However, it was really nice! I couldn’t actually taste the coconut in it! I think Baileys is slightly more chocolate than coffee, but that didn’t matter. The end result was as good as a bought drink! I will definitely make it again! Thank you! Xx
I’m so happy to hear that Lucy! Thanks :)
Have you tried this with other milks? Wondering if almond or cashew would thicken up like that.
Thanks!
Hey Emily, I’m sorry I haven’t tried it with anything else. I feel like the high fat content/thick cream from the full-fat coconut milk (and the light a bit) is key for its success, but that said, I haven’t tested it with other milks so that’s just my guess!
I’m going to try it. (I’m allergic to coconuts.)
Will report back!
yes please do! Thanks Emily :)
Dear Angela,
I love this recipe and have made it a lot of times. Recently I started a vegan lifestyle blog in English and German and I have written a review on this recipe, and also translated it into German. I hope that is ok with you :)
http://flymetotheveganbuffet.com/vegan-baileys-by-oh-she-glows/
thanks again for this amazing recipe and kind regards
Nina
This looks great! How long can it be kept in the fridge for? Thanks
Hey Meg, It should keep in the fridge for 1-2 weeks in an airtight container. It’ll solidify (partially) when chilled, so you can leave it on the counter for a bit before serving and then stir it well.
OMG. I wish I knew about this 6 months ago!! Absolutely amazing, just like Bailey’s. Thanks so much for this!!
I think my ‘no drinking at Christmas’ pledge has just gone straight out the window!
Thank you kindly for making the vegan version of “Bailley’s Irish Cream” without the disgusting condensed milk. Very much appreciated! Less calories & healthier!