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!
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Homemade Baileys Irish Cream, made vegan.
Yield
3.5 to 4 cups
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Ultra creamy and delicious, this vegan Baileys will knock your socks off. And not just because it’s strong!
Inspired by Janessa.
Ingredients
- 1 can light coconut milk
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 1/2 cup Sucanat (or brown sugar should work)
- 3/4 cup strong espresso or coffee, or to taste
- 3/4-1 cup Jameson Irish Whiskey, or to taste
- pinch of salt
Directions
- In a medium or large pot, add the cans of coconut milk and whisk. Now whisk in the sugar. Bring to a low boil, stirring frequently. Simmer for about 8-10 minutes, while stirring frequently, until it cooks down and thickens slightly.
- Remove from heat and stir in the espresso or coffee. Don’t have a coffee maker? Just buy a cup from the coffee shop and use that. Add in espresso/coffee to taste.
- Add a pinch of salt and finally the Jameson, to taste. I added about 3/4 + 2 tbsp of whiskey and it was strong, but so is the original! Make it as strong or weak as you prefer.
- Store in sealed jars and serve over ice, with coffee or tea, or in baked goods. The whiskey and espresso settles to the bottom of the jar slightly, so give it a good stir before using. I’m not positive how long this keeps in the fridge, but it’s been good in our fridge for a couple days now and I expect it to last 4-5 days. Well, not technically…!
Tip:
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.
You can serve it over ice…
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…
This post makes me so thirsty ;) And I am jealous of your coffee consumption– I’m definitely feeling the effects of the time change today!
You may have just created a monster. So many flavoring options… I’m thinking this would make a fabulous “adult” shamrock shake!
yesssssss! Maybe added to this: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/03/15/peppermint-patty-green-monster/
Oh wow!!!! Now THIS is what I need to get me going this morning lol! I can see you going places with this recipe Ange… brownies…. frosting…. maybe a Bailey’s green monster?! ;) Can’t wait to see what’s next!
That looks amazing!!! I’m running my first ever race on St. Patty’s day, but this would be the ultimate reward
you are SO creative angela. And I STILL …LOVE your header…although I do really appreciate your love for photography and your wanting to change it! … that’s what keeps you on the edge and popular! it’s awesome, Angela!
Ooooh yes please! Doesn’t look too complicated either, a plus!
ohh man as soon as I read bailey’s in the last post I was hoping desperately you’d post the recipe!!! its also my mom’s favorite so I would love to be able to surprise her with a homemade version :)
I don’t drink much coffee or alcohol anymore, but sometimes on a rainy spring morning I crave Baileys! Also, I’m always looking for ways to impress my in-laws with vegan dishes and I’m sure this is one they’ll definitely enjoy!
That looks WONDERFUL! I’m a huge fan of Jameson, and will definitely use Saturday as an excuse to drink a bit. :)
And yeah- that extra hour lost has majorly messed up my sleep schedule! It will all even out soon though..
Is it bad that I am sitting in my classroom wishing I had some of this to pour into my morning coffee?
…Don’t worry…my students haven’t arrived yet….
it’s one of those days, I think. ;)
My husband loves Jameson. Perhaps I will encourage him to buy a bottle so I can make this…I’m thinking it would be great turned into ice cream?!
Yum! What a great idea to make it yourself – I never would have thought of that! Your recipe sounds great.
Also, I was *just* thinking about how to make vegan sweetened-condensed milk! I’ll have to try this out, for sure. :D
Yum! Perfect time for this recipe!! :)
Oh dear… We officially don’t celebrate St. Patrick’s day here, but you just gave me a very good reason to start celebrating it!
oh how I adore baileys. And frangelico. I never knew it contained all those ingredients though, I think I’ll have to try making my own soon enough.
I’ve seen recipes online and on pinterest for making homemade Baileys/Irish whiskey. I LOVE Baileys and have thought about making my own many times, just never have gotten around to it…and look at you go, making a vegan version!
I could dive into a cup of that and get my day started off very well…haha :)
Yum! I can’t wait to try this.
In the pictures it looks like a your using a French press for the coffee? Did you brew a strong coffee that way or is it an incognito espresso maker? Maybe I’ll have to make 2 batches…one with French press coffee and one with espresso….just purely for comparison purposes you know ;)
I just ground espresso beans and made it in my french press :)
This recipe looks delicious – thank you! But there is some serious coffee misinformation happening here. Espresso is a way of brewing, not a kind of bean. To brew espresso, you need pressure, which is what the process of tamping grounds in a porta filter, and then running the strong current of hot water through it via an espresso machine, provides. The closest approximation you can make at home is by using an aeropress brewer. If you’re using “espresso” beans, that just refers to a style of dark roasting that many people like to use for espresso brewing. If you use espresso beans in a coffee maker, you have not made espresso, you’ve made coffee. Whether your beans are dark or light roast does not have much impact on their caffeine content. Variables that impact caffeination are how you brew (proportion of grounds to water, how fine the grind is, your brewing machine, and how long you let the grinds sit before straining) and what variety of beans they are to begin with. You have an amazing food blog that is an incredible resource. But coffee is a food, too! The more you know. :)
Hey Lee, Thank you so much for all this info! This post was written 8 years ago before I got into coffee and it definitely needs some updating. ;)
No way.
You are phenomenal.
I actually made a recipe very close to this, this weekend for my Vegan Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes! SOOOO Yummy
Yummm excellent creation!