
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…
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 stuff is AMAZING. I made a double-batch for our St. Patty’s party – attended largely by omnivores – and it was a hit!
Holy moly, this was absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing, Angela!
I just made this tonight. All I can say is WOW! So easy to make, and soooo delicious. Thank you thank you thank you!
Hi, Angela!
What would happen if I used all light coconut milk? Thanks :)
I used your accidental discovery of vegan sweetened condensed milk to finally veganize my family key lime pie recipe. It turned out awesome. Thanks!
wow that’s great!!
I am impressed. Got damn.
Great post, Angela! Wonderful recipe, commentary, and photos. I look forward to trying this sometime soon.Thank you!
This recipe is great!! My hubby and I love Carollans Irish Cream and were looking for a recipe to make some. This is fantastic!
Just finish making this phenomenal recipe….now I’m working on finishing my second drink so if you all will excuse me.
Oh yea…it taste wonderful.
sipping on it now and it’s gorgeous, just gorgeous. <3
mmm you just gave me a craving for this…it’s been too long!
Yum, i cant wait to try this recipe.. bailey and coffee used to be my favorite in the winter and I’ve missed it.
If there anything i could substitute for the Jameson if i wanted to make it non-alcoholic? my boyfriend doesn’t drink and i know he’ll want something special in his coffee when he see mine :D
Im not sure but you could always just leave it out! Maybe more almond milk?
Would coconut sugar work as well as Sucanat? Looks delish, can’t wait to try it this Christmas!
I can’t see why those sugars wouldn’t work!
Hi :)
I have two questions about this awesome recipe…
1) Can I use coconut sugar instead of sucanat / brown sugar?
2) By 3/4 cup strong espresso or coffee, or to taste – you mean prepared coffee, right? (Have to make sure…)
Thanks :)
Hey, To answers both your questions – yes I think so and yes :) enjoy!
This may be a no brainer question but….I am thinking of making this as Christmas gifts this year and am wondering (for shipping purposes) if this will need to be kept cold?
Hey Rachel, I think opened coconut milk needs to be refrigerated so I would say yes it does. Sorry about that!
Really enjoyed this recipe the first night we made it, but by the next day there were big chunks of solid coconut fat in the batch that just wouldn’t “stir up”. It was a little gross trying to chew through it. Has anyone else had this happen? Did you find a solution?
This can happen due to the the coconut milk and sometimes there isn’t much you can do about it. I would try reheating it to see if that can melt the coconut bits.
I discovered the same just now. Made some a couple of hours earlier and we were definitely ready to try some! I might just leave it outside the fridge, see what happens… I have to admit, I only made half of the amount, so I only used fullfat coconut milk…
Oh my gosh! You have no idea how timely this post is. Can’t wait to try this recipe. Absolutely love your site.
This looks amazing! I was wondering if I could make this without the coffee? My mom and I both love Bailey’s but she does not like coffee at all (not sure if original Bailey’s has coffee in it?) Thanks!
Yes Im sure you can make it without! Just sub the espresso/coffee for almond milk, maybe?
Hi Angela, I’m making this today!
Does it taste just like Bailey’s or does it have a strong coffee taste? I love Bailey’s but don’t care for coffee. However, if the coffee flavour is barely noticeable and it taste just like Bailey’s, I’m in!
Also, how many ml or oz are in one can of coconut milk? I’ll be using a carton instead of a can so I’m not sure. Looks amazing and can’t wait to try! Thanks.
This link was in my FB feed this morning so I clicked over and I was reading it all perplexed and discombobulated, thinking “Whaaa…how I’ve never noticed before that St Patrick Day is apparently in December and like one week before Christmas wtf?!!”
Then I got to the comments and saw the comment dates indicating this was a post from March…and then it made sense…yikes, I need another latte to wake up hahaha:p
Forgot to add this recipe looks spectacular and I will be making this for sure!!:D
So which is it on the Jameson? You have 2 different amounts, one in the ingredients and one in the recipe? I don’t drink Bailey but I have a hubby that loved it but can’t have dairy anymore… so this will make a SWEET Christmas surprise!! But I want to get it tasting right!
I added about 3/4 cup…which makes it strong, but then again so is the original. I would add it to taste and you’ll be fine :)