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…
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!