Finally, a dairy free homemade Baileys Recipe that tastes like Original Bailey’s Irish Cream!
Since not being able to have dairy (among other things) there have been the inevitable cravings and mourning for foods that are seemingly lost to me forever, one such treat stood out head and shoulders above the rest in the lead up to Christmas that’s right, Baileys! I missed Baileys I mean what is the festive period with the compulsory mulled wine, mince pie and creamy Bailey’s over ice. Not all at once I hasten to add, that would be at bit over the top!
Soya was also a no-no for me for a long time but after eight months of eliminating it from my diet and religiously taking probiotics in the form of Symprove and making my own kefir everyday my gut has healed to the point that I can tolerate it now. For anyone who is unable to tolerate soya and like me craves Bailey’s I promise, I’m working on an alternative recipe to include you too, watch this space.
Is there a dairy free Baileys in the shops?
No. I get a little hot under the collar about this subject. There IS a dairy free almond based cream liqueur that is made by Baileys in the supermarkets but it is not Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur. I remember when Almande first came out in the US, I got super excited. My brother in law bought a bottle home for me. The disappointment was unbearable. Hold up though! Almande is a delicious light and thin creamy drink but I’d been led to believe it was the dairy free version of Baileys. Not by the manufacturer I hasten to add but by foodie bloggers. It got worse when the drink hit the UK and nearly all the bloggers I know got a bottle to sample (I’m not jealous…well, maybe a little!). What got me was that the majority were saying it was just like Baileys – the little porkie-piers!
Oh well, it did me a favour and shoved a rocket up my bottom and got me to perfect the recipe your here for now!
How do you make homemade Baileys from scratch?
This honestly is such a simple recipe, I can whip up a litre of this Irish Cream Liqueur in less than 20mins, I do always have a 500ml jar of vegan condensed milk handy to be fair, I use it so much in my dairy free baking that its a store cupboard essential in our household. You really only need to make sure you have a dairy free milk or cream alternative, instant coffee, whisky, chocolate sauce and condensed milk. That’s all, so keep reading and let me take you through the process and before you know it you’ll able to whip up a bottle of Baileys yourself in next to no time!
How do you make dairy free Baileys?
My mum used to make Baileys years ago when I was just a baby. This recipe used her handwritten notes as the foundation to my final recipe, but not without a few experiments along the way. For example, I needed to find the best dairy free ingredients to make my own condensed ‘milk’ which is a main ingredient for homemade Baileys. I needed the ingredients to be fatty enough to give that familiar creaminess to the liquor. I settled on using a whole tin of coconut milk, but be warned, not all coconut milks have the same amounts of coconut in them, you’ll need to make sure you use a tin that 70%+ coconut milk to ensure the fat levels are high enough. Keep reading for my method on how to make vegan condensed milk.
Is homemade Baileys healthier?
I should have started this post with a ‘look away now’ for anyone who faints at the mere mention of cream, fat or sugar. This is not clean or healthy, it will not detox you or leave you feeling spiritually cleansed….actually scrap that last one. When I last sat down with a glass on ice, in my dressing gown, kids in bed (sort of!)… I WAS lifted spiritually, because it tasted so bloody good and I deserved it!
The only bit of effort you’ll need to put into this is making the condensed ‘milk’, I’ve been sure to take lots of photos to take you through the process, stick to the times, stir only occasionally and I promise you you’ll have 250ml of beautiful condensed ‘milk’ which now you’ve mastered it you can use in all sorts of recipes…and I plan to!
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How to make vegan condensed milk
Making dairy free and vegan condensed milk is very simple so please don’t be wary of making your own condensed milk with this easy two ingredient recipe and method;
Empty a 400ml tin of coconut milk into a medium saucepan, add the caster sugar and stir to combine. Place on a high heat and stir until bubbling. Turn heat down to a gentle rolling boil and leave for 15 minutes. Don’t leave unattended and stir occasionally, the condensed milk will halve in volume and go a wallpaper paste colour! Remove from the heat, pour into a glass heatproof jug and cool to room temperature, this will take about an hour.
You now have a 250ml volume of dairy free condensed milk that you can use with a variety of recipes. I have made this using 200g of caster sugar in some of these examples but now feel that you can get away with 50g less sugar unless you plan to continue to reduce the liquid to make a toffee sauce in which case you need all 200g of sugar.
Do you have to refrigerate homemade Baileys?
The idea container for this recipe is a litre sealed bottle, I used the Kilner 1 Litre Traditional Glass Bottle, if you click the link it will take to Amazon. (p.s. if you buy I’ll get a few pennies for the referral at no cost to you). It’s always a good idea to sterilise your bottle first, you can do this simply by running it in a dishwasher cycle or pouring boiling water into the bottle. Then, after allowing to cool, pour away the water and replace with your Baileys. I personally keep my Baileys in the fridge as it has dairy free cream in it and hasn’t been processed in a factory. That said, I have kept a bottle on the side for two days at room temperature and nobody died as a result!
Is it cheaper to make your own homemade Baileys?
If you’re interested, I worked out that his recipe costs approximately £8.50 to make per litre, this of course depends very much on the cost and quality of whisky used. I worked out this estimate on a £16 bottle of whisky, so there is scope to make it more/less expensive.
What Alcohol is in Baileys?
As I’ve just mentioned above, I use Whisky and the quality of that whisky depends on what’s in the drink cabinet. Traditionally, Irish Cream, this is after all what Baileys is, is made with Irish Whisky. However, you can find cheap (non-vegan) blends in the supermarkets that have a sweet fortified wine in them, not unlike a sherry. At the end of the day, your making this cream liqueur yourself so the rules don’t apply. If you fancy Rum or Scotch or Brandy in your ‘Baileys’ then go for it, it just won’t be a Traditional Irish Cream Liqueur.
If you love this recipe look at these other flavoured Baileys recipes
I knew that once I’d mastered the base Original Irish Cream flavour I could adapt it and make all sorts of seasonal flavours, therefore I can now add to this post my Chocolate Orange Bailey’s; homemade and dairy free and this popular Homemade Bailey’s Pumpkin Spice; gluten and dairy free
Chocolate Orange Bailey’s 
Pumpkin Spice Bailey’s
Here’s another Vegan Cream Liqueur you’ll love
I recently made my own eggless and dairy free Eggnog, or as I like to call in, No Eggnog! The recipe is a hybrid of a classic Eggnog and the Dutch liqueur Advocaat. This means it can be made into a Snowball Cocktail too. No Eggnog – A Festive Drink Made Dairy Free And Vegan
Homemade Dairy Free Baileys Recipe
This homemade Bailys recipe is simple to follow showing you how to make (in my opinion) the most delicious creamy liqueur there ever was! This recipe will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge…but, honestly, who's going to keep it for that long?
- 1 400ml tin Coconut Milk needs to be 70% or over in coconut
- 200 g Caster Sugar
- 250 ml Whisky shhh…I used hubby’s 10yr malt!
- 250 ml Soya Milk
- 250 ml Soya Cream
- 1 tbsp Choc Shot
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tbsp instant coffee
Tip the contents of the tinned coconut milk into a large saucepan.
Add the 200g caster sugar and stir to combine, the liquid may appear lumpy unless you buy the creamed milk version, don’t worry if it is lumpy.
Turn the hob onto full heat and stir until all the coconut lumps have melted, then leave to boil for 20 minutes.
Stir occasionally as the liquid reduces. You want to keep the liquid at a rapid/rolling boil stage (bubbles rolling into the centre of the pan from the edges)
Remove the pan from the heat after 20 minutes, pour into a jug and set on a window sill to cool.
Measure out the choc shot, vanilla essence and coffee granules into a cup or small jug and stir until the coffee has dissolved, then add this mixture and the remaining ingredients into a blender.
Add the cooled condensed ‘milk’ and blend.
Pour into a 1ltr container (this should just fit perfectly to the top of the bottle) Pop in the fridge and serve over ice when cooled.
This will keep in the fridge for well over a week…if indeed it lasts that long!
Don’t forget to check out the fab creations from my fellow collaborators I’ll be updating this post with direct links to their recipes as they go LIVE!
- Christmas Biscuits from Nathalie at The Intolerant Gourmand (GF, DF, Ve)
- Healthy Vegan Mince Pies from Eva at The Healthy Tart (GF, DF, Ve, Refined Sugar Free)
- Protein Hot Chocolate with Orange from Eva at The Healthy Tart (GF, DF, Ve)
- Cranberry & Clementine Wreath Bread from Vicki at The Free From Fairy (GF, NF, SyF can be DF, Low FODMAP)
- Pork, Sage & Onion Stuffing Balls from Eb at Easy Peasy Foodie (GF, DF, EF, NF)
- Boozy Bailey’s Real Hot Chocolate from Kate at Gluten Free Alchemist (GF, NF can be DF and Refined Sugar Free)
- Traditional Christmas Cake from Laura at Dairy Free Kids
- Christmas Cake Muffins from Eb at Easy Peasy Foodie (GF, NF)
- Free From Christmas Biscuits Midge at Peachicks Bakery (DF, EF, SyF, GF, NF)
- Black Forest Christmas Cake Midge at Peachicks Bakery (DF, EF, SyF, GF, NF)
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Doesn’t the whiskey contain gluten?
Hi there Paul, the quick answer to your question is no! The distilling process removes all trace of gluten. Whisky would be an issue for those who are intolerant or allergic to barley which is of course completely different to the autoimmune disease that is Coeliac. Hope this clears things up for you – you can see more info about this on the Coeliac UK website
You’re such a clever lady! I’m so impressed you made your own Bailey’s and your own condensed coconut milk. Seriously, you’re such a whizz!!!! I’d love to try your very own homemade Bailey’s (with B’s amazeballs whisky, it must be quite something!). xxx Thanks for joining in with #FreeFromFridays.
Genius! You really are very very talented Rebecca. I can see why this was such an exciting achievement x
(It will be even easier with that tin of condensed coconut milk!)
Thank you Kate…trying to source the condensed coconut milk, but doesn’t look like i can get it locally unless i get it through Ocado. xx
Let me know if I need to send you some x
Such a great idea!! I’ve not had Baileys for yonks…but all of a sudden I have a real craving :-D Thanks for linking it up to #CookBlogShare. Eb x
You’ve outdone yourself here lonely lady ♥️
I’ve never thought of making my own Baileys. I bet this is delicious
It certainly is and as I’m dairy free it’s a MUST! :-D
Wowser! I’ll be over for a glass or two! ?
That would be lovely Laura…one day…it’s a date ;-)