Dairy Free Baileys Recipe

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Finally, a Dairy Free 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 felt 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 so much. How can there be a festive period without 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!

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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.

Here’s what Baileys said about their new drink;

Did you see that? ALMOND AND VANILLA flavour – not Bailey’s Original flavour!

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 really got me, was that the majority were saying it was just like Baileys. No it’s not!

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!

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How do you make homemade Baileys?

My mum used to make Baileys years ago when I was just a baby. In fact, this recipe used her handwritten notes as the foundation, 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.

The original Baileys Recipe was instant coffee, whisky, chocolate sauce, cream and condensed milk – that’s all.

Keep reading and let me take you through the process of making your own homemade dairy free condensed milk. Then, before you know it, you’ll able to whip up a bottle of Baileys yourself in next to no time!

How do you make homemade dairy free Baileys?

Condensed milk alternative: I needed the ingredients to be fatty enough to give that familiar creaminess to the liquor so I settled on using a whole tin of coconut milk. Be warned, not all coconut milks have the same amounts of coconut in them. You need to make sure you use a tin that has over 65% coconut milk to ensure the fat levels are high enough.

Keep reading for my method on how to make Easy Dairy Free Condensed Milk.

Cream alternative: I use a popular plant bakes cream here in the UK called Elmlea Double Plant Cream. This is lovely and creamy, as you’d expect, but I feel I need to ‘water it down’ so this recipe adds plant milk too. I use soya 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’, 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;

You now have a 250ml volume of dairy free condensed milk that you can use with a variety of recipes, these recipe here all use homemade condensed milk.

Shop bought dairy free condensed milk

There are more versions on the market now for vegan or dairy free condensed milk so you can cut out 20-30 minutes by getting readymade dairy free condensed milk. Here are some safe brands on the market but always check the labels.

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, you’re 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.

Oh, and for those in doubt about whether whisky or other spirits are safe for Coeliacs, look no further, the answer is here.

Troubleshooting

My Baileys has a fatty froth

This happens to me sometimes too, it’s because we’ve both over liquidised the liquor and inadvertently made a Baileys Milkshake! There are two ways you can remedy this.

1. pass the Baileys through a sieve into your bottle (ideally with a piece of muslin, cloth, or kitchen towel lining the sieve.
2. stand the blender jug in a cool place or fridge for 20mins and scoop the fatty froth off the top. Then you can pour your delicious Baileys into the bottle.

My Baileys is too thick

In the recipe I give you two options to use dairy free milk or a combination of dairy free milk and plant based cream.

The main recipe calls for 50/50 milk and cream.

if your prefer your Baileys to be thinner then only use milk, the condensed milk should still give you perfect amount of creaminess.

If you find you followed my 50/50 recipe and the Bailey’s is too thick then you could fill TWO 1ltr Kilner Bottles and top up with dairy free milk giving you twice the amount of Baileys! (you may wish to top up with a wee bit more whiskey for good measure), I know I would!

REMEMBER: once you add ice to a glass of Baileys the cream liqueur will be thinner anyway so don’t feel you need to make your baileys too thin if you love it over plenty of ice.

If you love this recipe look at these other Dairy Free 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

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

Vegan Amaretto White Cream Liqueur

No cream liqueur fan need miss out with my simple and quick Amaretto White Cream Liqueur recipe. Using only 4 ingredients, this recipe makes 1ltr of delicious almond flavoured cream liqueur that's reminiscent of Bakewell Tart. It lasts way past 2 weeks so also a great gift idea decanted into smaller bottles maybe? Oh, it;s also dairy free and vegan too as well as being naturally gluten free.

Check out this recipe

Homemade Dairy Free Baileys Recipe

If you make it and like the recipe I would be eternally grateful if you popped back and commented leaving a star rating as this will tell search engines that this recipe is worth checking out and others will get to find it in searches.

Homemade Dairy Free Baileys

Glutarama

This Homemade Dairy Free and Vegan Baileys 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?

4.81 from 21 votes

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Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

chill 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Drinks, Seasonal

Cuisine Dairy Free, Gluten Free

Servings 6 glasses

Calories 367 kcal

Equipment

• large saucepan
• smoothie maker/blender
• bottle funnel
• 1L glass bottle
• Kitchen Scales
• set of measuring spoons

Ingredients

  

0.5x1x2x3x

• 250 ml dairy free condensed milk [or make your own – see notes]
• 250 ml whisky Jameson's Whisky is an excellent choice
• 250 ml dairy free milk
• 250 ml soya cream or usual dairy free alternative optional – you can just use dairy free milk for this too for a less creamy version.
• 1 tbsp chocolate sauce I use a dairy free ice cream sauce, but you can add a teaspoon of cocoa powder.
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp instant coffee mixed with a little water to make a paste

Instructions

 

• Measure out the chocolate sauce (or cocoa powder), vanilla extract and instant coffee 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 condensed 'milk' and blend (wait for the condensed milk to cool if making it yourself).
• Finally pour in the measured amount of whisky (add more to taste if you wish) and give the liqueur one final blend. Do not over blend otherwise you'll end up with a frothy milkshake!
• Pour into a 1ltr container (this should just fit perfectly to the top of the bottle) Pop in the fridge to chill.
• To serve, give the bottle a good shake and serve over ice or add to a hot chocolate for that added bit of luxury.

Notes

To make the condensed ‘milk’

• 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.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Homemade Dairy Free Baileys

Amount per Serving

Calories

367

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

10

g

15

%

Saturated Fat

 

4

g

20

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

1

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

5

g

Cholesterol

 

18

mg

6

%

Sodium

 

129

mg

5

%

Potassium

 

382

mg

11

%

Carbohydrates

 

38

g

13

%

Fiber

 

0.3

g

1

%

Sugar

 

37

g

41

%

Protein

 

6

g

12

%

Vitamin A

 

314

IU

6

%

Vitamin C

 

4

mg

5

%

Calcium

 

218

mg

22

%

Iron

 

0.4

mg

2

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword Bailey’s, Christmas, Cream Liqueur, Dairy Free, Festive, Gluten Free, Vegan

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