Irish cream always makes me think of the holidays. Be it Christmas or St. Patrick’s day, I want to pour a glass over ice and sip its creamy goodness while I bake and make merry. The only thing that can make Irish cream more enjoyable is making it yourself with coconut milk.
As the name suggests one of the main ingredients in Irish cream is cream. While raw milk can have a place in a healthy lifestyle, especially when used to make yogurt or butter, coconut milk is another great choice and also makes this treat dairy free.
There are many recipes out there for making your own Irish cream, but they include ingredients like sweetened condensed milk and chocolate syrup which makes the result a less than desirable drink full of pasteurized ingredients and loaded with white sugar. If you are going to make it yourself, why not make it with healthy ingredients?
Irish Cream Makeover
Traditional recipes use sweetened condensed milk to both sweeten and thicken the drink. This liqueur recipe replaces both the sweetened condensed milk and the chocolate syrup common in other recipes with a homemade, chocolate condensed coconut milk sweetened with honey. It was so tasty that I almost stopped right there and drank that instead!
If you have never tried Irish cream, you are in for a treat. I like to sip it “on the rocks” (when I’m not pregnant, of course) but you can also thin it down with coconut milk if you prefer a milder taste. If you are a coffee drinker, it also makes a wonderfully tasty creamer. Just remember not to take your coffee with you on the road if you choose to use it as a creamer!
If you prefer, heavy cream (preferably raw), can be used in place of the coconut milk. However, the mild taste of coconut adds a wonderful depth to the flavor.
Coconut Milk Irish Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 13.5 oz cans coconut milk or make your own, divided
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 TBSP cocoa powder
- 1½ cups Irish whiskey or whiskey/bourbon of your choice
- 4 eggs clean, fresh
- 2 tsp instant coffee granules
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, bring 1 can coconut milk to a boil. Watch closely as it can boil over quickly.
- Add honey and cocoa powder and reduce to a simmer.
- Simmer, uncovered for about 30 mins or until liquid is reduced by about half.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Combine cooled condensed coconut milk and all remaining ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. You can also use an immersion blender.
- Store in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
- It may separate slightly so gently stir or shake to reincorporate before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!
What is your favorite drink to sip while you are working in the kitchen? Share below!
Hi could I skip the eggs for the Irish cream recipe ? And would it last longer in fridge if I do so?
yep
I love home-made recipes and appreciate everyone who tries to prepare food as opposed to reheat or dump out a can. However, I do have to comment that honey should never be boiled, simmered or cooked as it becomes toxic. All of its nutrients are also destroyed in the process as well. In this case a different sweetener could be substituted.
Please don’t shoot me, as I have not tried, but I know this from my smoothies. Maybe we can replace eggs with avocado or 1 banana. Poor avocado will lose its umpf in a month…but I was thinking, if some raw eggs could last 1 month, why not banana, or avocado? Especially avocados make my smoothies like silk.
I have no problem with raw eggs as long as it’s only egg yolks. And I’d cook them a little, like in that vanilla cream, LOL. I like Irish cream but I hate eggnog. So, I’ll try this recipe, and I’ll let you know the result.
I just made this and I really messed it up! But it ended up ok. I did so by subbing dark rum for the whisky, and skipping the almond extract (it’s what I had/did not have on hand). All was not lost– I was able doctor it up using Silk soy coffee cream, Belsoy cooking cream, some dairy-free coffee whitener, and some chocolate syrup. Basically anything to take the very dark rummy edge off, sweeten it up a bit and make it creamier. Now it’s creamy and rummy, but with less of the “bite” of cheap dark rum. I also skipped the eggs.
I will post a new review when I actually do this with the right ingredients next time! Thanks for the recipe :).
Do you have a recipe for making your own dairy free yogurt with almonds or coconut milk?
Not yet but I’ll add it to my list!
I’ve never used canned coconut milk, is it different than the half gallons in the refrigerated section? Can I use the refrig stuff the same or would it be better to use canned?
You can use the refrigerated stuff or homemade too.