Lucky (Recipe) Linkup - Homemade Bailey's Irish Cream (2024)

Hello March! I'm so excited to be linking up today with some of my favorite bloggers for a good old fashioned St. Patrick's Day recipe swap! The same bloggers from the Christmas gift exchange and the Valentine's Day card swap are participating, but this time we want YOU in on the action too! If you have a favorite St. Patrick's Day recipe you'd like to share, I hope you'll consider linking up with us. You have one week from today to get your recipes up on your blog. Then you'll be paired with another blogger and get to try her favorite recipe. It's a great way to meet some new bloggers, gain exposure for your blog, create Pinterest-worthy recipes and get to eat awesome food, of course! All the details for the linkup are below.

But first, I want to share my favorite St. Patrick's Day recipe with you. I don't think any St. Patty's Day is complete with some Bailey's Irish Cream. Whether you're having it on the rocks, in your coffee or using it to create some fancy dessert, there's no denying that Bailey's is amazing. However, I bet you had no idea that it was insanely easy to make at home. I'm talking only 7 ingredients and less than 5 minutes start to finish. No cooking, no dirtying tons of dishes, no problem. After this, you will never buy Bailey's again! It's so easy and makes perfect gifts. Who wouldn't want to receive this?

Ingredients:

1 cup light cream (I used heavy whipping cream, which made it even richer)

14 ounces sweetened condensed milk

1 2/3 cup Irish whiskey (I used Jameson's)

1 teaspoon instant coffee

2 tablespoons chocolate syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and set on high speed for 30 seconds.

2. That's it! You're done. You have homemade Bailey's. I told you it was easy!

Just to make sure that our homemade DIY Bailey's was as good as the original stuff, I made my husband (a true Irishman) do a taste test. He could tell based on the look which one was homemade, since I'd just whipped it up in the blender and it still had lots of air bubbles in it, but I bet those will settle quickly and they'll look identical. He said that the homemade stuff was slightly stronger (I might have had a bit of a heavy hand when pouring in the booze) and a tiny bit thicker. I used heavy whipping cream, as opposed to the light whipping cream that the recipe called for, so I think that's probably what made the difference. If you're putting this is coffee (like I do), I actually think that thicker is better. If you want to make it thinner, try the light whipping cream or cut some of it with milk. Otherwise, the flavor was spot on. He was impressed.

The homemade Irish cream will stay good in your refrigerator for up to two months. Since it'll be much longer than that before I can drink booze again, I decided to package it up and give it as gifts to our neighbors. I put the Irish cream in these cute little Mason jars with handles and tied a ribbon around the top. Perfect! I though about printing a label or attaching a recipe for Irish coffee, but I haven't got around to that yet.