In celebration of the release of my new book, Coconut Milk Ice Cream, I thought I’d share one of my favourite recipes from the book.
This Irish Cream ice cream is wonderfully rich and boozy. If you’re a fan of Baileys, you’ll love this!
Coming from an Irish family, I have a natural fondness for Irish whiskey and knew I had to feature it in one of my ice cream recipes.
My parents, acting as my taste-testers, tried some of the ice cream mixture before it was churned and we all agreed that we would happily drink the mixture poured on top of a glass of ice.
It was JUST like Baileys!
When using coconut milk as an ice cream base, sometimes the coconut flavour is masked and sometimes it is enhanced.
For this ice cream, I would say there is still a very subtle hint of coconut flavour but it works beautifully with the ice cream.
So the Irish whiskey is, of course, the main ingredient but the real Irish cream flavour also comes from a little bit of cocoa powder and some ground coffee to give it more depth.
One of the great things about this ice cream is that it is easy to scoop, straight from the freezer, unlike most homemade ice creams. This is thanks to all the alcohol ;-)
It’s amazing served with chocolate puddings. My personal favourite is to serve it along side my Irish Whiskey Chocolate Fondant (not vegan) for a seriously indulgent dessert, perfect for St Patrick’s Day.
And as I mentioned before, if you want you can just leave out the churning part and drink this as an Irish Cream drink by itself. Delicious…

Irish Cream Ice Cream
A boozy, delicious ice cream made vegan - one for the Baileys fans! Yields approx 2 pints / 1 quart
Ingredients
- 720 ml / 3 cups coconut milk
- 2 tbsp arrowroot powder
- 80 ml / 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 heaped tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tsp instant coffee
- 2 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 120 ml / 1/2 cup Irish whiskey
- Optional dark chocolate, for serving
Instructions
- Mix 60ml / ¼ cup coconut milk with the arrowroot powder in a small bowl and set aside.
- Pour the rest of the coconut milk into a large saucepan with the maple syrup, coconut sugar, coffee and cocoa powder and bring to a boil. As soon as the mixture begins to boil, stir in the arrowroot mixture to thicken the liquid. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and whiskey.
- Chill the mixture in the fridge until cold and churn in your ice cream maker, following the manufacturer's instructions.
- Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Serve with some grated dark chocolate on top. Delicious!
Notes
This is made to taste just like Baileys so it is quite boozy. Reduce the amount of whiskey if you want a more subtle ice cream.
WANT MORE VEGAN ICE CREAM RECIPES?
My book, Coconut Milk Ice Cream, has over 80 recipes that are not only DELICIOUS and vegan but also free from refined sugars, gluten-free & paleo-friendly.
Hi Aimee great recipe. I don’t have an ice cream maker so how would I make this. Many thanks Mimi.
This looks absolutely amazing!! I can’t wait to try it :) I was just wondering if you could use almond milk instead of coconut milk?
Hi Hayley, I’m afraid not because coconut milk’s fat content is what makes it so creamy. Almond milk will just freeze solid. The other thing you can try is to use soaked and blended cashews with a small amount of almond milk, if you can’t use coconut milk.
I made this today and it is delicious. I used moonshine because that is all I had, I just used 3 Tbs. I think the arrowroot made it thick and creamy. I will be making this often.
Moonshine? Wow! Wish I could try that. So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for letting me know!
do you use full-fat coconut milk or light? and could I substitute arrowroot with corn starch? it looks absolutely delicious! congratulations on your book!
Aimee, that looks like some super delish, creamy ice cream packed with flavour! Totally nailed it. Am a new reader and loving what I’m seeing so far :)
Thanks Irene! I’m glad you found me so I could find your blog too, it’s amazing!
Oh my, this ice cream looks incredible Aimee! Such an awesome flavor – love the Baileys and coconut together. Totally wishing I had a scoop or two in front of me :)
Oh wow how wonderful, I can’t believe this is vegan. I also can’t believe I didn’t realise you’d released a cookbook! That’s so awesome! I’m heading on over to Amazon now! :)
This looks amazing, Aimee! Love the flavours, definitely a decadent ice cream flavour! :)
Aimee, I can’t think of a more yummy ice cream flavour than this. It’s like a Baileys cappuccino ice cream with a hint of tropical. Love it! :-)
OMG yes please!
Thank you so much for my book! So many wonderful recipes I am going to let my boyfriend decide on which to make for the review, I can’t choose!
Gosh this looks fantastic! You take such mouthwatering photographs! Just to let you know the book arrived and I should have something up next week (had to get freelance work out of the way first!). Congratulations again! x
Thanks so much Elizabeth! I can’t wait to read your review (no rush by the way!) thanks again my dear :-) x
I used to put Bailey’s in hot chocolate…in the mornings before school. I guess it’s amazing that I was a straight-A student! No drinking in the morning anymore for me, though. There are some things I am blessedly too old for now.
So, now you know I love Bailey’s. This ice cream looks amazing.
This sounds awesome – should I try it? Mmmm – I think so!
This ice cream looks amazing. We’re going back up into some hot days so this ice cream would hit the perfect spot! Happy weekend girl!
gimme! gimme! gimme! Am i correct in seeing this doesn’t need an ice cream maker?!
Oops, I didn’t mention the ice cream maker (I’ve edited to include that part now) But you could certainly try! The alcohol keeps the texture nice and soft, I would just try whipping some air into it before freezing. :-)
Ahh brilliant :)
Wow!!!!! I just CANNOT wait to give this a try!!!!!! Looks AMAZING!
Thank you Samina!!
Irish whiskey, maple syrup, and coconut milk. I’m already sold. This looks and sounds amazing!
Thank you Monet!
Baileys is my all time top favourite liqueur, so I am definitely up for this one!!! It looks amazingly creamy and delicious.
Who can resist Baileys?? Crazy people that’s who!
This looks to die for!!
Thanks Koko :-)