My grandfather made the best pot of coffee in the world. He could rival any barista with a few scoops of ground coffee available at every grocery store around the country. I have no idea what he did to his coffee but I remember loving every single sip (or gulp after I became a sleep-deprived mother). During the holidays my grandfather believed that Christmas Cheer should extend to his morning coffee and we would free-hand pour Baileys Irish Cream into his perfectly brewed coffee.
Can't Have Dairy? Here's a Dairy-Free Version Of Baileys You Can Make At Home
Needless to say, my love of Baileys and coffee over the holidays (and other times during the year too) grew from there and I know I am not the only one! That's why this year I've decided one of my favourite food gifts to gift my friends, colleagues and neighbours will be a homemade version.
To make it extra special I stopped at my neighbourhood Starbucks to pick up a package of VIA instant coffee (the special Christmas brew of course!) and asked the barista to squirt some Starbucks-brand chocolate syrup into a cup. She charged me 60-cents and gave me 1/2 cup's worth.
Once you've collected your ingredients, Homemade Baileys Irish Cream is as easy as throwing everything into a blender.
Then whirling it around for a few seconds until it looks like this.
Pour carefully into bottles (I got these ones in San Francisco but you can pick them up at any Ikea, Homesense and sometimes Loblaws/SuperStore).
Toss on some homemade labels (with the Best Before Date of course and a reminder to keep refrigerated), include some of this yummy homemade hot chocolate and leave on any desk, front door or beside any freshly brewed pot of coffee to know exactly what it feels like to play Santa Claus.
Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups Jameson Irish Whisky
1 cup half & half
1 can 300mL sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp chocolate syrup (see above for how I got my hands on some from Starbucks)
2 tsp. vanilla
1 package Starbucks VIA instant coffee (approx. 1 tsp of instant coffee)
Directions:
Put all ingredients into blender and blend on high speed for 30-45 seconds.
Ta-dah! You're done! Feel free to gift or keep it all for yourself :)
REMEMBER: Your best before date needs to match the best before date of the half and half cream you're using.
ALSO REMEMBER: Your homemade Baileys needs to be kept refrigerated.
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