Although I gave up meat quite easily 10 years ago, giving up dairy two years ago has been a struggle for me.

I regularly fall off the wagon—mostly when Häagen-Dazs Cookies-n-Cream is half price in my local supermarket, and at Christmas when there’s an abundance of Baileys in our house.

This Christmas, I also had quite a lot of cream-filled deserts and cream-topped (Baileys infused) hot chocolate and coffee. So, I was feeling more than a little guilty when I read this article and was inspired to join Veganuary for motivation.

While perusing their Facebook page, I came across a post about a vegan version of Baileys and recipes for copycat versions. My mouth watered, and I was determined to have a go at making my own. Well, how could you not when it only takes five minutes?!

All of the blogs I perused used a similar, simple recipe: non-dairy milk, Irish whiskey, sweetener (brown sugar, agave, or maple syrup), coffee, and vanilla extract.

You might need to tweak the quantities of coffee, whiskey, or sweetener to suit your own palette, but the standard recommendations are:

2 cups of non-dairy milk (coconut, almond, or cashew)

1/4 cup of coffee (it can be decaf)

1/3 cup Irish whiskey

1/2 cup of sweetener

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add all ingredients to a blender, and blend for a couple of minutes. Decant into a glass bottle, and store in the fridge if you and your company aren’t going to polish it off in one sitting.

It will keep in the fridge for three to four days (mine didn’t taste so great on day four), and the bottle needs a good shake as the coffee and whiskey tend to settle at the bottom.

And, there you have it—guilt-free yumminess in a matter of minutes. Sláinte.

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Relephant:

How to Make a Perfect Irish Coffee. {Recipe}

Coffee, Chocolate & Wine: How to make Tiramisu into a Drink. {Vegan, Gluten-Free Recipe}

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Author: Hilda Carroll
Image: WikiMedia Commons
Editor: Yoli Ramazzina
Copy editor: Travis May