Irish Cream Liqueur is the perfect base for this amazing homemade Baileys ice cream recipe! It’s wonderful served plain or with a bit of chocolate sauce drizzled on top. This boozy ice cream recipe is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day, or pretty much any other time of year. You don’t want to miss this one.
I think we just had a blizzard last week. It’s difficult to remember right now because it’s 65 degrees outside and rain has washed away most of the snow.
With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner and a sudden option to retire my jacket, it seemed like a great time to share my first ice cream recipe of the year.
Baileys ice cream is rich, sweet and boozy. I love adding alcohol to ice cream because the freeze point lowers and it’s very creamy and easy to scoop regardless of how long the ice cream sits in the freezer.
The only negative, if you can call it that, is that it melts a bit faster. So you just have to eat it quickly. This is not a problem for me. Luckily, Baileys Irish Cream has a slightly lower alcohol content that some of the other options I’ve previously used in ice cream.
I make the ice cream with half & half (if you’re not in the USA that means 50% heavy cream and 50% whole milk). If you want to get really decadent, you can use all heavy cream instead.
If you want to get really creative, you can also try using my homemade Irish Cream liqueur!
What Is Half-And-Half?
This recipe calls for half-and-half. What is half-and-half, and how do you make it if you already have cream and milk in the fridge? Read my tutorial on how to make half-and-half so you can save time and money!
Looking For More Ice Cream Recipes?
You’ll definitely want to check out my Roasted Strawberries and Clotted Cream Ice Cream as well as my Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream (no ice cream machine required for this one!)
Baileys Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups half-and-half (or 50% heavy cream + 50% whole milk)
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup Baileys Irish Cream
- 8 large egg yolks
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring the half-and-half, vanilla extract and Baileys to a simmer over medium heat.
- While the liquid is heating up, place the yolks and sugar in a bowl. Vigorously whisk together.
- When the cream begins to simmer, turn the heat down to low and ladle about half of the liquid into the yolks while whisking (this is known as tempering and will prevent the eggs from scrambling). Pour the yolk mixture back into the saucepan, using a spatula to scrape the bowl.
- With the heat on low, stir the mixture in a figure 8 motion for several minutes until the sauce has slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into a container and cover with plastic wrap, gently pressing the plastic directly against the ice cream base to prevent a skin from forming. Chill until very cold (I prefer to let it chill overnight for best results).
- Prepare in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Video
Notes
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Recipe Troubleshooting
For immediate help troubleshooting a recipe, please email me using the form on my contact page. I’ll try to respond to urgent questions as quickly as possible! For all general questions, please leave a comment here :)
Rachel says
Well, I just happen to have almost a full bottle of Baileys left from a recipe I just made. I also just happen to have heavy cream. Guess what I’m making next? :)
Liz @ FloatingKitchen says
It was 50 degrees here yesterday and it felt like summer! Such a nice break after this terrible winter we’ve had. So I’ve got ice cream and grilling on the brain! And I just LOVE how boozy ice creams are a bit more melty, because that’s exactly the consistency that I love. And I have no problems eating it fast!
Laurie{Simply Scratch} says
Stunning! Absolutely STUN-NING! And I love Baileys… yay for warmer weather!
Megan {Country Cleaver} says
What a DREAM!!!!
Jen @ Baked by an Introvert says
You say ice cream and I come running! And then I jump for joy when I hear there’s booze in it. This sounds fabulous!
Cheryl Vivian | neurotic baker says
Sounds perfect for this weekend!
Tutti Dolci says
Please pass me a spoon, this ice cream is dreamy!
Bianca Garcia says
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Bailey’s ice cream sounds absolutely delicious. Wish I had a giant scoop right now!
Dee Kruleski says
Lovely. But what is the yield?
Jennifer Farley says
Hi Dee! This yields approximately 1 quart of ice cream. My apologies, I just switched over to a new recipe plugin and it removed the yield totals! I didn’t even notice until you asked.
Diana says
Can you make this without an ice cream machine?
Jennifer Farley says
Hi Diana! I’ve never made this without a machine, but I get this question on my various ice creams often enough that I think I should probably test out some methods and create a tutorial for my site. In the meantime, I just did a search and found this method from David Lebowitz. While I haven’t tried it myself, he usually knows his stuff!
Joshua Quigley says
So I’m new to cooking so are these in metric cups or imperial
Jennifer Farley says
Imperial cups, but do you by any chance have a kitchen scale? There’s a metric button on the recipe so you could also switch to grams if that’s easier.
Jennifer Blake says
Bailey’s is my go to! To have this in ice cream… OMG I’m in heaven!
Carolyn says
That is the most beautiful bowl of ice cream I have ever seen!
layla says
my ice cream turned out very yummy
Jennifer W. says
Will the alcohol content be cooked out of it? I want to make this for our Sunday dinner dessert and I don’t want the kids to be drunk.
Jennifer Farley says
Hi Jennifer! This is one of those things where I need to add an “I’m not a doctor” disclaimer, but IMO it will be totally fine. If all of it doesn’t get cooked out, Bailey’s has a much lower alcohol content to begin with, and 1/2 cup spread out over an entire quart will be such a minimal amount. I rarely drink, so I always joke that I’m a cheap date. I can eat several bowls of this stuff and never notice even the slightest effect.