Top o' the mornin' to ya, dear readers! If St. Patrick's Day or holiday cookie exchanges are on your mind...or you're just in the mood for the best chocolate chip cookie of your life...save this Bailey’s Irish Cream Cookies recipe to Pinterest and get ready to meet your new favorite cookie.
When you come from a city that dyes their iconic river green every year to celebrate St. Paddy's Day in March, you can't help but feel festive on the holiday, even when you're an ocean away.
This recipe is based on the brilliant Christina Tosi's recipe for chocolate chip cookies. The recipe has been adjusted to include Bailey's and make these delicious Irish Cream Cookies. For all the details you'll need to make alcohol-free cookies, read the FAQ's section below.
What you'll need to make these Baileys cookies:
Before we get to the step by step instructions, a few notes on the ingredients:
- Unsalted butter, melted and warm - I usually use salted butter in everything, and if you don't have unsalted, just add a small pinch of additional salt (not the full ½ teaspoon called for in the recipe.) The melted butter creates an incredibly simple cookie mix (no creaming butter and sugar to create lift!) and leaves you with a decadent and fudgy cookie.
- Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur - Bailey's or another brand will do the trick. Just a quarter cup gives the cookies a delicious complexity. Be aware that all of the alcohol will not bake out of the cookies. If you're looking for an alcohol-free version, see the options below in FAQ's and the notes section of the printable recipe card below.
- Nonfat milk powder - Tosi's secret weapon for the very best cookies. Having sampled a great many cookies in testing, I can assure you the milk powder makes a delicious difference. Pick up a bag at your local grocer or order it online. It's worth the effort!
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips - use milk chocolate if that's what you prefer, or spring for the Bailey's Baking Chips for even more Irish cream magic.
Full ingredient list and measurements included in the printable recipe card below.
Step by step instructions for Bailey’s Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe:
1. Combine All Ingredients
Preheat your oven to 375℉. Using a wooden spoon, mix the brown and white sugars together in a large mixing bowl.
Then add the melted butter. Stir vigorously for about a minute.
Beat the egg, vanilla and Bailey’s in the measuring cup you used for the sugar until well combined. Then add it to the butter and sugar mixture in the large bowl. Stir until the mix shows a glossy sheen, about 30 seconds.
Next, add the flour, nonfat milk powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl and mix until combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
2. Portion and Bake
Use a scoop to portion the dough evenly into 1 ½ ounce balls or lightly roll into balls about the size of a golf ball. Place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper about 3 inches apart. (For smaller cookies, measure out about 1 ounce of dough and shape into a ball.) The dough will be soft and the cookies will fall into shape in the oven.
3. Bake and Rest
Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges but still soft in the middle. Once you remove the tray of cookies from the oven, leave the cookies on the tray to firm up for 2-3 minutes. Then transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
3. Serve and Enjoy
Serve these delicious cookies with a cup of coffee with Bailey's for the perfect after-dinner treat! Another way to serve it is as part of a dessert bar alongside Coffee Jello.
FAQ's and Variations:
Irish cream liqueur is sweet and creamy with a hint of chocolate and vanilla flavor and whiskey undertones. Irish cream contains about 17% alcohol, so it's a relatively low amount of alcohol in a serving. To me, it tastes like a warming coffee creamer.
Even though we're using a small amount of Irish cream liqueur, the cookies don't bake long enough to cook out the alcohol. You have the option to substitute Bailey's baking chips, which have no alcohol, for half or even all of the chocolate chips in this recipe. I have not tested these cookies using Irish cream flavored coffee creamer, but I've been told it's a good substitute for Bailey's in a cookie recipe. Finally, if you're just looking for an amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe and you don't need the added flavor of Irish cream, reduce the flour to 1 ¾ cup for the recipe and eliminate the Baileys. Follow all other steps and instructions and it will still be one of the very best dessert recipes you've ever made!
Good question! I'm usually a pretty firm believer in chilling cookie dough. I tested it both ways for this recipe and the cookies that were portioned and rolled immediately (while still at room temperature) cooked much more evenly and came with a more consistent texture than the chilled cookies. So don't worry about using a handheld electric mixer to cream butter mixture OR chill your cookies...who knew that the best cookies were also the fastest cookies?
I have a silicone mat and found the cookies baked more evenly in my oven using parchment paper on a light-colored cookie sheet. I also tested baking on a parchment covered dark sheet pan and the results were less even, with the edges browning before the cookie was baked through. So my recommendation is parchment prepared baking sheets in a light aluminum color. If you always use silicone and find good results in your oven with your baking trays, I support you!
My mom used to store cookies in an airtight container with a piece of white sandwich bread. The bread becomes stale in a day or two but the cookies stay moist. Sounds like sorcery but it's never failed me!
To store, keep cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Can be reheated in microwave for 6-10 seconds to re-create that just-out-of-the-oven gooey-ness.
Print
Bailey’s Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 16 large cookies 1x
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and still warm
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons nonfat milk powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375℉.
- Using a wooden spoon, mix the brown and white sugars together in a large mixing bowl and add the melted butter. Stir vigorously for about a minute. Beat the egg, vanilla and Bailey’s in the measuring cup you used for the sugar until well combined, then add to the butter and sugar mixture in the large bowl. Stir until the mix shows a glossy sheen, about 30 seconds.
- Next, add the flour, nonfat milk powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
- Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon scoop to portion the dough evenly into 1 ½ ounce balls (or lightly roll into balls about the size of a golf ball) and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper about 3 inches apart. (For smaller cookies, measure out about 1 ounce of dough and shape into a ball.) The dough will be soft and the cookies will fall into shape in the oven.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges but still soft in the middle. Once you remove the tray of cookies from the oven, leave the cookies on the tray to firm up for 2-3 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.
- Serve these delicious cookies with a cup of coffee with Bailey's for the perfect after-dinner treat!
Notes
For alcohol-free cookies, you have the option to substitute Bailey's baking chips, which have no alcohol, for half or even all of the chocolate chips in this recipe. I have not tested these cookies using Irish cream flavored coffee creamer, but I've been told it's a good substitute for Bailey's in a cookie recipe. Finally, if you're just looking for an amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe and you don't need the added flavor of Irish cream, reduce the flour to 1 ¾ cup for the recipe and eliminate the Baileys. Follow all other steps and instructions!
- Prep Time: 18
- Cook Time: 12
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
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