Bailey’s Irish Cream Cookies Recipe

Name: Bailey’s Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Prep time: 18 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and still warm; 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1 egg; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons nonfat milk powder; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon baking soda; 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

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Top o' the mornin' to ya, dear readers! If St. Patrick's Day 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.

5 cookies stacked on parchment paper with chocolate shavings on the table around it. — Bailey’s Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

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.

A good Irish fish 'n' chips is a lovely way to celebrate. Chase the cod down with these delicious chocolate chip cookies, gently spiked with Irish cream liqueur, and you'll have a real party on your hands.

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 luscious Baileys cookies:

Ingredients for Bailey's Chocolate Chip Cookies

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.

Light brown sugar - aids in the fudgy texture and brings rich molasses and caramel notes to these sweet treats.

Granulated sugar - simple white sugar is best here.

Egg, beaten - just one is all you need here - not looking for a cakey texture, just the richness and moisture added with an egg.

Pure vanilla extract - real is best but imitation won't hurt you at all in this recipe.

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.

All-purpose flour - no need to sift, just use a spoon to add flour to your measuring cup so it's not too packed into the cup. Too much flour will impact that fudgy texture we crave.

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!

Kosher salt - cookies need salt to add dimension to the flavor profile. Just ½ teaspoon will do here, unless you're using salted butter, then reduce to a pinch.

Baking powder and baking soda - since we're not creaming softened butter, all of our lift comes from leavening agents in baking powder and soda.

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.

Step by step instructions for Bailey’s Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe:

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.

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.

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.

Serve these delicious cookies with a cup of coffee with Bailey's for the perfect after-dinner treat! Also delicious with Iced Coffee Punch with Ice Cream at a shower or afternoon tea. Another way to serve it is as part of a dessert bar alongside Coffee Jello with Sweetened Condensed Milk.

Bailey’s Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

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FAQ's and Variations:

What does Bailey's taste like?

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.

Can I make these cookies alcohol free?

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!

Don't I need to chill the cookie dough before rolling and baking?

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?

Should I bake these cookies on a silicone mat?

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!

What is the best way to keep these cookies moist?

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.