Baileys Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies

Baileys Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies are luscious chocolate chip cookies with a hint of Irish cream and cocoa flavor. Chewy and soft on the inside with a slightly crisp outside!

These Baileys Irish cream chocolate chip cookies are such a fun dessert and would fit right in for St. Patricks Day or Christmas. For more sweet treats, be sure to check out one of our most popular recipes Apple Cinnamon Bread. Or these adorable pink cookies, Strawberry Gooey Butter Cookies.

Baileys Cookies

Imagine biting into a perfect chocolate chip cookie. Your teeth sink through a slight crispy exterior and right into a soft, gooey chocolate chip filled center. But, as the cookie hits your tongue you realize that there is something else, something more complex to this cookie.

A light flavor that you don’t normally expect in a chocolate chip cookie. And if you are not the baker behind this delightful treat, then you will more than likely have trouble putting your finger on exactly what that flavor is until someone tells you.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Baileys Irish Cream

I know, I know chocolate chip cookies are amazing on their own and don’t typically need doctoring. I mean, they are a classic for a reason, right?

But, what if you could add a splash of an ingredient just to add a special, unique flavor? I am all for creating something new out of the old….er….classic.

It’s fun to play with recipes to create a new spin on the original. And it’s even more fun if that ingredient is a tasty liqueur!

What Kind of Chocolate Chips to Use

When I am baking up these Irish cream cookies, I enjoy using semi sweet chocolate chips because they are the perfect balance of sweet with a little bitterness. Using them ensures that my cookies aren’t too sweet. But, I like to mix things up a bit and I think these taste great with white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips.

If you really want the chocolate even more unsweet, go with bittersweet chocolate chips. And I have even heard that you can get Baileys Irish cream chocolate chips, if you are lucky enough to find them.

Best Way to Portion Cookies

I know a lot of people like to eyeball their cookie dough, believe me I used to do it, too. But, now when measuring out the dough for the cookies that I bake, I like to use a cookie dough scoop.

This helps me to make cookies that are more uniform in size. This means that the cookies will not only be similar visually, but also will cook more uniformly and all be done at the same time. The size of scoop I use is 1 tablespoon to make 1-2 tablespoon sized cookie dough balls.

What does Baileys Irish Cream Taste Like?

Baileys is a super creamy and delicious Irish liqueur that has a light, milky flavor. It has notes of a little vanilla and chocolate with just a hint of whiskey. It is a sweet drink that is only about 17% alcohol, that is relatively low.

Can Kids Eat Irish Cream Cookies?

I have heard forever that alcohol cooks off when it cooks. I’m not one to trust everything I hear and looked into it a few years ago. I learned something interesting, baked goods that cook for 25 minutes still retain 45% of alcohol. Foods have to cook for at least 3 hours at boiling point for alcohol to completely burn off.

Since these cookies only cook for 9-11 minutes, the alcohol is not going to burn off completely. The amount of alcohol that is left is not a lot but it is still there. I will leave it up to your discretion. But, kids definitely should not eat the raw dough.

Bailey Irish Cream Cookies Ingredients

• Flour: I use unbleached, all-purpose flour for this cookie recipe.
• Baking Soda: Make sure your baking soda is not expired.
• Salt: I use sea salt in this recipe. If you are using table salt I recommend cutting the amount in half.
• Cocoa: Unsweetened, 100% cacao powder.
• Butter: I use unsalted butter, it will need to be softened up to room temperature before using.
• Sugars: You will need both white granulated sugar and brown sugar (I use light brown).
• Vanilla: Use vanilla extract and not imitation vanilla flavoring.
• Baileys: Irish cream is a sweet whiskey liqueur.
• Eggs: Pull them out of the refrigerator to have them up to room temperature.
• Chocolate Chips: You can use chocolate chips or chocolate chunks.

How to Make Baileys Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here are the basic instructions to make Irish cream chocolate chip cookies. For the exact ingredient amounts and steps, check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

1. In a large bowl, combine together the flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt. When measuring the flour, it is crutial that you measure it correctly. Spoon it into a dry measuring cup, not a liquid measuring cup. Do not pack the flour in the cup. Use a knife to level it off.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a bowl using a hand mixer), cream together the butter and the sugars. Make sure to pull the butter out of the fridge 2 hours before making the cookie dough so that it has time to come to room temperature.
3. Add in the vanilla and eggs to the creamed butter. Mix well, then mix in the Baileys.
4. To the wet ingredients, slowly add the dry ingredients mixing after each addition.
5. Hand mix in the chocolate chips or chocolate chunks.
6. Place the bowl of dough into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours.
7. Preheat the oven and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
8. Next, scoop the dough using a cookie dough scoop and place the dough balls onto the baking sheet. Place them about 1 1/2 – 2 inches apart.
9. You can either bake the cookies or freeze them.
10. Place cookies into the pre-heated oven, one tray at a time. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes, taking them out as soon as they start turning brown. Make sure you DO NOT over bake them. After putting baked cookies on a cooling rack, you can put the baking tray in the freezer for a few minutes to cool it off quickly to bake more cookie dough.

Can you Bake Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies from Frozen?

This recipe makes a good amount of cookies, so sometimes I will cook half of the dough and freeze the rest of the dough. You can also double the recipe so that you have a full batch to eat and one to make for later.

How to Freeze Cookie Dough

When I’m planning on freezing the dough, I like to roll out the dough balls and place them onto baking sheet, making sure to space them out. Place that sheet into the freezer and freeze the dough balls for about 30 minutes until slightly frozen.

Put the frozen dough balls into an airtight, freezer safe container or zip bag and freeze up to 2 months.

How to Bake Frozen Dough

1. Thaw the cookie dough balls. When you are wanting to bake the cookie dough, pull the dough balls out of freezer and place them on a parchment covered baking sheet. Place a clean tea towel over the top of the thawing dough. They should be thawed within 1-2 hours. Bake according to the directions below.
2. Baking frozen cookie dough. Place the dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350°F and immediately put the cookies into the preheating oven. Cook the cookies for 15 minutes.

Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies Tips & Variations

• Do not over bake. Make sure to not over bake these cookies. One of the most important things to keep in mind when baking these
• Warm them up. Heat the leftover cookies up for a few seconds in the microwave for a tasty warm treat!
• Try different chips. Use white chocolate chips, milk chocolate, semi sweet chocolate, bittersweet or even white chocolate chips.
• Add chocolate chips. After baking add a few chocolate chips to the top of the cookies to have those glossy chocolate chips.
• Coffee creamer. I have heard a rumor that you can use Irish cream coffee creamer instead of using Baileys. I have never tried it, but if you do let me know how it turns out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you freeze cooked Baileys Irish cream cookies? Yes, these Baileys chocolate chip cookies can be frozen. Just check out the directions below under the storage instructions.

How to make gooey Irish cream chocolate chip cookies? Keep these cookies soft by not over baking them. Cook them for no more than 12 minutes.

Can you bake chocolate chip cookie dough from frozen? You can cook these from frozen dough. Place the dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350°F and immediately put the cookies into the preheating oven. Cook the cookies for 15 minutes.

Can you taste the Irish cream alcohol in the cookies? These Irish cream cookies taste like chocolate chip cookies with a faint hint of something else. They don’t taste like alcohol at all.

How to Store Baileys Cookies

How to store Baileys Irish cream chocolate chip cookies? Let the Irish cream cookies cool and put in an air tight container. Store at room temperature for 3-4 days.

How to freeze Baileys Irish cream chocolate chip cookies? Let cookies cool completely. Wrap each cookie with plastic wrap or stack them together and wrap them, completely covering all parts of the cookie. Put into an air tight, freezer safe container or freezer bag. They can be frozen for up to 2 months but are best if eaten in 3-4 weeks, just be sure to label with the recipe and date.

How to thaw frozen Baileys Irish cream cookies? Thaw frozen cooked cookies on the counter for 1-2 hours until defrosted.

Try these other dessert recipes!

• Cherry Cheesecake Dump Cake
• Watergate Cake
• Lucky Charms Bars with White Chocolate Drizzle
• Fluffernutter Cookies
• Lemon Cooler Cookies

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