Chocolate Dipped Irish Cream Cookies

March 13, 2017

So it’s the week of St. Patrick’s Day and I vote we drink Guinness everyday!

Whatever your heritage there is something about celebrating St. Patrick that brings out a little Irish in all of us. I have always been told that I am 100% Scottish but I’m certain there is some Irish in the mix somewhere! I would be really interested to try DNA genetic testing to learn more about myself. If anyone has tried it let me know. I’ve heard it’s a bit of a money grab but like anything, take it with grain of salt. I think I am going to do it. When I do, I’ll let you know the results!

So last year I made a homemade Irish Cream liqueur that was amazing! It was more boozy than creamy and it was a hit at our house! For my cookie recipe today I used Bailey’s Irish Cream but you could certainly use any brand, or my homemade version here, check it out.

Chocolate dipped Irish cream cookies are on the menu for Aaron’s lunches this week. There’s something that makes me feel rebellious about sending booze with him to work, even in cookie form. He’s only too happy to comply haha. These cookies were nice and soft, almost like a chocolate shortbread with an extra bit of chocolate dipped on top. You can subtly taste the alcohol flavor of the Irish cream but are sweet enough that it’s still very much a cookie flavor.

Just to err on the side of caution, I didn’t let Mairead eat these cookies; that’s all I need is a drunk 4 year old jacked up on cookies! Cooking with alcohol and whether or not it “cooks out” depends on a lot of factors including cooking temperatures, the size of the dish, contents of other ingredients, etc. So I made a special trip to our favorite bakery for some pretty macarons for her so she didn’t feel left out. I found an article here that explains in further detail about cooking with alcohol if you want more info on how to do it safely.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Dipped Irish Cream Cookies

*Makes approx. 24 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Irish Cream liqueur (Bailey’s)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cup dark chocolate
sprinkles, optional

Directions

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

With a hand mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

Add the Irish cream, egg and vanilla. Mix until blended.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and cornstarch.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until fully blended.

Shape about 1 tablespoon of batter into balls and flatten slightly on the prepared pan.

Bake 6-8 minutes.

Once baked transfer to a cookie rack and allow to cool.

While cooling melt dark chocolate using a double boiler or microwave*
I put a tin bowl over a pot of 1/2 cup boiling water and allow the chocolate to melt. It works perfectly and the chocolate does not harden like it does in the microwave.

Once melted, dip cookies half way and lay on parchment paper to harden. If adding sprinkles, apply them before chocolate hardens completely.

Enjoy!