This recipe for Irish Cream Cupcakes has plenty of Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur in the cupcakes and swirled into the buttercream frosting too.
This recipe was originally shared back in 2011. It had some mixed reviews, so I scrapped that recipe and created a better tasting and better texture cupcake. If you liked the original recipe, you can still find it cut/pasted into the comments. I think these Irish Cream Cupcakes are much better!
Ingredients needed:
- miniature chocolate chips
- all purpose flour
- unsalted butter
- white sugar
- eggs
- unsweetened applesauce
- vanilla extract
- baking powder
- salt
- Irish Cream liqueur
- powdered sugar
How to make Irish Cream Cupcakes:
The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post.
BAKE THE CUPCAKES:
MAKE THE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
Spread the frosting on the cupcakes with a knife or for a fancier look, use a piping bag to swirl on the frosting. I used a Wilton 2D tip for these.
I squeeze on one petal at a time… all the way around the edges of the cupcake and then one petal squeezed into the middle to finish it off.
And there they are- simple little Irish Cream Cupcakes without an overwhelming amount of frosting. The addition of chocolate chips make these unique and delicious!
Add some green sprinkles if you wish- for a festive St. Patrick’s Day vibe. Enjoy!
The Best Cupcake Recipes:
- Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes
- Red Velvet Birthday Cupcakes
- Classic Vanilla Cupcakes
- Pink Strawberry Cupcakes
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Irish Cream Cupcakes with Bailey's Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
CUPCAKES:
- ¾ cup miniature chocolate chips
- ½ tablespoon all purpose flour
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
- 1½ cups granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup Irish Cream Liqueur
BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream liqueur
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
BAKE THE CUPCAKES:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake tins with 24 cupcake liners.
- In a small bowl, toss together chocolate chips and ½ tablespoon of flour.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Beat in the applesauce and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with the liqueur, beating well after each addition. Gently stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spoon the batter into cupcake liners, filling them about ¾-fulI -I use an ice cream scoop to get the batter neatly into the liners. Bake the cupcakes 18 to 22 minutes, or until the centers of the cupcakes are set.
MAKE THE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
- Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer to blend together; mix until smooth and creamy.
- Spread on cupcakes with a knife or for a fancier look use a piping bag to swirl on the frosting.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hey why did you change the original recipe where you used cream cheese ? I would love it if you could post that ratio because it literally was my favorite cupcake recipe ! I can’t find it without the applesauce now 😭
Hi Leslie, Someone else asked for the original recipe too– look through the comments and you’ll find it there. So many bad reviews on that one, so it has changed!
Was there a original recipe that used cake flour and cream cheese? I had one saved and it was my favorite but I can’t find the exact right one
Yes! Sorry about that. We’re going to be changing up the cupcake part of the recipe since it has some really mixed reviews. Here is the original:
CUPCAKES:
3/4 cup miniature chocolate chips
1/2 Tablespoon cake flour
2 3/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
10 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup Irish Cream Liqueur (Bailey’s)
BUTTERCREAM:
1 cup butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with 24 cupcake liners.
2. In a small bowl, toss together chocolate chips and 1/2 Tablespoon flour.
3. Sift together dry ingredients- flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
4. In a large bowl, use electric mixer to combine cream cheese and butter. Add sugars and vanilla; beat until blended. Add eggs and beat until incorporated. With mixer on low, add flour mixture and liqueur alternately to the wet mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Gently stir in chocolate chips.
5. Spoon batter into cupcake liners, filling them almost to the top (they shouldn’t rise much). I like to use an ice cream scoop to get the batter neatly into the liners. Bake cupcakes 18 to 22 minutes, or until centers of cupcakes are set.
6. To make buttercream: Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Use electric mixer to blend together; mix until smooth and creamy.
best cupcake recipe ever!!!! thank you for sharing
These are so good. I almost skipped the chocolate chips, but I’m glad i didnt they added a just the perfect flavor.
Absolutely Lovely!! Thank you for sharing…
I just finished making these and they’re delicious! The icing is especially amazing. I could eat the whole bowl of icing with a spoon! Thanks so much for sharing.
Made these today and they are delicious. Will defiantly be making these again in the future!
This recipe is fantastic. I’ve been making this for years now and we love it so much. It is our St. Patrick’s day tradition now. Thank you very much!
Hi Lori,
THX for that recipe! Tomorrow’s a friend’s birthday and when I asked him what kind of cupcakes he’d like, he went: “Is there such a thing as Bailey’s cupcakes?”. So I googled, found this.. and am excited to try it out tomorrow!
Thank you and keep it cooking 😉
Annie
Thx- hope he likes these. They are more of a pound cake than a light and fluffy cupcake, so a more dense texture.
These were a phenomenal birthday hit for my best friend! Thank you so much and they looked so very pretty on my blog. 🙂
I made them and they were soooooo good! The office ate them all!