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These Baileys Chocolate Cupcakes are made with a moist chocolate cupcake, Baileys chocolate ganache filling and Baileys frosting! One of my favorite flavor combos – these cupcakes are delicious!
So recently I’ve gotten a little bug. Not like a sick bug, but like I want to do things bug. And right now the focus of that bug is doing things around our house. All of a sudden I want to paint everything, change everything on the walls and get all new furniture. Basically just re-do it all. 🙂
Problem is, who can afford to just re-do their whole house on a whim? So I’ve started with some painting. Some parts of the house have been painted, but much has remained unpainted. So I started getting swatches and testing paints a couple weeks ago for our dining room. If you’ve ever chosen paint, you know how painful it can be. Especially when looking at shades of grey. I was lamenting to the hubs that there are so many shades of grey that it’s hard to pick one and he got all clever and said, “Yea, I hear there’s like 50 shades.”
Ha!
Well I finally picked one and painted over the weekend. I’m feeling pretty snazzy and ready for my next project! 🙂
How to Make Baileys Chocolate Cupcakes
But for now, let’s talk about these cupcakes. For the Baileys and chocolate lover, they really are yummy! The cupcake base in moist and fluffy, the filling is rich, chocolatey and smooth – and flavored with Baileys – and the frosting is the Baileys icing on the cake! 😉
The cupcake base is relatively straight forward as far as method and ingredients. It uses the creaming method, so you want to be sure to fully cream the butter and sugar together. You’ll get a much fluffier cupcake that way. Be sure the mixture lightens in color and gets thick and fluffy.
The filling is your basic chocolate ganache with some Baileys in place of some of the heavy whipping cream. It’s super smooth and rich! So good! It firms up a little quicker than regular ganache since the Baileys has less fat than the heavy cream, so don’t be too concerned.
To finish off the cupcake, there’s the Baileys frosting. It’s hard to not just eat it with a spoon! It’s got just a touch of chocolate in it and plenty of Baileys. I used my usual combination of butter and shortening, since I prefer the more stabile consistency, but feel free to use all butter if you like.
These cupcakes were a hit! Moist, fluffy, rich and yummy! Perfect for a Saturday night or any occasion. 🙂
Watch How To Make These
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Baileys Chocolate Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 17 minutes
- Total Time: 47 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 Cupcakes
- Category: Cupcakes
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Baileys Chocolate Cupcakes made with chocolate cupcake, Baileys chocolate ganache filling & Baileys frosting! These cupcakes are delicious!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup (112g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (207g) sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 tbsp (90ml) water
- 6 tbsp (43g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp (90ml) milk
Baileys Frosting
- 1/2 cup (112g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (95g) shortening
- 4 cups (460g) powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp (14g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 4–5 tbsp (60-75ml) Baileys Irish Cream
- Chocolate sprinkles
Baileys Chocolate Ganache
- 8 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
- 5 tbsp (75ml) Baileys Irish Cream
- 5 tbsp (75ml ) heavy whipping cream
Instructions
To Make the Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- Beat butter and sugar until light in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating just until blended. Set creamed mixture aside.
- In another bowl, add vanilla, water and cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Mixture will be thick.
- Add chocolate mixture to batter and mix until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.
- Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk to the batter. Begin by adding half of the dry mix, then mix well. Add the milk and mix well, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until smooth.
- Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs.
- Allow cupcakes to cool about 2-3 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
To Make the Baileys Frosting
- Combine the butter and shortening in a large bowl and mix until smooth.
- Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
- Add the cocoa, vanilla extract and 4 tablespoons of Baileys and mix until smooth.
- Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
- Add remaining Baileys as needed and mix until smooth, keeping an eye on the consistency of the frosting so it doesn’t get too thin. Set aside.
To Make the Baileys Chocolate Ganache and Assemble the Cupcakes
- When the cupcakes are cooled, make the chocolate ganache. Put the chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl. Set to the side.
- Combine the Baileys and heavy whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup and heat in the microwave until it just begins to boil.
- Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and whisk until smooth.
- Cut out the centers of the cupcakes. You can use a cupcake corer or a knife.
- Fill the centers of the cupcakes with chocolate ganache.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 808, a large round tip.
- To decorate the top of the cupcakes, fill a piping bag fit with a small round tip, such as Ateco tip 3, with the remaining chocolate ganache. Pipe a drizzle onto the cupcakes for decoration, then add sprinkles if using.
- Refrigerate cupcakes until ready to serve. Serve at room temperature. Cupcakes are best for 2-3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cupcake
- Calories: 540
- Sugar: 54.6 g
- Sodium: 164.2 mg
- Fat: 30.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 65.6 g
- Protein: 4.9 g
- Cholesterol: 72.8 mg
Categories
Enjoy!
Hi Lindsay, I,m not sure how the consistency of my butter ream should be when frosting a cake, it’s never smooth and it’s still soft when I take it out of fridge
I have a post here on frosting consistency. I hope that helps!
4 cups of powdered sugar seems like it would be very sweet! Especially with the rich ganache filling. Any way to cut down on the sweetness without losing the taste?
You can read more about the amounts of powdered sugar and such here. It’s about consistency and volume really. Feel free to reduce it if you prefer.
Can these be made as mini cupcakes?
That should be fine. They may be harder to fill, but otherwise ok.
I made these for a co-workers birthday. They were a Hit! So easy to make and Soooo, Soooo Good! They were a hit with everyone of age. We did put a “21 only” label on the box because of the Baileys, in the Filling and frosting.
I will make them again that’s for sure.
So glad to hear everyone enjoyed them!
Is the cocoa for the frosting regular or dark chocolate?
You could use either. I believe I used dark.
Hello I was wondering if I can take away the baileys Irish cream since it has alcohol and I’m underage so can I take it away and the cupcakes taste the same
Yes, just replace the Baileys with milk in the frosting and heavy whipping cream in the ganache.
You are the best dessert blogger ever tried cookie recipe came out big and tasty love your work keep going and your dog is adorable and when is your birthday you should also get a show on the food network sure it will be a great show.❤️????❤️????❤️????
Hi Lindsay , the Baileys cupcakes look very tempting! I’m really not much of a baker but have decided to surprise my teens !
Is powdered sugar the same as confectioners or icing sugar or is it just 1 cup of regular fine sugar ?
Baking has always been intimidating for me but your recipe is really well written.
Yes, powdered sugar is the same as icing sugar.
For the ganache filling you state 8 oz. Choc chips. Is this by weight or measure? When I made it using 8 oz. measure (1 cup) it seemed really thin and never really set enough in the filling where I felt confident enough to use it over the frosting. Packages of chips, at least in my area now, come in 6 ounce and 12 ounce.
I always weight my chocolate chips so that it’s accurate, so I did use the 8 oz as written. Did you use semi-sweet, or another kind of chocolate. Sometimes that can make a difference as well.
If I wanted to make these without alcohol for children because they love fudge filling what can I substitute instead of Bailey’s – would sweetened condensed milk or whipping cream and whipped do the trick ?
Yes, additional heavy cream in the ganache and milk in the frosting.
For a NA option I use the Bailey’s coffee creamer, tastes like the real stuff but without alcohol. I use this when I’m bringing Bailey’s desserts to work or if kids and/or pregnant women will be enjoying them 🙂
I did this Brooke! I made an alcohol free batch and then a 21+ batch and it is hard to tell the difference. The flavor is a little stronger in the real Baileys batch, but it is still there in the creamer one! Great tip! Thanks!
I’m a little confused with the cup of sugar weight, isn’t that weight for only half a cup?
I’m from Australia and our cup and Tablespoon weight is different to the American, so it Is always good to have the weights included.
Yes, you are right! I’m sorry about that – it was an error. I have updated the recipe – thank you for pointing it out!
what is shortening?
It’s a butter replacement. If you don’t have it or don’t want to use it, just replace with additional butter.
I just received your new book for Christmas and I had to tell you that I absolutely love it! I have been reading every single page of it and it is the best one I have seen so far. Thank you for providing such a wonderful book!
Aww thank you so much Madison! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! 🙂
It is a fluffier filling. Maybe a whipped filling? The cake filling and buttercream icing are all white? I wish I could help you more. All I know is that the cake is an almond cake, filling is a amaretto filling and the buttercream is an almond buttercream.
Sounds great! Just wanted to make sure I had an accurate picture of it. 🙂 Thanks!
I agree with the Food Network comment! You are amazing! These look delicious! I am in love with a cupcake that I get from a local bakery and would love for you to recreate it! It is almond amaretto! It is a almond cake with a amaretto filling and a almond buttercream! Topped with slivered almonds! It is absolutely amazing! I would love to make them at home
Thanks Kesha! 🙂 Those cupcakes sound delicious! Is the amaretto filling like a chocolate filling, custard filling, frosting?
Another work of art! You really need to get on Food Network!
Ha! Thanks Dee! 🙂