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Irish cream brownies are ultra dense and fudgy with a Baileys spiked ganache. Can be made gluten-free.
As much as I like St. Patrick’s Day, I’m not really into dying my food green. I also think mint is a weird flavor to be associated with that holiday. Mint is totally a Christmas thing for me.
So when it’s time for a St. Patrick’s Day dessert, I always turn to Irish cream. I have a crazy love for all things made with Baileys. I make something new with it every year and this totally from scratch Irish cream cake is probably my favorite. It’s practically swimming in Irish cream!
One thing I hadn’t made before were some simple Irish cream brownies. When I first started thinking of brownie recipes to turn into Baileys brownies, I was at a loss. None of my brownie recipes could deal with the amount of Irish cream I wanted to add. I’ve seen brownie recipes that call for two tablespoons of Baileys but when I make something boozy, I don’t want the alcohol to be subtle. Two tablespoons wouldn’t have cut it!
My solution was to use a brownie base recipe that calls for melted chocolate chips and cocoa powder instead of just cocoa powder. That made adding a little booze no problem at all!
So here we go. Brownies with 1/2 cup Irish cream in the batter and another 1/4 cup in the ganache.
If you don’t feel like making the ganache, you can absolutely skip it. The brownies are sweet and delicious enough on their own! The mini chocolate chips on top were maybe overkill but they were so pretty I couldn’t help myself.
After trying these Irish cream brownies, I can’t wait to try out some different versions. Kahlua brownies sound pretty amazing or maybe even some mudslide brownies with Kahlua and Irish cream! Then you’d have the best of both worlds.
These brownies are extremely easy to make but if they sound too time-consuming, try Jamie’s homemade Baileys chocolate pudding to get your Irish cream fix!
If you need these brownies to be gluten-free, please read this article about gluten-free Irish cream before deciding which brand to buy.
Irish Cream Brownies
Ingredients
For the brownies:
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour or 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon buckwheat flour for a gluten-free version*
- ⅔ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder or Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup Irish cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
For the ganache:
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup Irish cream
- ¼ cup whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F and line an 8"×8" pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat while stirring frequently, melt the butter and chocolate chips.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the sugar, Irish cream, and vanilla and mix until well combined. Stir in the egg just until incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Fold in the flour mixture just until no more streaks of flour remain. It will be very thick.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and use a silicone spatula to even it out.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the top no longer appears wet. A toothpick inserted into the sides will come out with some moist crumbs on it, but not totally raw batter. The brownies will continue to bake as they sit in the pan. If you made the buckwheat version, let them sit for about 2 hours before serving as they need some resting time.
- Once the brownies have cooled, prepare the ganache.
- Place the chocolate chips and Irish cream in a small bowl. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the cream just until steamy and on the verge of simmering.
- Remove from the heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and Irish cream and stir until all the chocolate chips are completely melted. Let cool for about 15 minutes before pouring over the brownies.
- Cover and store at room temperature for 2 days or refrigerate for up to 4 days. For fudgier brownies, refrigerate.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I was so excited to make these for Super Bowl Sunday. My family and friends we’re also excited to hear that I made these. I followed the recipe exactly. There was absolutely zero taste of Irish cream in this with the amounts instructed. I don’t know if y’all have a more sensitive pallet for alcohol but this was a complete bomb. Don’t get me wrong they were really good but you could feed these to kindergartners and there’s no way they could taste the alcohol. Next.
I’ve made these a few times and my family loves them! Now I want to try putting them in cupcake tins and make brownie cupcakes! How long do you think I should keep them in the oven for? Less time? More time?
Hello! I have not tried baking this exact brownie recipe in muffin tins, so I can’t be sure of the exact baking time or result. I would probably start checking them around 8-10 minutes, but you’ll probably have to keep an eye on them while they bake. If you try it, I’d love to hear how they turned out. Happy baking!
Jamie