Irish Cream Chocolate Cookies

I have been keeping this recipe for a little while, and I have some Irish Cream liqueur that is specialized and might not keep as long as other liqueurs. My folks had made this recipe a while ago, and raved about how wonderful the cookies were. They were super rich, but what do you expect with a cookie that is chocolate and filled with Irish Cream liqueur?

This cookie doesn’t call for uncommon ingredients, but it contains quite a few different elements that add to their richness. I know that some people will balk at including coffee powder, but that simply makes the chocolate taste more chocolatey. The coffee flavor is not prevalent at all. Somehow, in the rush of holiday baking, I had run out of white chocolate chips. I used milk chocolate chips in the dough and then topped the cookies with a few additional white chocolate chips.

These cookies have you make the dough, then shape the cookies, and refrigerate for several hours. The dough is too sticky to use at this point, and even shaping the cookies was challenging! I refrigerated the dough for about six hours, and they were much easier to work with. Since these are rich, I am very glad that I made them small. They have a wonderful chocolate flavor with the subtle addition of Irish Cream.

Irish Cream Chocolate Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup Irish Cream Liquor
2 ⅔ cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium until light. Add the eggs and vanilla, mixing until the ingredients are incorporated. Add the Irish Cream, a little at a time, to the dough.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, coffee powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. When the flour mixture is almost incorporated, stop the mixer and add the white and milk chocolate chips. Finish mixing the dough with a spatula.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4” balls and place on a plate covered with parchment. Refrigerate the cookie dough balls for at least 4 hours.

Heat the oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Reroll the chilled cookies into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheets, ensuring that there is plenty of space between the cookies.

Bake for 9-12 minutes, until the cookies are set. Do not over bake. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Confessions of a Baking Queen