Chocolate Bailey's Cookies and Foodie Pen Pals

We've got a lot to cover today.  Let's start with these beautiful cookies.  First, they're pretty.  Second, they're chocolate.  And third, they're laced with booze.  Not many ways to top that.  The cookie is soft and chocolatey, but the Bailey's Irish Cream leaves an undertone of something different that pairs nicely with the white chocolate chips.  A perfectly chewy cookie with several layers of flavor, just asking to be paired with a glass of milk.  Yum.

I'd pinned this recipe around St. Patrick's Day when the Bailey's recipes started making the rounds.  Ali from Gimme Some Oven posted this lovely treat and I didn't care to wait a full year to make them.  I'm not even sure why I made them in the first place, but the recipe was so easy and the cookies taste so perfect, that I had to make them again. This time for sharing with my Foodie Pen Pal.

What's a Foodie Pen Pal?  Well, Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean came up with this concept (many thanks, Lindsay, for organizing!).  Each month, foodies--both bloggers and non-bloggers, are assigned to another foodie and tasked with sharing some emails to learn about cooking habits and food preferences.  Then, with a $15 limit, we put together a box of goodies we think our new foodie friend will like.  On the last day of the month, we all post about the boxes we sent and received.  I loved the concept and literally the same minute I heard about it, I signed up for the next month (you should totally join).  Luckily, I got into the May group.  So this month I got to share a box of yummy goodness, including some of these delicious Bailey's Chocolate Cookies, with Stacy from This Side of Theory.  Stacy said I found her weakness when I asked how she felt about alcohol.  She actually prefers beer, but I didn't have a beer cookie recipe handy, so I thought these would serve the purpose (but now, of course, I'd love to find a cookie recipe that includes beer.)


And I received an awesome package from Tara at A Daily Dose of Fit.  Tara packed up a lovely package with herbal water, Blue Diamond Almond Nut-Thins (which are really tasty crackers), blueberry-honey mustard, Justin's classic peanut butter, various oatmeal packages (including a chocolate one which was so freakin' good--see my post on dessert for breakfast), flax to add to the oatmeal and a Raw Revolution bar.  I haven't tried everything yet, but I'm looking forward to it.  Lots of thanks to Tara for making my first Foodie Pen Pal month awesome!

With regards to Ali's recipe for these cookies, I didn't use the optional coffee powder since I didn't have any, but I did opt to use a high-end cocoa powder (L.A. Burdick) my friend Beth gave me for Christmas. It's smooth and silky and I think really was the perfect canvas against which to feature the Bailey's. And chilling the dough before baking gave them an extra fluff factor or being puffy rather than spreading out flat on the pan.

Bailey's Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 Tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream
2 2/3 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup white chocolate chips (Note: I didn't have any white chocolate chips at the time, so I made these with white chocolate discs--like candy melts, but pure white chocolate)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

Gradually add Irish cream, about 1 Tablespoon at a time, mixing until all is combined and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

Gradually add flour mixture to creamed mixture, mixing until the flour is incorporated.

Fold in chocolate chips.  Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours.

Drop spoonfuls of dough (I used a small cookie scoop) onto a parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheet.  Flatten dough balls slightly.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes.  Turn baking sheet 180 degrees halfway through baking. If using more than one sheet at a time, rotate positions in the oven for more even baking.

Remove from oven and let cool on pans for 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess

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