Baileys Irish Cream Cookie Balls
Are you in need of a special dessert to help celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? I’ve got you covered with this very easy and verrrrry tasty recipe for Baileys Irish Cream cookie balls.
In the interest of full disclosure, I need to warn you that these truffle-like cookie balls are addictively delicious. I doubt most people would be able to eat just one and leave it at that. Hubby and I sure couldn’t (and didn’t)!
I think of these cookie balls as kissin’ cousins to truffles. Officially, they don’t meet the definition of truffles since the filling doesn’t contain any chocolate as an ingredient. The filling, however, is spot on in its mouth-watering, creamy texture and is dipped in chocolate. The decadent result is a little bite of heaven. Oh, and did I mention that the filling is flavored with Baileys Irish Cream—what’s not to like?
Baileys Irish Cream Cookie Balls
Yield: 24 to 30 Cookie Balls
Ingredients
- 3 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/3 cup corn syrup
- 1/3 cup Baileys Irish Cream
- 12-oz. bag chocolate chips or candy melts
Optional Garnishes
- Green sugar sprinkles
- Shamrock sprinkles
- White nonpareils sprinkles
Directions
Combine vanilla wafer crumbs and confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl.
Add corn syrup and Irish cream and mix well. Chill the filling until it’s easy to handle.
Make balls of about 1 tablespoon each of the vanilla wafer mixture. (I used a 1-tbl. cookie scoop. My filling was well chilled, and the filling didn’t stick too much to the scoop.)
Roll the filling in the palms of your hands. You can sprinkle a little bit of confectioners’ sugar on your hands to prevent sticking if you need to. Set balls aside while you prepare chocolate coating.
Melt chocolate chips or candy melts in a bowl in the microwave at 50% power, using short time increments of about 30 seconds. Use a candy dipping tool to submerge each ball into the chocolate. If you don’t have one, a fork will work, too. Set chocolate-coated balls on a piece of parchment paper to dry. Before the balls dry, you can sprinkle them with a garnish of your choice if desired.
Notes
- The cookie balls are best after sitting overnight so that the vanilla wafers soak up all the moisture and flavor of the Baileys. Also, they do not need to be refrigerated, but I found that I liked them even better when they were chilled.
- You can easily halve the recipe (if you’re good at math, that is, lol). But, Fran, what’s half of 1/3 cup, you ask? Well, 1/3 cup is equal to 5 1/3 tablespoons—and 5 1/3 tablespoons are equal to 16 teaspoons. So, half of 16 teaspoons is 8 teaspoons which is equal to 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons. If you own a set of Tupperware measuring spoons, just fill the 4-teaspoon measuring spoon twice for the corn syrup and the Baileys, and you’re good to go. Easy peasy—and you’re welcome!
Source: A recipe from Life, Love, and Sugar