These Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies are infused with Baileys Irish Cream, and filled with minty chocolate chips. They’re crispy on the edges, chewy and soft on the inside, chocolaty, minty, all at the same time!
Are you a chocolate and peanut butter person or a chocolate and mint person? Or maybe both? These Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies are minty fresh and cooling on the tongue.
The chocolate cookie batter is infused with Baileys Irish Cream. However, it is not super boozy as most of the alcohol is cooked off in the oven. But can we talk about how crispy, chewy and soft these cookies are, all at the same time? Purely magical!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Irish cream – replace with heavy whipping cream, milk or sour cream if you want to skip the booze.
- Cocoa powder – either natural cocoa or Dutch-processed will work in this recipe but I am partial to Dutch-processed for a deeper chocolate flavor and a darker color cookie.
What type of mint chips to use?
I used Andes mint chips in this recipe. They used to be available at the grocery store but I haven’t seen them lately. They’re quite expensive online but I was able to buy them via Amazon Fresh for a very good price.
- Pros: they are the cheapest of all the mint chips and if you’re already using Amazon Fresh for grocery delivery (not sponsored, we just use it personally), it’s kind of a no brainer here.
- Cons: they don’t keep their shape during baking, they melt into the cookies a bit. And if you keep the cookies out under the sun or hot weather, they will get melty.
- Substitution: if you can’t find the chips, you can use Andes mints bars or candies and just chop them into smaller pieces. Another option is Doves Dark Chocolate & Mint Swirl. You should be able to find these at the store.
In the original recipe, I used Petite Mints made by Guittard. They come in green, yellow, and pink, all in one bag. I was able to find them at a local specialty store at the time for $5 per 10oz bag.
- Pros: they taste great and they keep their shape during baking.
- Cons: I don’t think you can find them easily except online nowadays and you’ll have to buy them in bulk which is quite expensive.
Others that I haven’t tried but may be a good substitution:
- The original Guittard Green Mint Chips was what I wanted to use. But they aren’t available at any local store, and they only come in a multi-pack on Amazon, like everything else.
- Lily’s Chocolate Mint Flavor Baking Chips look like a good substitution. I saw them on Instacart and Walmart but they are also a bit pricey.
- I saw Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate and Mint Morsels at Target one year but I believe they are only available during the holiday season. They are half chocolate chips, half green mint chips. They would make a great substitute but I’m not sure if you will be able to find them easily.
- M&M’s Dark Chocolate Mint should work. They have green shells and are probably easier to find locally. I do see them on Instacart as well.
Step by Step Instructions
Make the chocolate Baileys cookie dough
- Add cooled melted butter and brown sugar to your mixing bowl.
- Beat for 2 minutes until combined and lighter in color.
- To the creamed butter, add eggs, Irish cream and vanilla extract.
- Beat for another 2 minutes until really fluffy.
- Sift the dry ingredients together and stir in the salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
- Stir until just incorporated. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula if necessary.
- Add chocolate mint chips to the cookie dough.
- Stir to distribute evenly.
- Portion chocolate mint chip cookie dough with a large cookie scoop onto a lined baking sheet and refrigerate while the oven preheats.
Bake the cookies
When the oven is ready and your cookie dough has been chilling for about 10 – 15 minutes. Transfer 6 at a time to another lined baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 14 minutes. The cookies should still be slightly undercooked in the middle but will finish cooking from the residual heat outside the oven.
Baker’s Tips
- This cookie dough does not need to be thoroughly chilled before baking. I only keep them in the refrigerator for a short time while the oven preheats. You can chill them for longer of course, but 10 to 15 minutes is good enough to start baking right away.
- Always portion the cookie dough first before refrigerating in case you forget about it in the fridge, the dough will harden and be difficult to scoop.
- Since these are chocolate cookies, it’s harder to tell at which point you will start to overbake, so I would err on the side of slightly underbaked and allow the residual heat to finish baking the cookies.
- When checking doneness, you want to make sure the middle of the cookies still look slightly underbaked, and not completely dry.
Can I make smaller size chocolate mint cookies?
Absolutely! You can use a medium size cookie scoop to get 42 smaller cookies, about 1 oz each. Bake them for 10 – 11 minutes at the same oven temperature.
Storage
Store baked chocolate mint chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Longer than that, the cookies will start to harden, but still tasty with a glass of milk.
Once portioned, the unbaked cookie dough can be kept refrigerated for 2 – 3 days if you’re making them ahead of time, or frozen for 3 – 6 months.
To bake from frozen, do not thaw. Just increase baking time by about 1 – 2 minutes.
More minty treats
- Piñata Cupcakes (with mint frosting)
- Peppermint Brownies
- Linzer Cookies (with peppermint chocolate ganache)
- Peppermint Chocolate Truffles
- Peppermint Chocolate Madeleines
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Join my newsletter to get notified when I publish a new recipe. Follow along on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for more inspirations.
Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 7 oz unsalted butter (melted and cooled, 198 g)
- 1 ¼ cup dark brown sugar (or light brown sugar, tightly packed, 291 g)
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup Irish cream (57 g)
- 2 cup all-purpose flour (270 g)
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or dutch-processed, 44 g)
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 bag chocolate mint chips (Andes mint or others, about 2 cups, 10 oz, 283 g)
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until completely melted. Turn off the heat and let the butter cool to room temperature, 1 – 2 hours. Transferring the melted butter to the stand mixer bowl should help it cool faster.
- Add brown sugar to the cooled butter and beat with the paddle attachment for 2 minutes until thoroughly combined and lighter in color.
- Add egg, egg yolk, Irish cream and vanilla extract. Beat for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- In another mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir in the kosher salt and give it a good mix to distribute. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture in the stand mixer bowl, stir until incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the chocolate mint chips, and stir to incorporate. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a spatula and give it another good mix as needed.
- Portion the cookie dough with a large cookie scoop and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Refrigerate while the oven is preheating.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place dough balls on a baking sheet, about 2 inches apart and bake 1 batch at a time for 14 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- See “ingredients and substitutions” section within the post for all the available mint chips you can find.
- This recipe will yield 17 large cookies, using a large cookie scoop, about 2 ½ oz each. Or 42 small cookies, using a medium cookie scoop, about 1 oz each.
- Bake small cookies for 10 – 11 minutes.
- The cookie dough can be kept frozen once portioned. You can bake from frozen and increase baking time by 1 – 2 minutes.
Nutrition
Originally published on 3/14/2017. Updated and republished on 3/15/2021 with process shots, more info, tips, and tidier writing.
This post may contain affiliate links. For more details on how we utilize affiliates, ads, and sponsored contents, see our full disclosure policy. Thank you for your continue support, which enables us to keep bringing you delicious recipes, at no extra cost to you.
Here in Texas, you can buy Bailey’s Irish cream chips at H‑E‑B!
That’s awesome!
so that’s the secret ingredient…Bailey’s…LOL
Boozy cookies? yes please! These look so rich and chocolatey
Next time I make a batch of cookies, these are going to be them. They have everything I love – chocolate, Bailey’s and mint. Fabulous!
Thank you MJ! I hope you love them as much as I do when you make them, and the Bailey is indeed fabulous 😉