So after a short break, I’m back with more Baileys treats! St. Patrick’s Day needs to get here fast before I overload on Baileys. Today it’s in the form of cookie balls.
Cookie balls? Yes, cookie balls. No cake here. And not because I don’t love cake. I LOVE cake. But these are even easier because there’s no baking involved. That’s right. You don’t even have to turn on your oven. And yet when you bite into these delightful little balls of joy, you’d never know there was no cake involved. And they are best if you make them and then let them sit overnight. The cookies really absorb all the flavor and then it all just melts in your mouth. A serious Baileys flavor explosion. Awesome! Now let’s get started.
The main ingredient here is vanilla wafer cookies. These babies are useful for so many things and I love them for that. I used my food processor to crush them up. You need 3 cups, which was about 1 full box of vanilla wafers. Add in the powdered sugar and mix well. Then add the corn syrup and Baileys and mix it all together. It may seem kind of crumbly, but as you mush it together to form a ball it does hold it’s shape very well. My coworkers were surprised when I told them I’d used vanilla wafers to make them because not only could they not tell from the taste or texture, but they were surprised it all held together so well – but it does! Next, roll the cookie mixture into balls. I used about 2 heaping tablespoons worth of the cookie mixture in each ball.
When you are done rolling the balls, get your chocolate candy melts ready for dipping. (In case you are wondering, you can use other types of candy coating products, but I don’t recommend regular chocolate chips) I melt my chocolate in the microwave in small increments of about 15 – 45 seconds. I usually start off with 45 second or so increments to get the candy melts going, but once it starts getting melty, I taper off to less time so as not to burn the melted chocolate. Once your chocolate is ready, dip away!
Allow the balls to dry and again I recommend letting them sit overnight so that the vanilla wafers soak up all the moisture and flavor of the Baileys. They will still be delicious if you eat them right away, but the cookie crumbs will be more distinct rather than fully incorporated and melt in your mouth awesome. Know what I mean?
NOTE (Updated 12/22/14): Many people had trouble with these cookie balls turning out, so I did some experimenting. I have reduced the amount of Baileys in the recipe and updated the recipe accordingly.
Read transcript
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- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 20-24 Cookie Balls
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
These easy Baileys Irish Cream Cookie Balls are a delicious no bake dessert idea! Made with vanilla wafers, Baileys and chocolate, they melt in your mouth.
Ingredients
- 3 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup corn syrup
- 1/3 cup Baileys Irish Cream
- 12 oz bag chocolate chips or candy melts
Instructions
Notes
The cookie balls are best after sitting overnight so that the vanilla wafers soak up all the moisture and flavor of the Baileys.
Keywords: no bake desserts, cookie balls recipe, baileys dessert, baileys cookies, easy no bake dessert
Modified from Fabulous Foods.
Enjoy!
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I have a bottle of strawberry Irish cream and I am wondering about using it for these Irish cream balls. Or do you have any other ideas/suggestions for using the strawberry Irish cream?
Yes, that should work great!
Not cookie related, although, I do make quite a few of your recipes. My question, what color are your cabinets? Love the look.
I’m not totally sure. But they are some shade of grey.
I used your recipe but substitution regularly Baileys with tbe chocolate cherry Baileys. They were great, thanks!!
★★★★★
Could I used spiked eggnog instead? I have made them before and they came out amazing.
I’m not sure how strong the flavor would be but you could definitely try it. Sounds yummy!
Well I have made these twice in the past month…and have had no issues…I did not use a food processor but used a freezer bag and a rolling pin to crush the cookies and turn them into crumbs…these are delicious….I used the chocolate cherry Bailey’s
For those having issues with the cookies going flat…I wouldn’t add all the liquid at one time…I would hold some in reserve…mix the karo and Bailey’s together first before adding to the crumbs…also I used domno powder sugar…which does not contain cornstarch…some other powder sugars do contain cornstarch
One other note…I make these a bit smaller and get about 28 to 30 cookies…for me that is a perfect size and I think the smaller size helps the cookies to maintain it’s roundness
★★★★
Thanks for sharing your tips and I’m so glad you enjoyed!
Hi! Do you think I could just crush the Nilla wafers with a rolling pin or do you think I’d have to use a food processor? Thanks!
I’d suggest the food processor. You want nice crumbs that will hold together well. A rolling pin will likely give you larger chunks of cookie.
I was just wondering if anyone has tried freezing these, and if they freeze well?
I haven’t tried freezing them, but they should be fine.
Brenda, did you try freezing them? I’d like to make 10 dozen or so for the holidays, so I would need to freeze them for sure.
Just made these this weekend – twice actually! First for 18 women in my BUNCO group RAVE REVIEWS! Second for my camping Halloween weekend (I put neon green spiders on them!) for 60 men and women – again, LOVED THEM! Asked over and over for the recipe and was once even accused that I didn’t really make them (Betty Crocker I’m not!). I added the 1/3rd cup of Bailey’s, however I make my own, and wish they were a little stronger. As you changed the recipe a bit, I wonder if I can add more Bailey’s or if I should make my Bailey’s stronger to begin with. I had absolutely NO PROBLEM with the consistency or them rolling fine. And didn’t particularly stick to my hands either. Thanks so much for this “keeper”!
I would just experiment with it a bit. You could try adding an additional teaspoon or so at a time, then roll a ball and see how it does.
Secret to making chocolate bars/chips into dipping chocolate is addition of paraffin. The correct ratio is 1 oz paraffin (1/4 bar) to 6 oz chocolate. Thr other option is using Crisco or coconut oil instead of paraffin (coating will not be as firm) – using slightly less 2 Tablespoons per 6oz chocolate.
The trick is to heat the flow agent (paraffin, Crisco, coconut oil) first and then stir in chips or broken up chocolate bars.
Note to anyone getting too moist of dough: the addition of rice flour, instant potato flakes or corn starch (ingredient in powder sugar besides the sugar) will firm up dough. Add in small qualities, giving 5 minutes for moist to absorb) potatoe flakes in my opinion not only firmed up the dough but improved the recipe – less cakey, more creamy.
Some tried and liked non-alcoholic versions:
1/4 cup orange juice + 1.5 tablespoons almond extract
1/3 carmel syrup (sticky, potatoe flakes needed) + 1/4 cup fine chopped walnuts
1/3 canned pumpkin + 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice
How long will they hold in the refrigerator, I like to do my holiday baking 1 week before when possible.
I would think they’d be ok. I actually think these get better after they sit for at least 24 hours anyway. 🙂
I made these for Saint Patrick’s Day, delicious!!!!My friend’s also loved them. I did n’t have a problem making these. I followed the recipe and all went well. Will make again. Thank You !!!!Lorraine
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I just wish it was more clear that Nilla wafers were different from the sugar vanilla wafers. Since the recipe mentioned vanilla wafers, I ended up using the sugar ones and it turned out to be overly sweet 🙁
Oh gosh, I’m sorry. I hadn’t even really thought about that cookie confusion. Those definitely would create a very different textured cookie ball. I hope you get a chance to try them with the correct Cookie because they really are good.
I actually just looked at the recipe more closely and saw that I already linked to the correct cookies. But still, I’m sorry for the confusion.
Well, I just made these little gems, and it is a humid day and I think that contributes to how they turn out. I made them in my food processor, grinding the Nilla wafers in it, then adding all the other ingredients in it. It all came together well. I used a small ice cream type scoop to for m them into balls, then used my hands using powdered sugar as suggested and it worked. The only problem I had was dipping in chocolate, that was a mess and I think it was the humidity. Mine are not pretty like the picture so they are in the fridge for now hardening. All in all I would say this recipe worked for me but I let the processor do the work. It is very similar as some others said to a rum ball recipe of old.
After going back and reading the preface to the recipe, I see that even though the recipe calls for chocolate chips OR chocolate melts, the preface recommends not using chocolate chips. I used chocolate chips and didn’t have good luck so maybe it wasn’t the humidity, don’t know why that would be in the recipe if it is not recommended. If I make these again ( the jury is still out) I will use the melts.