What’s More Fun Than a Barrel of Leprechauns? Baileys & Guinness Cupcakes!

While St. Patrick’s Day has a rich history dating all the way back to the saint’s death in the fifth century C.E., it has, more recently, been turned into a day of, well, indulgence.

And while what I actually mean by indulgence here is alcohol consumption, I like to take it a step further and indulge my sweet tooth as well — because if you’re going to indulge, you may as well indulge. (What’s that? You’re tired of the word indulge? Sorry, I’ll stop now.)

But really — if you’re going to go a little crazy on March 17, you may as well go all out by making these chocolate stout and Irish cream cupcakes.

Trust me, of all the regrettable things people end up doing on St. Patrick’s Day, eating too many of these is not one of them.

There’s a boozy version of these cupcakes and a version that’s on the safer side (meaning the alcohol that isn’t cooked out is substituted) — and they’re pretty good either way. When my budget is tight, I usually forgo the extra alcohol in favor of the less expensive ingredients, but they still come out delicious.

 

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

1 cup all purpose flour: 27 cents

1 cup sugar: 25 cents

¼ cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder: 42 cents

½ teaspoon baking soda: 1 cent

⅛ teaspoon salt: 1 cent

⅔ cup + 2 tablespoons stout beer (like Guinness), at room temperature: 75 cents

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted: 50 cents

2 teaspoons vanilla extract: 93 cents

2 eggs: 20 cents

6 tablespoons sour cream, at room temperature: 48 cents

Total: $3.82

For the frosting:

4 ½ cups powdered sugar: $1.20

1 ½ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature: $3.03

3 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream coffee creamer: 42 cents

OR

3 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream liqueur: $2.11

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract: 70 cents

¼ teaspoon salt: 1 cent

Total: $5.36 (coffee creamer), $7.05 (liqueur)

Directions

To make the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, combine the stout and the melted butter. (Make sure the stout is at room temperature and that the butter has been allowed to cool, but not harden.)

Add the vanilla, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the sour cream. Mix well until combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing well.

Divide the batter among 12 lined or lightly greased cupcake tins, filling each one ¾ of the way.

Bake for 22-24 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting:

In a large bowl, mix the powdered sugar and butter on high speed until smooth.

Add the liqueur or coffee creamer, vanilla and salt.

Mix until thoroughly combined.

Tip: You can frost your cupcakes using a knife, or you can use a zip-top bag to pipe the frosting on. Simply fill the bag with frosting and snip a small hole in one of the bottom corners of the bag.

Optional: Add a festive touch by topping the frosted cupcakes with green sugar sprinkles for an additional 30 cents.

Grace Schweizer is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder.

Headings hand-lettered by Kristy Gaunt, Illustrative Designer at The Penny Hoarder.