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Baileys Irish Cream Pie – creamy, sweet and fabulously festive!
If you’re a fan of Irish cream liqueur, you’re going to LOVE this pie! With an almond cookie crust and velvety no-bake filling, our delicious pie will put the spirit in your St. Patrick’s Day event. The pie is smooth and rich and goes down easily, just like a glass of Irish cream!
Can you use another brand of Irish cream for this pie?
Any brand of Irish cream will do for this Irish cream pie recipe. You’ll need 1/3 of a cup for the filling, plus a little extra to serve with each slice. The extra Irish cream is optional, but highly recommended. There are many kinds of Irish cream available in the marketplace. If you like it, and drink it, then feel free to use it in this Irish cream pie recipe. We’ve always been big fans of Baileys Original Irish Cream but sometimes purchase a more expensive brand for special occasions.
Made with cream, cocoa and Irish whiskey, Baileys fantastic combination of flavors is outstanding in a hot cup of coffee. Since the coffee and Irish cream combo is such a winner, we added a little espresso powder to our pie filling. The filling does not taste like coffee, however. That tiny hint of espresso brings out the luscious Irish cream flavor.
Baileys brand of Irish cream is a great quality, affordable choice for this pie. There are other varieties sold under the Baileys brand that are also delicious. Try Baileys Espresso Cream Liqueur, Baileys Pumpkin Spice or Baileys Salted Caramel. Any of these liqueurs would be terrific in this recipe!
For this pie, we used our favorite shortbread cookie crust with almonds.
You can use any of your favorite pie crusts for this recipe. Graham cracker crusts are great, and even an Oreo or chocolate wafer cookie crust works well with the Irish cream filling.
However, we love the easy shortbread cookie crust featured here. It’s made with Lorna Doone cookies, melted butter and sliced almonds. The ingredients are pulsed in a food processor then pressed into a pie plate. The crust is baked for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. It’s a little nutty, not too sweet, and adds a nice textural feature to this dessert.
The filling is light and airy, but with a great big taste.
Our pie filling is made with just a few ingredients:
- good quality white chocolate
- Irish cream
- espresso powder
- cream cheese
- powdered sugar
- heavy cream
- vanilla extract
I’ve not made this pie using white chocolate chips so I can’t guarantee it will turn out the same. Sometimes, white chocolate chips seize when added to other ingredients like Irish cream. For this recipe I use one 4-ounce bar of Ghirardelli White Chocolate which melts beautifully. The espresso powder is optional, but highly recommended.
In years past, we’ve also used white chocolate curls to decorate the top of our pie. For the pie featured here, we added some small green nonpareils which our family loved. The little crunch was a fun addition and the pop of color is a nice festive touch.
This Baileys pie is smooth, creamy, sweet and magically delicious!
Thrill your family with this wonderful pie on St. Patrick’s Day.
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Baileys Irish Cream Pie
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 6 hours 40 minutes
Yield: 8
Course: Dessert, Pie
Creamy, sweet and fabulously festive.
Ingredients
For the shortbread-almond crust:
- 5 ounces shortbread cookies (20 Lorna Doone cookies) (150g)
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Baileys filling:
- ⅓ cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
- ¼ teaspoon espresso powder, optional
- 4 ounces good quality white chocolate, chopped
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the topping:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar, sifted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- White chocolate curls for garnish, optional
Instructions
To prepare the crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the cookies until crumbled. Add the almonds and pulse 4-5 times in quick bursts. Pour in the melted butter and pulse just until combined.
- Firmly press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 to 30 minutes. Bake until lightly browned and set, about 10 minutes. Cool while preparing the filling.
To prepare the filling:
- In a small microwave safe bowl, heat the Irish cream and espresso powder in the microwave on high power for 30-seconds. Repeat for 15-second intervals until the Irish cream is steaming, but not boiling. Add the chopped white chocolate to the hot Irish cream and set aside, stirring occasionally, until all chocolate is melted and the mixture is cooled.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the powdered sugar, cream cheese, white chocolate mixture, 3 tablespoons of cream and vanilla. Beat on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip until fluffy, about 1 minute more. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside.
- In the now empty mixing bowl, beat the remaining whipping cream on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to high and beat until soft to medium peaks form, about 3 minutes. Using a spatula, fold one-third of the whipped cream into the white chocolate mixture. Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until blended. Pour into the prepared pie crust.
- Refrigerate until set, about 6 to 8 hours. When ready to serve, prepare the topping.
To prepare the topping:
- Whip the cream until foamy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat on high until firm peaks form. Spoon into a pastry bag and pipe onto the pie or dollop in a mound. Garnish with white chocolate curls, if desired.
- Refrigerate leftovers.
Recipe Notes
- TIP: Run a large thin knife under hot water, dry and slice pie. Repeat between cuts for best presentation.
Nutrition
Calories: 800kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 62g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 23g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 134mg | Sodium: 221mg | Potassium: 355mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 1450IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 181mg | Iron: 2mg
Originally posted February 2011, updated March 2020
Try these Irish inspired desserts for your St. Patrick’s Day get-together:
Irish Cream Breakfast Cake
Irish Crumble Apple Cake with Apple Brandy Sauce
Jay Fox
This pie was delicious, but I made some changes: eliminated all the sugar as white chocolate is very sweet, coated the bottom of the crust with bittersweet chocolate, increased the espresso to one half tsp, added 1 tsp dissolved gelatin for set up and added a few drops Irish cream extract.
Tricia Buice
Thanks for the feedback Jay. So glad you enjoyed it. Love the addition of the bittersweet chocolate 🙂
Karina
Hi, would it be ok to add more espresso powder? I like a good coffee flavor but don’t want to mess with the consistency of anything.
Tricia Buice
Sure Karina. I think it will be fine. Enjoy!
Marilyn
I love the flavor but my pie didn’t set it been in the fridge for 10 hrs … so don’t know what i did wrong . Could I add a pack of gelatin next time to get it set?
Tricia Buice
Hi Marilyn. Sorry you had trouble with the pie. It sounds like you should have boiled the custard a little longer until very thick. I do not recommend gelatin as it will give the pie a rubbery texture instead of the silky custard we aim for. Hope you’ll try again! Be sure to watch the measurements. If you add too much Bailey’s the filling will be too thin. Thanks for trying this pie.
John / Kitchen Riffs
Baileys? Cream pie? Please. 🙂
Tricia Buice
🙂
Liz
What a dreamy pie! I love Bailey’s and it’s a magnificent addition to this luscious dessert! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Tricia Buice
Thank you Liz! Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you too 😉
Chef Mimi
This sounds incredible. Bailey’s is so yummy. Unfortunately, I could never make mine look as pretty as yours!
Tricia Buice
Thanks Mimi – You are so sweet and I bet your pie would be gorgeous 🙂
Larry
The pie looks fantastic Tricia and as a big fan of Bailey’s I know I would love it.
Tricia Buice
Thanks Larry – bet you’d love it!
Chris Scheuer
This looks so silky smooth and delicious, Tricia! My mouth is most definitely watering!
Tricia Buice
Thanks Chris! It’s a treat for sure 😉
Kari Lindsay
Tricia, this pie is ALMOST too pretty to eat! Yummo.
Anonymous
This looks delicious! I will definitely have to try this.
Sarah at Mr. Food
Your fabulous step-by-step photos had me salivating! Thanks for the great Bailey's Irish Cream Mousse Pie recipe – I included it in a post on St. Patrick's Day desserts on the Mr. Food blog :)<br /><br />http://www.mrfoodblog.com/dig-in-to-st-patricks-day-desserts/
Tracy
Can I replace cool whip for the whipping cream?
Tricia Buice
Hi Tracy. You can replace the decorative whipped cream on top with Cool Whip. However, I have not tested this recipe using Cool Whip in the filling. I know it won’t have the right flavor as Cool Whip is sweetened. I wouldn’t try it myself.
El Oso
Wow! I am very motivated to try your recipe. Thank you so much! I will ask Ed, who is the Master Taste Tester, if there is a Deputy position open!!