In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, which I know was two weeks ago, I decided to celebrate it with tradition and a fun spin. I went ahead and made Irish cream cupcakes, and, man, were these delicious.

I found this recipe online thanks to a blogger, www.ericasweettooth.com, and when I made these cupcakes, I added some things and took other things away. This rendition of a traditional Irish drink, made St. Patrick’s Day a special day.

Bailey’s Irish Cream cupcakes
For the cupcakes:
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
12 tbsp butter, or 1 ½ sticks, at room temperature
2 whole eggs + 2 egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream coffee creamer
For the buttercream frosting:
2 cups butter, or four sticks
8 cups powdered sugar
6 tbsp Bailey’s Irish Cream coffee creamer

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with 24 cupcake liners. I chose bright pastel colors because it is spring.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Add eggs one at a time, beating on low between each addition. Add vanilla.

Add flour slowly in 3 additions, alternating with Bailey’s, starting and ending with the flour.

I found that the cupcakes were extremely dry, so after adding all the ingredients in, fold in the two egg whites, one at a time. This will cause them to not become as dry and they will be fluffy and moist.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake 17-19 minutes, or until a cake tester (toothpick) comes out clean.

Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, beat butter in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar a 1/2 cup at a time, until completely mixed. Add the Bailey’s and beat until well combined. I was unsatisfied with the icing, and so I added vanilla and a small dash of cinnamon, and it was perfect. You could taste the Irish cream along with the vanilla and cinnamon, but they were not overpowering.

Load frosting into a piping bag fit with a large tip and decorate as desired.