These chocolate Guinness cupcakes are filled with Irish whiskey ganache and topped with Baileys Irish Cream frosting! They're delicious, edible variations of a (not PC) cocktail. Regardless of what you call them, they are delicious celebratory sweets perfect to honor St. Patrick's Day!

Eight chocolate Guinness cupcakes with Bailey's frosting on a white platter.

(This recipe was originally published in March 2013, but was updated with new photos and content in 2025).

Long after your green tee-shirts and shamrock-covered hats are put into hibernation, these cupcakes will still haunt you. These chocolate Guinness cupcakes are inspired by a cocktail where a shot of Irish whiskey and Baileys Irish Cream is dropped into a pint of Irish stout, typically Guinness.

Unlike the alcoholic beverage, which can curdle if not drunk fast enough, these cupcakes will not give you a hangover the next day (contrary to popular belief). The cupcakes themselves acquire an earthiness from the Guinness, but otherwise taste mostly of chocolate. Moist, delicious, and fluffy chocolate. The best kind!

The Irish whiskey-spiked ganache filling is reminiscent of those little chocolates filled with liquor from the mid-1990s. Meanwhile, the Baileys buttercream is absolute boozy decadence, yet still fairly tame. There's only about ½ teaspoon per cupcake, so don't feel too guilty.

St. Patrick's Day is typically a holiday of excess so if you're not being a little naughty, then what's the point?

Ingredient notes

Ingredients for chocolate Guinness cupcakes with Bailey's frosting on a white marble background.

Guinness: Although you could you another stout beer, you really should just stick with Guinness, lest the leprechauns will get you!
Cocoa Powder: I use regular, not Dutch process, cocoa powder for this recipe.
Sour Cream: This adds incredible moisture and a bit of tang to the chocolate Guinness cupcake batter. Full fat is best, but light sour cream works too.
Chocolate: Use good quality bittersweet chocolate, and chop it by hand. Avoid using chocolate chips which contain stabilizers and can impact the quality and texture of the ganache.
Whiskey: Ideally, this should be Irish whiskey (Jameson is a good choice). I don't use a lot, but if you want a more pronounced whiskey flavor, add a little more (I won't tell).
Baileys Irish Cream: A little goes a long way! With only a few tablespoons you'll have the most incredible Baileys frosting you've ever had in your life.

A chocolate cupcake cut in half on a white plate showing off a chocolate ganache filling.

How to make them

Start by making the chocolate Guinness cupcakes. Bring Guinness and butter to a simmer in small saucepan over medium heat.

Guinness and two half sticks of butter in a small saucepan before heating to a simmer.

Guinness and butter in a small saucepan after heating to a simmer.

Add cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

A thick chocolate liquid mixture whisked in a saucepan.

Meanwhile, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to blend.

A dry mixture of flour, sugar, baking soda and salt whisked together in a large bowl.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the egg and sour cream.

Sour cream and an egg in a metal mixing bowl.

Sour cream and an egg beaten together in a metal mixing bowl.

Add the slightly cooled stout-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine.

A creamy chocolate mixture in a metal mixing bowl.

Next, add the flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined.

A thick chocolate cupcake batter in a metal mixing bowl.

Divide the batter among 12 cupcake liners in a muffin pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, then cool the cupcakes completely before filling and decorating.

Chocolate Guinness cupcake batter divided between cups in a muffin pan.

A dozen chocolate cupcakes baked in a metal muffin pan.

Meanwhile, make the Irish whiskey ganache filling by chopping the chocolate and transferring to a heatproof bowl. Heat heavy cream until simmering and pour it over the chopped chocolate.

Chopped bittersweet chocolate in a small glass bowl.

Hot heavy cream poured over chopped chocolate in a glass bowl.

Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Next, add soft butter and whiskey and stir until combined.

Smooth chocolate ganache in a glass bowl with cubes of butter and whiskey added to it.

Smooth chocolate ganache after mixing in cubes of butter and whiskey.

Let the ganache cool until it's thick but still soft enough to be piped.

Meanwhile, cut the centers out of the cooled chocolate Guinness cupcakes. Put the cooled ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

A dozen chocolate cupcakes with the centers scooped out with a melon baller.

Chocolate ganache piped into the cavities in the center of a dozen chocolate cupcakes.

To make the Baileys Irish Cream frosting, whip room temperature butter in the bowl of an electric mixer for several minutes until fluffy. Add powdered sugar a little at a time, until fluffy and thick.

Soft butter beaten until smooth in a metal mixing bowl.

Butter and confectioners' sugar beaten until smooth in a metal mixing bowl.

Drizzle in the Baileys and whip it until combined.

Bailey's frosting beaten until smooth in a metal mixing bowl.

Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitting with a decorative tip and frost the chocolate Guinness cupcakes as desired.

Bailey's frosting piped into swirls atop chocolate cupcakes on a black cafeteria tray.

Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

Chocolate Guinness cupcakes with Bailey's frosting with black and white polka dot wrappers on a white platter.

Expert tips

To cut out the centers of the cupcakes for filling, use a 1-inch round cookie cutter, paring knife, or melon baller to scoop or remove a portion of the interior of the cupcake. Go most of the way into the cupcake but do not cut through the bottom. Aim for ⅔ of the way.

To partially prep these chocolate Guinness cupcakes in advance, bake the cupcakes a week or two ahead of time and store them, well wrapped, in the freezer. You can also fill them before you freeze them. They also keep filled (or filled and frosted) in the fridge for a day. Any longer and they will start to get stale.

A chocolate Guinness cupcake with a black and while polka dot wrapper and Bailey's frosting swirled on top.

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