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Boozy Shamrock Shake Cupcakes

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These boozy shamrock shake cakes are minty, made with Bailey’s Irish Cream and a malted vanilla frosting. This dessert is perfect for St.Patrick’s Day. You can also make them alcohol-free for kids.

Need more boozy St. Patrick’s Day desserts? Try my Bailey’s Cheesecake or these Irish Cream Cupcakes.

St Patricks Day Cupcakes

If you love minty Shamrock Shakes, then you’ll love these cupcakes! They’re minty fresh and topped with a vanilla malt frosting. They’re the perfect dessert to serve up for St. Patrick’s Day.

I will take any excuse to bust out a themed dessert, especially one that made with some Bailey’s Irish Cream. There’s a hint of Bailey’s in both the cupcake and the frosting, but if you need a kid friendly option, I’ve provided that as well.

What do these cupcakes taste like?

It’s been years and years since I’ve had a Shamrock Shake, so of course I hit the McDonald’s drive thru to grab one. Wow, they’re so minty! As someone who loves mint desserts, it’s still a little too sweet and strong for me.

These cupcakes are just the right amount of mint flavor without being too overpowering. It’s balanced out with some sweet vanilla flavor and a vanilla malt frosting that tastes like a milkshake.

Of course, the Bailey’s adds a little twist of Irish cream flavor the help balance out the mint as well. These are adapted from my favorite yellow cupcakes, so they’re perfectly light and fluffy to.

A green cupcake with a bite taken out of it

Malted Vanilla Frosting

My vanilla frosting recipe is absolutely perfect, but I made a few alternations to flavor this frosting to give it more of a milkshake vibe by adding some vanilla malt powder. If you have trouble finding malt powder, then swap it out for powdered sugar.

You’ll notice my recipe starts with cold butter. This is not a mistake! Cold butter is my secret for achieving perfect frosting for decorating cupcakes.

How to make St. Patrick’s Day themed Cupcakes

  • Dye them green! I recommend buying a thicker gel from Wilton or Americolor (check your local craft store such as Michael’s or JoAnns) and you can often buy a single color. I used Leaf Green. The liquid variety often require you to add a lot of coloring in order to achieve a good color.
  • Get some shamrock cupcake liners – any green and white liners will work!
  • Top them with shamrock sprinkles from Sprinkle Pop
  • These are decorated with a 1M piping tip
Three green cupcakes stacked on top of one another with shamrock cupcake wrappers

How to make these Alcohol-free for kids

These two simple swaps will make these cupcakes alcohol-free and safe to serve to kids. In the cupcake batter, swap out the Bailey’s Irish Cream for milk. In the frosting, swap it out for additional heavy cream.  

five green cupcakes decorated for St Patricks day, green cupcake frosted and decorated with shamrock sprinkles

Storing frosted cupcakes

These can be stored in a cool, dry place in an airtight container for up to 3 days once they are frosted. If you live in a hot and humid environment, then I would suggest that you refrigerate cupcakes that are frosted and allow them to come to room temperature before serving.

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A green colored cupcake frosted and decorated with shamrock sprinkles

Boozy Shamrock Shake Cakes

  • Author: Julianne Dell
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 12-14 cupcakes

Description

These boozy shamrock shake cakes are so cute and made with Bailey’s Irish Cream. This dessert is perfect for St.Patrick’s Day!

Ingredients

For the cupcake

  • ¾ cups (143g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (59 ml) vegetable oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon mint extract
  • ¼ cup (59ml) sour cream
  • 1 ¼ cups (175g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (118ml) milk
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) Bailey’s Irish Cream (see notes)
  • Green food coloring

For the frosting

  • 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, cold
  • ¼ cup (28g) vanilla malt powder
  • 3 ½ cups (455g) powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons (10ml) pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) Baileys Irish cream (see notes)
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions

For the cupcakes

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla and mint extract. Beat on medium speed until well incorporated and the batter is lighter in color, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Next mix in the sour cream and beat until well combined.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients. Alternate adding half the dry ingredients and half the liquid ingredients at a time and mix just until the flour starts to incorporate. Add the green food coloring and mix until combined. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir the batter from the bottom to the top to ensure it’s well mixed.
  4. Using a large cookie scoop, divide the batter evenly, filling each liner 2/3 full. Bake at 350°F for 14-16 minutes. Test the cupcakes for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cupcake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cupcakes are done. Cool Completely.

For the frosting

  1. Cut the butter into pieces. Using the paddle attachment, whip the butter for 5-7 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally, beating until the butter is very fluffy.
  2. Adding the vanilla malt powder and 2 cups of powdered sugar the vanilla extract & heavy cream. Beat until well combined, and fluffy. Add remaining powdered sugar and Baileys. Add a pinch of salt. Ensure the powdered sugar is well combined, then and whip for 2-3 minutes. Frost cooled cupcakes.

Notes

  • Alcohol-free cupcakes: In the cupcake batter, swap with milk. In the frosting, swap with heavy whipping cream.
  • Sour-cream substitute: Greek yogurt or plain yogurt is best
  • Malt powder substitute: Swap it out with powdered sugar
Nutrition Information:
1 cupcake
450
48.5g
174mg
22g
60g
.4g
3g
76mg
  • Category: Cupcake
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American
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