Baileys Chocolate Pudding

Baileys chocolate pudding is an easy and elegant 15-minute dessert to make when you’re short on time. Chock-full of chocolate and Irish cream flavors, this pudding is smooth, rich, and decadent.

I’m a big fan of pudding but rarely make it myself, so I’m definitely guilty of spooning down Jell-o chocolate pudding snack packs from time to time – even adding a little squirt of whipped cream, too!

I was craving chocolate something fierce recently and decided to make homemade pudding with a little bit of Baileys Irish Cream just to make it extra special. Because, hey! Weekends!

Although I have made homemade vanilla pudding and butterscotch pudding in the past, I forgot how easy it is to make. Not only is making homemade pudding incredibly simple, it also tastes amazing and it’s a great framework for all types of flavor combinations.

This Baileys chocolate pudding is a great dessert to make for St. Patrick’s Day or an all-adults dinner party. It’s easy but still elegant!

Plus, you’ll get a mini workout from all the whisking, so you can feel a little less guilty about eating this decadent treat!

Baileys chocolate pudding ingredients

Most basic homemade chocolate pudding recipes, including this one, contain similar standard ingredients:

• Granulated sugar
• Cornstarch
• Milk and/or cream
• Egg yolks and/or whole eggs
• Vanilla extract, and
• Chocolate

But I went a step further with an already fantastic pudding recipe when I decided to add some Baileys to it. And as soon as I indulged in one spoonful of this rich, smooth homemade pudding, my brain went into high gear and I immediately started jotting down other flavor ideas.

You know how much I love those miniature bottles of liqueur, right? The flavor possibilities to add to this chocolate pudding base recipe are endless!

You could swap out the classic Baileys Irish Cream for espresso liqueur, peppermint liqueur, orange liqueur, almond liqueur, or even something like salted caramel liqueur. There really are so many options!

Thickeners for pudding

There are 2 primary ingredients that are used to thicken pudding: cornstarch and eggs. Some recipes, like this one, contain both. So you can be sure that this pudding definitely thickens nicely!

Recipes that don’t include eggs and cornstarch may use other thickeners like tapioca, chia seeds, ground flax, and flour, which means the pudding may not be as smooth as one made with cornstarch and/or eggs.

If you’re using cornstarch and eggs, you’ll need to cook your pudding for 2 reasons. First, cornstarch will only act as a thickener when the liquid you’re cooking it in reaches between 200 – 212 degrees F.

And second, cooking the eggs will help to thicken and also bind the pudding together, just as they do when you make pastry cream.

The best chocolate for this pudding

You can use any type of good quality bar chocolate to make this Baileys chocolate pudding, whether it’s milk, dark, or semi-sweet, like I used for this pudding recipe. They all give pudding a nice chocolatey flavor, but be sure you consider how much sugar is in the recipe before you choose your chocolate.

Semi-sweet chocolate has a fair amount of sugar in it. For that reason, I chose to go light on the sugar in this recipe.

Too much added sugar plus a sweet chocolate will definitely ruin your pudding!

I prefer to use chopped chocolate when making Baileys chocolate pudding. It melts just a bit better than chocolate chips. But if you only have chocolate chips on hand, they’ll still work! 

How to make Baileys chocolate pudding

If you’ve never made pudding from scratch, you’re in for a surprise because it’s just so easy to make! Here’s what you’ll do:

Whisk together the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. This will help keep the pudding from getting lumpy later.

Add the milk and whisk until the dry ingredients are dissolved. Then whisk in the egg yolk and the heavy cream. (Don’t add the Irish cream yet!)

Whisking constantly, bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. This is going to take a bit of time, but the pudding will thicken quickly once it comes to a simmer.

Once the pudding has thickened, take the pan off the heat. Whisk in the vanilla and the Baileys Irish Cream.

Add the chocolate and whisk until it is melted and the mixture is smooth.

Pour the Baileys chocolate pudding into individual serving dishes. Let the pudding cool before covering the tops with plastic wrap. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serving Ideas for Pudding

Since becoming a parent, I’m always looking for fun ways to serve food. And heck, the adults in my life love the different glasses I’ve served pudding in over the years, too!

I’ve served this Baileys chocolate pudding in small martini glasses and in the little glass serving dishes you see in these photos. I always top this pudding with homemade whipped cream and chocolate curls to give it just a bit of elegance. 

Fancied-up Baileys chocolate pudding: what more could you ask for?

I’m also a big fan of tall shot glasses for pudding shots, where you can pipe beautiful swirls into the glasses, like I did for rumchata cheesecake pudding shots and s’mores pudding shots.

Short drinking glasses work great too, like for these pistachio pudding parfaits. Glass dessert cups are perfect for brownie dirt pudding and white chocolate tiramisu pudding cups where you want to show off all of the layers in the dessert.

And of course, you can always make your pudding into a full size or mini pudding pie! Or use this Baileys chocolate pudding to make boozy pudding pops!

FAQs

More Baileys dessert ideas

This Baileys chocolate pudding is a fabulous treat all times of the year, but as you may know, Baileys Irish Cream makes for a great St. Patrick’s Day dessert flavor too. In fact, I’ve used it in a few other sweet St. Patrick’s Day recipes as well, like this Baileys Irish cream cheesecake, these Irish cream brownies, and this Irish cream fudge.

And don’t forget Irish cream cold brew!

Needless to say, you can’t possibly go wrong making this homemade Baileys chocolate pudding, no matter if you’re celebrating the luck of the Irish or not!