This no-bake Bailey's Irish cream chocolate cheesecake is a delicious boozy dessert! With an Oreo base and dark chocolate Baileys ganache on top, the rich chocolatey taste perfectly balances the creamy Baileys filling.
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✏️ Recipe creation
I wanted to make a no-bake cheesecake that combined adult hot chocolate and festive flavours in a beautifully creamy Baileys dessert. It uses a delicious baileys chocolate ganache for a topping - inspired by my best baileys ganache frosting recipe!
This easy no-bake Bailey's cheesecake is the perfect dessert for special occasions like Christmas and St Patrick's Day or even your next dinner party.
🥘 Ingredients
This Bailey's chocolate ganache cheesecake recipe calls for the following ingredients:
Base:
- Oreo cookies
- Butter: use unsalted for a low-salt and sweeter base.
Cheesecake Filling:
- Cream cheese: must be full-fat cream cheese (I like Philadelphia for its low water content too). Use room temperature for ease of mixing.
- Heavy cream (e.g. double cream): use cold cream straight from the fridge for whipping success.
- Powdered icing sugar: sieve for a smoother cheesecake filling.
- Bailey's Irish cream: Bailey's original or another flavour of choice.
Baileys Ganache:
- Heavy cream (e.g. double cream)
- Bailey's Irish cream
- Dark semi-sweet chocolate: use cooking chocolate or melting wafers for ease of melting.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Top tip: For accuracy, it’s best to weigh your ingredients rather than using cups.
♻️ Substitutions / Variations
You can swap Oreos for graham crackers or digestive biscuits for your cheesecake base. Add an extra 60g (4 tbsp) of butter to make up for the loss of the creamy Oreo centres.
For a softer and creamier Baileys ganache topping, swap the semi-sweet dark chocolate for milk chocolate. Or use white chocolate and increase the amount by 40g (¼ cup).
Baileys does a whole range of flavours for their Irish cream! I’d love to try switching it up for one of their other ones such as red velvet cupcake or salted caramel.
📖 Method
Base:
- Place the cookies into a food processor or blender and whizz up until you get small crumbs. Tip these into a mixing bowl.
- Melt the butter in a microwave and pour this over the crushed cookies. Mix these together until combined.
- Press the cookie mix into a greased and lined tin, using the back of a spoon to help firmly press down. Put this in the freezer while making the filling.
Cheesecake Filling:
- Whip the cream for several minutes, using an electric mixer or stand mixer, until it forms soft peaks.
- In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy, then add the icing sugar and Baileys and continue to beat together until just combined.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the Baileys mix until smooth.
- Spread the filling evenly over the biscuit base, then cover the tin with cling film and refrigerate for at least 2hrs or overnight. After this has set and is firm to touch, make the chocolate ganache.
Baileys Ganache:
- Break up the chocolate into a heatproof bowl.
- Heat the cream and Baileys in the microwave until almost boiling (30secs at a time) and pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate, allowing this to sit for 2-3mins.
- Stir the ganache until smooth. If some pieces of chocolate remain un-melted, heat the mix in the microwave for 10secs and stir again. Repeat until your ganache is smooth and lump-free.
- Allow the ganache to cool for 5mins, then pour this over the set cheesecake and refrigerate for 15mins.
- Add any additional optional decorations, such as swirls of whipped cream, grated chocolate, cocoa powder dusting, etc. and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
💭 Top tips
- Using a springform tin (or loose-bottom tin) is easier to get your Baileys cheesecake out after. Check out these springform pan lining tips to see how best to line your cheesecake tin.
- Instead of a food processor, you can crush your cookies by placing them into a plastic food bag and bashing them with a rolling pin.
- To help your no-bake Baileys cheesecake set, whip cold cream to soft peaks and fold it into your filling mixture gently.
- For a smooth finish to your ganache layer, pour it over your set cheesecake while it’s still runny then smooth quickly with an offset spatula.
- Where possible, make your Bailey's chocolate cheesecake the day before serving. Setting it overnight means you can be sure it’s nice and firm.
- To remove your Baileys cheesecake from the springform pan, run a knife or spatula around the edge. Place the cheesecake on top of a mug or cup. Unclip the pan and slowly lower the sides of the pan down.
- Decorate your Bailey's ganache cheesecake with big swirls of fresh whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder - delicious!
❔ Recipe FAQs
Your Baileys chocolate no-bake cheesecake should last for up 4 days stored in an airtight container or wrapped in cling film. Keep in the fridge.
Yes! You can freeze your Baileys chocolate no-bake cheesecake wrapped in two layers of cling film and a layer of foil for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge and enjoy!
Yes, you can use a 9-inch pan instead of the 8-inch pan this recipe uses. Your layers will be thinner but still tasty. Alternatively, scale up by ¼ for a larger cheesecake.
To prevent a soggy base, check whether your cookie base layer is completely cool before you add the filling. If not, pop it into the fridge for another 10mins until cold.
🧁 Other goodies
Looking for some more tasty cheesecakes? Why not give these delicious cheesecake recipes a go:
- White chocolate mocha cheesecake - perfect for coffee lovers!
- White chocolate orange no-bake cheesecake - a festive favourite
- No-bake chocolate orange cheesecake - simple and delicious
If you’re a big Bailey’s Irish cream lover then check out these tasty Bailey’s dessert recipes:
Looking forward to some new recipes? Check out my Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages for a few sneak peeks and some sweet inspiration!
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📋 Recipe
No-Bake Baileys Irish Cream Chocolate Cheesecake
Rate this recipe here:
Ingredients
Base:
- 250 g (1½ cups) Oreos
- 40 g (⅕ cups) unsalted butter
Cheesecake Filling:
- 600 g (2⅔ cups) full fat cream cheese
- 300 ml (1¼ cups) heavy cream e.g. double cream
- 100 g (¾ cups) powdered icing sugar
- 45 ml (3 tablespoon) Baileys Irish cream
Chocolate Ganache:
- 75 ml (⅓ cups) heavy cream e.g. double cream
- 30 ml (2 tablespoon) Baileys Irish cream
- 150 g (¾ cups) dark semi-sweet chocolate
Instructions
Base:
- Place the cookies into a food processor or blender and whizz up until you get small crumbs. Tip these into a mixing bowl.
- Melt the butter in a microwave and pour this over the crushed cookies. Mix these together until combined.
- Press the cookie mix into a greased and lined tin, using the back of a spoon to help firmly press down. Put this in the freezer while making the filling.
Cheesecake Filling:
- Whip the cream for several minutes, using an electric mixer or stand mixer, until it forms soft peaks.
- In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy, then add the icing sugar and Baileys and continue to beat together until just combined.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the Baileys mix until smooth.
- Spread the filling evenly over the biscuit base, then cover the tin with cling film and refrigerate for at least 2hrs or overnight. After this has set and is firm to touch, make the chocolate ganache.
Chocolate Ganache:
- Break up the chocolate into a heatproof bowl.
- Heat the cream and Baileys in the microwave until almost boiling (30secs at a time) and pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate, allowing this to sit for 2-3mins.
- Stir the ganache until smooth. If some pieces of chocolate remain un-melted, heat the mix in the microwave for 10secs and stir again. Repeat until your ganache is smooth and lump-free.
- Allow the ganache to cool for 5mins, then pour this over the set cheesecake and refrigerate for 15mins.
- Add any additional optional decorations, such as swirls of whipped cream, grated chocolate, cocoa powder dusting, etc. and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on an online nutritional calculator, actual values may vary.
Cori
Not only does it look amazing, but it looks BEAUTIFUL! I'm going to have to try to make this sometime! The look of it alone gets 5 stars from me- mine definitely won't be that pretty! Haha.
Sweet Mouth Joy
Thanks Cori! I'm sure yours will look STUNNING!