Guinness Brownies

I asked you about St. Patrick’s Day desserts last month. I received a few requests for green desserts that aren’t necessarily mint chocolate. That one’s coming on Monday. (Any guesses??) But the outpouring of “anything with Guinness” convinced me to pick up a 6 pack and begin recipe testing. My kitchen smelled like a brewery at 9am on a Tuesday morning, but the result was well worth my boozy wake up call.

Before you run away at the thought of beer brownies, let me explain. These Guinness brownies do NOT taste like beer. Guinness stout, with its roast coffee and caramelized flavors, is often paired with chocolate in baking. They’re a natural duo because Guinness not only intensifies chocolate, but adds a malty background.

A quick internet search for “Guinness brownies” will spew out a million results. Even still, I wanted to try my hand at this popular dessert because even though brownies seem pretty basic, it’s difficult to maintain a desirable texture when you begin adding all sorts of stuff. And I was ready for the challenge.

I have spent the better part of the last couple weeks of my life on these brownies, no joke. I wanted the most perfect version of a guiness brownie to share with you.

But before I dive into all that, I have a confession. Get ready.

I don’t like beer.

I know, I know. How can I post a recipe with beer in it when I don’t like beer. I can’t explain it except to say that it’s my dad’s fault. I clearly got my taste buds from him – he also does not like beer. It’s a thing and he passed it on to me. I have tried so many times to like it. It just won’t work.

So I fully expected to not like these brownies. I have a coworker who loves Guiness like I love cake, so I knew he’d help out with the taste testing.

Ingredients
Dry Ingredient Mixture:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Chocolate Mixture:

• 6 tablespoons butter (cut into cubes)
• 8 ounces dark bittersweet chocolate (chopped; may substitute extra-dark chocolate chips)
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Eggs and Sugar Mixture:

• 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
• 1 cup granulated white sugar

Final Additions:

• 1 cup/8 ounces Guinness Extra Stout beer (room temperature, no foam)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Steps to Make It

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan with nonstick foil.
2. Dry Ingredient Mixture: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt until evenly combined. Set aside.
3. Chocolate Mixture: Melt butter, bittersweet chocolate, and white chocolate chips in a double-boiler over very low heat, stirring constantly until melted. Remove from heat.
4. Mix the Eggs and Sugar: In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add melted chocolate mixture to the eggs and sugar mixture, beating until combined.
6. Beat the reserved dry ingredient mixture into the melted chocolate mixture. Whisk in the Guinness Stout beer by hand. The batter may seem a bit thin.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Drop semisweet chocolate chips evenly on top of batter (some will sink in).
8. Bake 25 to 30 minutes (oven temperatures vary) on center rack in the oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Let the brownies cool, uncovered, to room temperature.

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