Guinness Brownies

There aren't many big drinkers in my family. I like the occasional cocktail, and I do love a glass of red wine, but I have to be around friends to indulge. Brad doesn't drink at all, which means that when it comes to recipes that require alcohol, well, I usually pass. (To be honest I've never even stepped inside an ABC** store!) Yesterday, however, I found myself at the grocery store on my dinner break and what should I find but a big St. Patrick's Day pile of various Irish beers. I bought two packs - Guinness and a pale ale. What can I say? That pan of brownies that my co-worker brought in Sunday got me thinking....



I've seen various recipes for Guinness brownies, but I've never actually baked them because I wondered (read: worried) if the beer flavor would be noticeable. (It's not.) While I could smell the beer while these brownies baked there is no beer taste to them. In fact it seems that Guinness has a similar effect on chocolate that coffee does; it makes these brownies seem even more chocolatey. Of course bittersweet dark chocolate, cocoa powder and chocolate chips probably add to the chocolate factor, but I doubt I'll get any complaints about those ingredients! While these brownies are nice and dark they're more cake-like than fudgy, and they definitely lean to the adult side of the brownie spectrum. This is not a dessert I'd serve to a group of first-graders, but I'd definitely bring a batch along to any St. Patrick's Day parties I'm headed to. A Guinness in one hand, and a Guinness brownie in the other. Yes, I believe those are two things that any Irishman (or lady) would be pleased to hold!



Guinness Brownies
Adapted from About.com
Printer-friendly version

Ingredients
1 cup flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt*
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces dark bittersweet chocolate (chopped or measured chips)
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups Guinness Extra Stout beer, room temperature, no foam
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease 9x13 pan. (I used glass.)
2. In medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder and salt until evenly combined. Set aside.
3. In double boiler over low heat, melt butter, bittersweet chocolate and white chocolate chips. Stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat.
4. In large bowl, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy; about 3 minutes. Add spoonful of egg mixture to chocolate mixture to cool it off (you don't want to cook your eggs.) Add chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat well.
5. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and beat until just combined. Whisk in beer. Pour in chocolate chips and stir to combine. Pour into prepared pan.
6. Bake 25 to 30 minutes (checking for doneness starting at 25 minutes). Brownies are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let brownies cool to room temperature before cutting.

* Thank you to those who noticed the salt error in the recipe. It now reads 1/4 teaspoon of salt, not just 1/4 salt.

** An ABC store is an Alcoholic Beverage Control store, which is what we call liquor stores in many parts of the U.S. See here for N.C.

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