Guinness Chocolate Brownies
March 10, 2016
On an emotional level, there is something counter intuitive about mixing beer into brownie batter. You’d think it would turn out sour or something. On an intellectual level it makes perfect sense. Back when I wrote about the Chocolate Shortbread with Malted Milk Buttercream, I discussed the special relationship between malted milk and chocolate, and how it’s such a pleasing combination. In the same way the Malted Milk Buttercream smoothed the intense chocolate shortbreads, the malty Guinness contributes that indescribable sweetness.
These Guinness Brownies sparkle with roasted and smokey flavours. Heightened by the alcohol in the beer (the alcohol cooks off BTW), their texture is creamy, dense and fudge-y. As long as you don’t tell the kids about the beer, they’ll love these brownies too, and they’ll they’ll think you are some kind of magician in the kitchen.
I suppose I have a thing for boozy brownies. I made Brownies with Red Wine and Browned Butter too. The red wine gave the chocolate brownie a bright and fruity character that were equally delicious.
This recipe came from the ever so talented Lisa of My Own Sweet Thyme. Her website is beautiful and her recipe is perfectly complete, so I didn’t alter it much. Thanks Lisa for this beautiful brownie recipe. It has become my new favourite.
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Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons 85 grams 3 ounces unsalted butter
- 1 ¼ cup 226 grams 8 ounces highest quality bittersweet chocolate (chips or chopped)
- ¾ cup 113 grams 4 ounces white chocolate (chips or chopped)
- ¾ cup 93.75 grams 3.4 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour (if you use bleached flour, you'll get a different result)
- ¾ cup 62 grams 2.2 ounces highest quality unsweetened dark cocoa
- 1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon espresso powder (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon ¼ teaspoon ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 4 4 4 large eggs room temperature
- ¾ cup 147 grams 5.20 ounces white granulated sugar
- 1¼ 283 grams 10 ounces guinness stout
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
MISE EN PLACE GUINNESS BROWNIES
- Preheat oven to 375ºF.
- Grease an 8” x 8” square pan. Cut out an 8″ X 8″ piece of parchment paper and fit it on the bottom of the pan. Grease the parchment and flour the entire pan.
- In a small saucepan measure the butter, bittersweet and white chocolate and set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and espresso powder (if desired). Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer crack the eggs. See The Finer Cookie’s post, How to Crack an Egg, for more information.
- Measure the sugar and set to the side of the eggs.
- Pour the Guinness into a measuring cup.
MAKE THE GUINNESS BROWNIE BATTER
- Gently melt the butter, and two chocolates over very low heat, stirring frequently until smooth.
- Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
- Beat the eggs with a whip until frothy. Add the sugar slowly, then turn the mixer to high and beat until the mixture is thick and lemon colored, about 5-10 minutes.
- Add the chocolate mixture and continue beating until well combined.
- Add the flour mixture and beat just until combined.
- Whisk in the Guinness until the batter is smooth. Once the Guinness is added, the batter will become runny. Be certain to scrape any solids from the bottom of the bowl and mix very thoroughly. After a few minutes the batter will thicken and leave ribbon pattern when dropped off the rubber spatula.
- Pour batter into the prepared 8” x 8” pan.
- Bake at 375ºF for approximately 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out practically clean and the center springs back when touched lightly in the center.
- Since these brownies are fudgy and not cakey, the tester will never be clean and dry, but you will want to bake the brownies long enough to cook the eggs.
- Remove from oven and let them sit in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Remove them by flipping the pan over a wire rack. Lift the brownie pan away and peel off the parchment paper.
- Let cool completely before cutting into squares.
- When cool, cut into small squares (at least 16) and dust with a generous coating of powdered sugar.
- Serve and Enjoy!
- Labels
- Chocolate,
- Savoury
