Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Beer Brownies

There's no question that another great Irish tradition consists of adding delicious Guinness Beer to a cake batter, in order to make Chocolate Guinness Cake. That's a favorite enjoyed all over the world. But why limit this to cake? Amy Traverso, who's the senior food editor at Yankee Magazine, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about her recipe for Chocolate Stout Brownies. Amy told Tonia it took her 8 tries to get this right, but now she's passing along what to do. And interestingly, Amy says the Guinness takes on a gingerbread flavor when added to a batter, which is a delicious surprise!

Yield:

12 to 16 servings

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup Guinness or other stout
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Take a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and cut 2 lengths of parchment paper to fit in the pan but long enough to hang over the sides by a few inches. Lay them in the pan, one in each direction, so they cover the bottom.

In a 3- or 4-quart pot over medium heat, melt the butter with the stout and whisk to combine. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder. Add the sugar and whisk until smooth. (Each addition will lower the temperature of the batter.) Whisk in the eggs.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir with a spatula until smooth and evenly combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the brownies are set in the center and beginning to pull away from the sides, 30 to 45 minutes. Let cool in the pan and then transfer to a rack or plate to cool completely.