Guinness Chocolate Stout Brownies with Irish Cream Frosting is perfect all year round! Add semi-sweet, milk chocolate, or white chocolate chips.
I promised to make this batch of Guinness Chocolate Stout Brownies with Irish Cream Frosting for a school fundraiser for the school some of the kids on my street go to. I had to keep a couple for photos and let me tell you, I hope someone paid the big bucks for these; they were outstanding!
I know the mention of beer and brownies might still be a shocker for some but trust me, the results are amazing. This is so not a brownie that tastes like beer. Guinness stout beer has both roast coffee and caramel undertones and when combined with chocolate they make the perfect pair. Altogether they combine for such a rich chocolate flavor with a hint of malt in the background.
I thought that intense flavor would be well matched with the sweetness of Irish Cream and it worked splendidly. Of note, while any alcohol in the beer bakes off while in the oven, the Irish Cream does mean there is a small amount of alcohol present in the icing. Still, not enough that I would worry if a child or pregnant woman was eating one brownie.
With typically 15-20% alcohol by volume, the frosting only uses about 4 Tablespoons and that is added to one cup of butter and almost four cups of frosting so the actual alcohol content of one brownie is minimal.
I was provided with a bottle of Five Farms Irish Cream last year and I was hooked. A local Denver friend mentioned once that he could not find any but a quick search at the Five Farms Irish Cream website produced numerous results for me so it is being stocked all over now.
These were easy to make too, no complicated steps and no mixer required. They are more of the gooey brownie variety, there is no leavening, so they don't rise like cake. My favorite!
- Melt the butter and chocolate over medium heat til melted
- Combine all the remaining ingredients in the same pan in the order indicated in the recipe and pour into a 9X13″ pan
- Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, cool completely
- Frost with the Irish Cream Frosting and garnish with sprinkles if using
- Devour!
The one thing I think most important? I never bake cakes or brownies any more without using Parchment Paper in the bottom of my pans. Some recipes now mention the use but for me, the security of knowing that nothing will ever stick again has me using it for everything, whether a recipe calls for it or not.
I've even got these Round Cake Pan pieces of parchment for cakes. I'm watching Sugar Rush on Netflix and I think it's high time they include those rounds so baker's don't have their cakes stick in the pans! SO easy!
While the dough is chocolate and more chocolate I obviously was not sure that was enough...so I included some chocolate chips. I used semi-sweet just because with some white chocolate chips for contrast. If your family would enjoy a brownie that is not quite so dark, use milk chocolate chips...make it your own version!
I garnished these for this post to match up with St. Patrick's Day but the sprinkles are optional. Still, if you love them, I have to recommend that you use sanding sugar for cakes and cookies. The grains are much larger and so much prettier I think! A bonus? It's what I love for rimming cocktail glasses too!
