With three cans of Guinness sitting in the cupboard, I knew I had to do something with them, but I wasn't sure what. Awhile ago I had found this recipe over on Nosh With Me and intrigued, I went back and read the recipe.
It sounded good, but beer and chocolate? I was skeptical.
On the other hand, my teenager reasoned, Nigella makes a Guinness cake, so perhaps she's onto something so maybe we should try them? Finally my curiosity got the better of me and I found myself at the store picking up a slab of bittersweet chocolate.
This afternoon as I followed the recipe's directions, I became increasingly worried; this isn't how I've made brownies before. Would they turn out? Would they be weird? It didn't help that Kevin noticed I had Guinness Draught instead of Guinness Extra, and what would that do? I had to keep shooing the teenager away as he would come and investigate the batter, the head on the beer, sniff the beer, ask if he could taste the beer, the latter of which garnered a resounding, "NO!"
Snow fell lightly outside, chickadees hopped about on the porch, and the smell of chocolate filled the house as the brownies baked. When I pulled them from the oven, the smooth chocolate top looked perfect, but it wasn't until I cut them into neat slices and finally took a bite that I was completely SOLD. Kevin found me standing in the kitchen, eyes closed, nibbling on a piece of brownie as if it was ambrosia of the Gods and we needed to build a shrine, immediately.
These are quite possibly the best brownies ever. i know I say that about every brownie recipe I try, but with this one, I really mean it. Rich, dark, fudgey, not tooth achingly sweet, these are over the top delicious. I'd try serving them with a scoop of Bailey's Irish Cream Ice Cream and chocolate shavings for a special occasion. They are SO good that even I, a completely non beer drinking gal, will buy beer just so I can make them.
1 cup flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces dark bittersweet chocolate
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 (I accidentally used Guinness Draught, which was fine)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Line a 9x13 inch cake pan with parchment paper, or just grease the pan with butter. Pre-heat your oven to 375 F.
Melt the white chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and the butter together over low heat, stirring, until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.
Beat the eggs and sugar together for about three minutes until light and fluffy. Take a spoonful of it and stir into the cooled chocolate, just to make sure it's cooled enough before you add it to the egg mixture. Pouring in hot melted chocolate will cook your eggs, otherwise.
Pour in the rest of the chocolate and mix well. In a separate bowl, stir the flour, cocoa, and salt together. Add to the egg/chocolate mixture and stir until just combined. Now this is the tricky part; add the beer, and carefully whisk. I tried to whisk in the stuff and slopped it all over myself, so be careful. Gently work in the beer until the batter resembles cake batter, and then fold in the chocolate chips.
Pour into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and pop it into the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You don't want to over bake these, so start checking them to see if they are finished at around 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool before you cut into slices.
Makes a 9x13 inch pan of gloriously chocolatey brownies.
