The stout in these delicious chocolate brownies adds a flavor that’s almost gingerbread-like.
By Amy Traverso
Feb 21 2024
Chocolate Stout Brownies
This year for St. Patrick’s Day, I decided to take a classic chocolate Guinness cake and reimagine it as brownies. This took many testing attempts to perfect, since brownie recipes don’t usually incorporate liquid ingredients. But the stout adds a lovely flavor that’s almost gingerbread-like. And you can make the batter in one pot in a matter of minutes.
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
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.
Food Editor Amy Traverso oversees the Yankee Magazine Food department and contributes to NewEngland.com. Amy's book, The Apple Lover's Cookbook (W.W. Norton), won an International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) cookbook award for the category American.
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