Chocolate Guinness brownies recipe
With a malty sweetness and deep, luxurious colour, Guinness (much like coffee) is the perfect addition to the rich and slightly bitter chocolate in brownies. The Guinness is gently simmered down to a reduction that locks in all of the flavour notes and baked in with the brownie batter. The baked brownie is topped with a delicious, velvety buttercream with the boozy tang of Baileys.
This recipe makes 16 brownies.
Ingredients
For the brownies- 440 ml Guinness
- 180 g unsalted butter
- 210 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
- 120 g plain (all-purpose) flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 240 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or use vanilla extract)
- 3 large eggs
- 160 g unsalted butter
- 420 g icing (confectioners') sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 0.5 tsp vanilla bean paste (or use vanilla extract)
- 120 ml Baileys
Details
- Cuisine: British
- Recipe Type: Brownies
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 10 mins
- Cooking Time: 60 mins
- Serves: 8
Step-by-step
- Pour the Guinness into a saucepan, place over a medium heat and simmer for 20 minutes until reduced by three-quarters. Pour into a heatproof bowl and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6 and grease and line a 20cm (8inch) square baking tin with baking paper.
- Using the same saucepan, gently melt the butter and dark chocolate together over a low heat, stirring to mix. Remove from the heat when they are almost melted as they will continue to melt together off the heat.
- Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Add the vanilla, then mix in the eggs, one at a time, to combine. Pour in the melted butter and chocolate, with the reduced Guinness, folding together until just mixed.
- Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes – it’s okay if the middle is still jiggly as the brownies will continue to cook out of the oven. Cool completely.
- For the buttercream, use a hand-held electric whisk to beat the butter for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar, a little at a time, and whisk on a medium-high until all the sugar has been added. Add the salt and vanilla, then gradually add the Baileys until the consistency is soft but stable, like toothpaste.
- Spoon or pipe on to the cooled brownies.
- The brownies are best served chilled, so keep in the fridge and remove 30 minutes before serving.
This recipe is extracted from Cook for the Soul by Lucy Lord (HarperCollins, £16.99), available from 28th April.
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