Guinness Stout Brownies

I wanted to make some sort of St. Patrick's Day treat and was torn between baking something of the chocolate-mint variety or something involving beer. When I saw this recipe for Guinness Stout brownies I decided to go with beer because nothing quite says St. Patrick's Day like Guinness.

These brownies were well-received by Dennis and my co-workers. They're a little fudgier than most brownie recipes but had a nice balance between the Guinness and chocolate flavors. Even if people who aren't Guinness fans (they don't know what they're missing!) would enjoy these. I can definitely see making these a yearly treat.

Guinness Stout Brownies (adapted from About.com)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used about a ¼ cup dutch process cocoa and ½ cup unsweetened cocoa since I didn’t have enough unsweetened cocoa powder)

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted room temperature butter, cut into cubes

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup superfine or granulated sugar

1-1/4 cups (10 ounces) Guinness Extra Stout beer at room temperature (make sure you don’t include foam in your measurement)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with nonstick foil or regular aluminum foil sprayed with non-stick spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt until evenly combined. Set aside.

Melt butter, bittersweet chocolate, and white chocolate chips in a double-boiler over very low heat, stirring constantly until melted. Remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add melted chocolate mixture, beating until combined.

Beat reserved flour mixture into melted chocolate mixture. Whisk in Guinness stout beer. The batter will seem a bit thin. Drop semisweet chocolate chips evenly on top of batter (some will sink in).

Pour into prepared baking pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes on center rack in the oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.

Let brownies cool, uncovered, to room temperature.