I have a soft spot for brownies. ย Well… actually, don’t we all?
Brownies were the first thing I learned how to bake in the kitchen. ย My parents kept the flour, sugar, and those gnarly bars of unsweetened chocolate in a little cabinet just within reach of my little 8 year-old body. ย It only took me one nibble of the unsweetened chocolate to figure out that it was not at all suitable for sneak-snacking… butย the box of unsweetened chocolate had step-by-stepย instructions on how to turnย the dark blocks into something entirely delicious, aka BROWNIES!
In our house filled with whole wheat fig bars and date rolls, I felt like a wizard… like an actual wizard… because I could make brownies.
I still feel like a wizard. ย I mean… brownies are magic! Dense, moist, waaay chocolate-y, chewy at the edges, earnest, and everything!
There are so many great Fall cookbooks hitting the shelves this year! ย I need to make us a list. ย There’s just too much good!
One of the books I’ve been looking forward to most is The Kitchy Kitchen by Claire Thomas. ย Claire is the beauty and brains behind the blog The Kitchy Kitchen and she’s turned all of her amazing food-brain-thoughts into a lovely cookbook! ย Among the goodness in this book (it has an amazing soup chapter) are these BEER BROWNIES!
Think about it. ย Dark stout beer with all of its earthy bitterness + dark chocolate with all of its deep sweet fruit undertones. ย This is a very good marriage. ย Right on, Claire!
These brownies have chocolate two ways: ย unsweetened cocoa powder and melted semi-sweet chocolate. ย I love the base that cocoa powder adds and the creamy fats that melted chocolate promise.
The butter is meltedย until juuust slightly browned, and the eggs are at room temperature for easy whisking.
If you’re feeling too shy to add beer to your brownies, try coffee! ย Also delicious.
Butter, melted chocolate, and beer are whisked together into deliciousness.
Sugars, eggs, and eventually the vanilla extract are whisked together.
Mixing dry chocolate and wet chocolate. ย The spoon I’m using the mix these brownies is the spoon I’ve been mixing brownies with since I was eight. ย No joke. ย It’s my batter spoon from way back when.
Well would you look at that wizardry! ย A little of this. A little of that. ย A good splash of beer. ย Some time in the oven. ย A sprinkling of sugar and taadaaa! Brownies! ย These brownies are alluring. ย It’s the beer. ย Dense and moist with a good dose of chocolate and an extra hit of sweetness. ย The beer doesn’t add a beer taste to the brownies, rather an earthy depth that you can’t quite put your finger on.
I found that these brownies were (of course) delicious warm from the oven, but were extra great a day after baking when the sweetness has a chance to mellow a bit. ย Keep the brownies, wrapped at room temperature and enjoy enjoy! Thank you, Claire. ย Love your food brain for real.
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Beer Brownies
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 12 large or 24 small brownies 1x
Description
Deliciously moist and deeply chocolate brownies with dark stout beer! Recipe from the Kitchy Kitchen Cookbook by Claire Thomas
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup stout or other dark beer, or cold coffee
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
- Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of boiling water. In a small pan over medium heat, melt the butter until it just turns golden brown, about 5 minutes. Pour the brown butter into the chocolate and stir until combined. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the stour (or coffee).
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla and sugars until thick, about 2 minutes. Add the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all of the ingredients are well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the edges are firm and the center is set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan before slicing.
- Slice into 12 large or 24 small brownies.
- To store, cover the pan in plastic wrap and keep on the counter for up to one week.
81 Responses
I bake this cake at least twice a year and everyone goes crazy for it when I do. I say cake because I end up baking mine in a giant cast iron so everyone has an ‘edge’ piece ;D Thank you for this recipe. It’s a personal and crowd favorite!
It really look tasty!! Thanks for sharing :)
My daughter made these last night with a local stout (Lagunitas Imperial Stout). So delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful!!
Loved the flavor of these BUT they were waaaayyy too sweet. Even my huge-chocolate-and-sweet-tooth husband thought so.
If I decrease the sugar, do I have to replace it with something else?
Oh my! This looks heavenly. I will definitely try this. Thanks for sharing!
Who knew chocolate and beer complement each other! these are perfection.
Aish trying this for the first time and missed out vanilla because it wasn’t in the instructions. Aw man that isn’t cool
Sorry about that, but thanks for letting me know. All fixed!
should the batter be thick or liquid like? b/c mine isn’t thick at the moment & i know if I add the chips its going to sink to the bottom
i’m making this right now for a few friends
I made these this morning and they were delicious! However, I’d like them to be less eggy and for the beer taste to be a bit stronger (I used Guinness). Could I take out one egg and replace it with 1/4 cup more of beer?
I made these this morning. The cook time is way off for fudgy brownies. I put them in for 30 minutes so the last 5-10 could be saved for baking with a ribbon of salted caramel on top, but by that point they were already done and cake-like. The flavor is fine, but the texture is way off. Maybe 25-28 minutes at 325 and check their progress.
When to add the vanilla wasnt in the final print out of the recipe. They still came out very good ,the texas sheet cake from your first book is spectacular.
I almost died looking at these gorg photos! I need to learn your photography skills. Plus, beer & brownies = most amazing thing ever!
P.S. What are your thoughts on Guinness in a cupcake? Just made some for my blog + wish I could give you one! :)
Best Super Bowl Party Brownies! Thanks for the post!
Joy! I know you posted these a few months ago, but just wanted to let you know I made these for my New Year’s Eve party last night and they were a huge hit! Plus, had an excuse to crack open a beer before the guests arrived. ;) Thanks for sharing this!
I hate beer, but I love baking with stout. You’re right. It’s completely magical. I love that deep dark earthiness. I can’t wait to try these.
that was a lot easier than i anticipated!!! i promise to never make brownies from a box again!
My 9-year old daughter recently took offense at the lack of chocolate treats in the kitchen, and the results were some sensational mint brownies. She even decided they’d be better if she added chocolate nibs (and she was right). It made this baking mom so happy! Not sure how I’d have felt if I’d heard her cracking a beer in the kitchen, though.
I happen to have one or two of these hanging around the back of my fridge… https://www.harpoonbrewery.com/beer/98/chocolate-stout – I guess I can save a brownie for the friend that brought over the beer.
I think my boyfriend will marry me after a bake a batch of these bad boys! Thanks for the great recipe
Beer brownies? Seriously? Whoa!!
Beer brownies?? My boyfriend is going to die. Can’t wait to give these a try this weekend!
https://opentillfive.com/
Brownies are hands down my favorite food so I fully support the addition of my favorite alcohol into the mix. And you have a batter spoon? That’s the cutest thing I’ve heard all day!
I have a LOT of so-so stout at home, so this is going to be a perfect use for it!
Well isn’t that convenient because I have a weakness for beer! (Does that sound bad?) Anyway, I will definitely be giving these a try!!
Can’t wait to try this. I found a peanut butter stout a couple weeks ago and have been wanting to make a dessert with this!
These look amazing! Such a treat! Looking forward to making them! Abi :)
These look amazing! AND they’ve got beer in them!
I just can’t wait to try this version!!
https://justsem.wordpress.com/
Oh wow! These look delicious.
It looks delicious. Make me feel hungry now :))
I’ll be pinning this. I’d like to try a batch with beer AND a batch with coffee!
I didn’t know Claire was working on a cookbook! These look quite epic. Thanks for sharing (and by sharing I mean I’ll look for a box in the mail soon. Delish!).
Beer & brownies??? holy yum Batman! :)
The picture that starts this post off is wonderfully different :-) and the combo of chocolate and beer is so creative. I read somewhere, that it’s just not possible to mess up a chocolate cake recipe – so those chocolate chips can go in when your readers fancy. And since this is a brownie recipe, I bet they are meant to be melted.
I really like the new format of the print out recipe – that way I get the lovely picture as well :-)
I can’t believe you just sneakily threw in “…try coffee instead” Holy shit. Coffee. Coffee beer! At least I know what I’ll be doing this weekend now! :D
staceylives.blogspot.com
Omnomnom. Perfect.
Yum. Good thing my bf bought some pumpkin stout this weekend….
that sounds great!
Yes, please do a roundup of fall cookbooks!
definitely will do!
Oh I’ll have to make these next time my family visits me!
Sara
http://www.506miles.wordpress.com
ooh you bad, bad, wonderful girl. chocolate stout cake is so perfect; how could i never have thought about making it a brownie?!
I have never thought of putting beer in brownies, but I can definitely imagine how rich and yummy it must make them! The more stout, the better! Plus, beer and chocolate – can’t go wrong!
That’s fairly interesting. I’ve never heard of such, but a brownie is a brownie and I’ve never put a bad one in my mouth! :-)
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Reminds me of my favorite ice cream flavor, Steve’s Ice cream chocolate ice cream with brownies and dark beer fudge swirl :)
Brilliant! I have put beer in chocolate cake but not brownies. What a fool I have been! Also, I learned at an early age not to eat the baking chocolate too :(
I make my chocolate cupcakes with Guinness! Makes them super fluffy and light and the flavor is UNBELIEVABLE. Thanks for the cool post, Joy!
I love that you have (and still use) a batter spoon from when you were 8. These sound like an awesome use for leftover beer.
Brownies are magic … and kind of like a warm hug. Add beer and … well – yes, I’d like one or two if you don’t mind :)
Not so long ago I thought I was having a break through baking round brownies. Beer brownies…? Now you’re talking! P.S. Great photos!
http://www.allnnothing.com
These look utterly delicious! Would be perfect for my Virtual Bake Sale for Macmillan Cancer Support- check it out here https://www.foodnerd4life.com/virtual-bake-sale-2014/
FoodNerd x
That’s a genius idea. Can’t wait to try that out this month.
These brownies look over the top! I love Claire’s blog and I’m looking forward to getting her book!
Ooooh these look absolutely delicious! I am certainly going to try making these soon! :)
https://charlottesophiaroberts.blogspot.co.uk
Maybe I can convince my husband to bake these for me….
oh my…I have a Java Stout in my fridge that is destined to become brownies now.
i am completely obsessed with the fact that it only calls for 1/2 a cup of beer so that you’re left with the rest of the can. and what better excuse to get day tipsy?
i like the way you think!
You can up the stout flavour by first reducing over a simmer a full cup of beer to the 1/2 cup called for in the recipe.
great idea!
the two great things about this recipe: 1. short ingredient list 2. leftover booze to drink while the brownies cook.
On a website note: have you ever considered putting a link at the top of your post that would take you straight to the recipe at the bottom? I say this because a lot of times I’m using my phone while i’m baking to look at the recipe, and it takes a good deal of scrolling to get to the ingredients. not that i want to skip all of your pretty pictures and prose, because trust me, I read every last word during my morning blog readings, but when i just want to quick reference a recipe, it would be really helpful.
Looks wonderful, I’m gluten so I will have to find a gluten free beer to go with everything else that is gluten free Oh crap I’ll drink the gluten free beer and think about those yummy brownies while I’m enjoying the beer. Paulette
I’m so excited to get my hands on Claire’s book. Her blog and recipes are always killer!
https://www.youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26
I can never get enough fun brownie recipes. These look fabulous!
Too shy for beer? It only makes me love them more and adds to the brownie magic-factor! Claire is amazing, and I loved reading about her here!
I used Samuel Smith’s Organic Chocolate Stout (wasn’t going for organic, but that’s the way the beer is… ^_^). This upped the !YUM! factor by 11!!
It makes 12 small or 24 large…magic! Ha ha ha they really are Wizardly
haha! right!?
Hey Joy – I think you left something out or added something in…. Either way, you list a cup of chocolate chips at the end of the ingredients list, but don’t mention them in the instructions. (Nor are they present in your pictures) Also, there’s no mention of where you add the vanilla in the recipe itself, although you do say that you whisk them in with the eggs and sugars in the picture descriptions. But these look fab, and I’m definitely going to try them!
It looks like you add them at the end, maybe she added it after you put this comment in?
Yum! It’ will be stout or dark beer for me…I always think I can taste the coffee (which i dislike intensely).
These brownies sound like the brownies to end all brownies! And YAY for Claire! I thought I was the only one eating up her site! Yay!
Mmmmmmm. This look so great. I’ve made chocolate things with coffee (a tip from Ina) and it really does just make the chocolate taste chocolatey-er. Will definitely try these brownies Joy!
I am really picky about my brownies. I don’t like them so moist that they are like fudge, or so dry that they are like cake. Somewhere in-between does it for me.
Love, love, LOVE your batter spoon. So sweet that you have kept it for so long-I understand completely.
Iโm not a huge fan of Brownies but these look fabulous!! I may have to change my mind. :)
Umm, yes please!
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I can not WAIT for your new cookbook!!
Dense and moist with a good dose of chocolate and an extra hit of sweetness = sounds PERFECT! Booze, and chocolate, in one. Such a good deal :)
I’ve made plenty of beer breads and I love how moist and dense they are so I know I’d love the brownies! pinned