Beer Brownies

I have a soft spot for brownies.  Well… actually, don’t we all?

Brownies were the first thing I learned how to bake in the kitchen.  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.  It only took me one nibble of the unsweetened chocolate to figure out that it was not at all suitable for sneak-snacking… but the box of unsweetened chocolate had step-by-step instructions on how to turn 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.  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!  I need to make us a list.  There’s just too much good!

One of the books I’ve been looking forward to most is The Kitchy Kitchen by Claire Thomas.  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!  Among the goodness in this book (it has an amazing soup chapter) are these BEER BROWNIES!

Think about it.  Dark stout beer with all of its earthy bitterness + dark chocolate with all of its deep sweet fruit undertones.  This is a very good marriage.  Right on, Claire!

These brownies have chocolate two ways:  unsweetened cocoa powder and melted semi-sweet chocolate.  I love the base that cocoa powder adds and the creamy fats that melted chocolate promise.

The butter is melted 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!  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.  The spoon I’m using the mix these brownies is the spoon I’ve been mixing brownies with since I was eight.  No joke.  It’s my batter spoon from way back when.

Well would you look at that wizardry!  A little of this. A little of that.  A good splash of beer.  Some time in the oven.  A sprinkling of sugar and taadaaa! Brownies!  These brownies are alluring.  It’s the beer.  Dense and moist with a good dose of chocolate and an extra hit of sweetness.  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.  Keep the brownies, wrapped at room temperature and enjoy enjoy! Thank you, Claire.  Love your food brain for real.

Beer Brownies

Print Recipe

Deliciously moist and deeply chocolate brownies with dark stout beer! Recipe from the Kitchy Kitchen Cookbook by Claire Thomas

• Prep Time: 0 hours
• Cook Time: 0 hours
• Total Time: 0 hours
• Yield: 12 large or 24 small brownies 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 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

1. 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.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
3. 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).
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Slice into 12 large or 24 small brownies.
7. To store, cover the pan in plastic wrap and keep on the counter for up to one week.