What’s better than a delicious fudgy brownie? A triple boozy brownie, of course! When I studied abroad 15 years ago, I spent a weekend in Dublin, Ireland. It was a beautiful place with friendly people, and if you ever have the opportunity, I recommend going! While there, I toured the Guinness brewery and Jameson distillery, and had more than my fair share of Bailey’s Irish Cream.
That trip and those flavors inspired these brownies! Not only are all three of these Irish staples delicious, but they also all pair really well with chocolate.
If you’re looking for a dessert to make after your St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef and Cabbage or Shepherd’s Pie, this is it! Since the ganache and the frosting have booze that doesn’t get baked out, I’d recommend serving these to adults only.
Guinness Stout Brownie
Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe
Servings: 12
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Inactive time: 3 hours
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided into 2 portions of 1/2 cup)
6 Tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup Guinness stout
1. Preheat your oven to 325 and grease an 8 x 8 pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Using a double boiler (or the microwave)! Melt together ½ cup chocolate chips and 6 tbs butter.
4. Add vanilla to melted chocolate/butter mixture.
5. Add Guinness to liquid ingredients.
6. Add liquid ingredients to stand mixer (if using) or a large bowl works just fine!
7. Add eggs to liquid ingredients. Mix to combine (by this point the chocolate should not be hot, but make sure so as to not cook the eggs!)
8. With the mixer on low (or with a spoon), mix the dry ingredients into wet, until combined. The batter will be thick.
9. Fold in remaining chocolate chips.
10. Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
11. Let cool for 1 hour.
Jameson Whiskey Ganache
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-2 Tablespoons Jameson Irish Whiskey
1. Over low heat, scaled your cream until just steaming.
2. Add chocolate chips to cream. Let sit for 2 minutes to allow the heat to melt the chocolate.
3. Mix the chocolate and cream together to create a homogenous mixture.
4. Add in 1-2 Jameson to taste/texture preference.
5. Poke holes with a fork or skewer in brownies.
6. Pour ganache over brownies and smooth into even layer.
7. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours to set.
Bailey’s Irish Cream Frosting
1 cup softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 pound confectioners sugar
1/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
1. In a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, add 1 cup of softened butter and whip for 30 seconds to incorporate some air.
2. Add vanilla bean paste, salt, and confectioners sugar and whip to combine (it will be very thick!)
3. Add in Bailey’s and whip to combine. You can add additional Bailey’s (or milk) if the frosting is too thick.
4. Pipe rosettes onto individual brownies, or frost an even layer on top.
5. Enjoy with Bailey’s over ice (or a glass of milk!).
Want a brownie suitable for Halloween?
Scary Good Brownies
Serves: 12
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 65 minutes
For the brownie batter:
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup Hershey Extra Dark (dutched) Cocoa Powder
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
For the cheesecake batter:
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbs vanilla bean paste
1 egg
Orange food coloring
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9x9 pan.
3. In a large bowl, combine melted butter and cocoa powder. Whisk until smooth.
4. Add sugar, whisk until smooth.
5. Add in eggs and vanilla bean paste. Whisk until smooth.
6. Add salt, flour, and baking powder. Whisk until smooth.
7. Pour 3/4 of brownie batter into your prepared pan. Reserve 1/4 to the side.
8. In a small bowl, whisk together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg.
9. Once the cream cheese mixture is smooth, add enough food coloring of your choice to get the desired color orange.
10. Pour the orange cheesecake batter over the brownie batter.
11. Dollop the remaining 1/4 of your brownie batter over the cheesecake batter.
12. Run a knife or skewer through the batters to create a swirl.
13. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the cheesecake just jiggles slightly.
14. Allow the brownies to cool for an hour, cut into squares, and serve!
If you are short on time, here’s an easy recipe that will give you brownies within the hour. These fudgy, rich and chocolatey treats are a great dessert as-is, or they’re a great base to add to, whether that’s toasted nuts, a little caramel swirl, or topped with vanilla ice cream. Keep this on hand for when your next craving hits.
Fudgy Chocolate Brownies
Makes 16 brownies
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup chocolate chips (dark, white, or semi-sweet, I used a combo of dark and white chocolate)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly spray an 8X8 baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, powdered sugar and salt.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, olive oil, water and vanilla extract.
4. Sprinkle the dry mixture over the wet mixture and whisk together. Fold in the chocolate chips until just combined. The batter will be thick.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out with a spatula. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs.
6. Cool before slicing.
Tips and tricks
1. Let the brownies cool completely before slicing.
If you’re going for aesthetically pleasing, clean-cut brownies, this makes all the difference.
2. Do not overmix.
Overmixing makes for a tough cake because it creates gluten. It’s a consideration any time you’re working with flour. When this recipe says “fold”, that means switch to a spatula and gently add in those chocolate chips rather than using a whisk, which can be more aggressive.
3. Underbake rather than overbake.
Overbaked brownies are the saddest, so rather than wait for a completely clean toothpick, take it out when it’s just about ready and let the residual heat do the rest.
Triple Boozy Irish Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided into 2 portions of ½ cup)
- 6 Tablespoons butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup Guinness stout
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 Tablespoons Jameson Irish Whiskey
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 1 pound confectioners sugar
- 1/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 and grease an 8 x 8 pan.
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a double boiler (or the microwave)! Melt together ½ cup chocolate chips and 6 tbs butter.
- Add vanilla to melted chocolate/butter mixture.
- Add Guinness to liquid ingredients.
- Add liquid ingredients to stand mixer (if using) or a large bowl works just fine!
- Add eggs to liquid ingredients. Mix to combine (by this point the chocolate should not be hot, but make sure so as to not cook the eggs!)
- With the mixer on low (or with a spoon), mix the dry ingredients into wet, until combined. The batter will be thick.
- Fold in remaining chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool for 1 hour.
- Over low heat, scaled your cream until just steaming.
- Add chocolate chips to cream. Let sit for 2 minutes to allow the heat to melt the chocolate.
- Mix the chocolate and cream together to create a homogenous mixture.
- Add in 1-2 Jameson to taste/texture preference.
- Poke holes with a fork or skewer in brownies.
- Pour ganache over brownies and smooth into even layer.
- Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours to set.
- In a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, add 1 cup of softened butter and whip for 30 seconds to incorporate some air.
- Add vanilla bean paste, salt, and confectioners sugar and whip to combine (it will be very thick!)
- Add in Bailey’s and whip to combine. You can add additional Bailey’s (or milk) if the frosting is too thick.
- Pipe rosettes onto individual brownies, or frost an even layer on top.
- Enjoy with Bailey’s over ice (or a glass of milk!)