The Easiest Guinness Chocolate Brownies (+video!)

Guinness brownies, it just has to be done as St Patricks Day is coming and thoughts turn to Guinness, at least mine do as I think of new recipes to use The Black stuff, or Irish Champagne as Guinness beer is sometimes called. These triple chocolate brownies with the depth and flavour of Guinness are a dessert for any day of the year, definitely not just to be saved for St Patrick’s Day!

Why you’ll love this brownie recipe

• These are the easiest Guinness brownies, a one-bowl recipe that comes together quickly too.
• Guinness and chocolate are a marriage made in heaven. Like peas and carrots are in the veggie world. The maltiness of the Guinness just brings out the fabulous flavour of chocolate even more.
• The taste test, these are just amazing!

Love brownies? Then check out my Double chocolate coffee brownies with Nutella fudge frosting, my Black Forest brownies with cherry conserve, these Gluten-free brownies (refined sugar-free too), my mochaccino brownies and even my basic banana brownies too.

Flavours

Now don’t panic if you are not a Guinness lover or even a beer drinker for that matter. These Guinness brownies don’t taste like you are raising a glass of beer to your lips.

No, it’s way more subtle than that. There is a richness to these brownies that goes beyond chocolate and that’s the Guinness part.

They are also not overly sweet as some brownies can be. Again, folks, that’s the stout talking! These Guinness brownies are seriously moreish and a real crowd pleaser, they never last long on the plate.

Texture

Everyone knows that brownies have a texture all of their own. They aren’t like cake with it’s delicate light crumb. No, a good brownie should be rich and chewy, dense and fudgy in texture. These Guinness brownies have that texture in spades, they really are like a cross between a cake and a really good chocolate fudge.

Ingredients for the beer brownies

Guinness!

And there has to be chocolate. These are triple chocolate brownies after all. So in the brownie batter I have two types of chocolate. Cocoa powder. I do advise going for the best you can get here, something like Black & Greens cocoa powder is best. And dark chocolate chips. Go for milk chocolate chips here if you want something a wee bit sweeter.

Espresso coffee powder helps to ramp up the flavours in chocolate and I use it a lot in my chocolate based bakes. Let’s face it coffee and chocolate are such a great partnership and that’s because they bring out the best in eachother.

Vanilla adds the warmth and a little sweetness to this delicious dessert. And salt just ramps up all the flavours that it touches and makes everything sing in harmony.

Other ingredients for these Guinness brownies

The usual line up of eggs and plain flour (don’t use self raising flour for making brownies as it makes them too cakey). For the fat content I’ve mixed vegetable oil with melted butter. I like the taste of the butter and the oil for the texture it gives my brownies. And of course there is sugar and that’s it.

Frosting

Well while the Guinness brownie is the star of the show it must wear a crown and the crown here is the amazingly rich and creamy frosting. This Guinness flavoured frosting looks just like the head on a well-poured glass of the black stuff.

This is where the third element of chocolate comes in. White chocolate. The other ingredients for the frosting are just vanilla, butter and icing sugar.

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How to make triple chocolate Guinness brownies

If you tour the internet you’ll see loads of recipes for Guinness brownies and lots of different ways to make them.

Some folks suggest boiling down the beer to make a syrup before you even start pulling everything together for your brownies.

I’ve played around with various methods on making these brownies and quite honestly I’ve found that going the simplest route is best.

I just mix all my ingredients together in one bowl. Starting with the Guinness, vanilla, espresso powder, salt and sugar. Then I add melted butter and the vegetable oil and stir it through. Next come the eggs and everything is mixed well. Finally I sift in the flour and cocoa powder.

Now use a light touch here and just stir this into the batter. You never want to overmix brownies as they can end up tough and nobody likes a tough brownie.

Last but by no means least just sprinkle in the chocolate chips and cut them into the batter.

Pour your batter into a lined baking tin and let the oven do the rest of the work for you.

How do you know when brownies are ready?

Use the toothpick/cocktail stick test. Now when you plunge a toothpick into a baked cake you want it to come out clean, not a scrap of cake crumb/batter attached to that stick.

In the case of a deliciously fudgy brownie you want that stick to come out with just a little brown batter attached. Not lumps of the stuff but the toothpick should come out with a little brown on it.

If there are chunks on it put the brownies back in the oven a little longer. But if the toothpick comes out completely clean then your brownies are actually over-baked and you won’t have that gorgeous chewyness.

Making the frosting

First melt the white chocolate, Guinness, butter and vanilla extract in a Bain Marie (bowl over a pan of gently simmering water). Then remove that from the heat allow to cool a little and start to stir in the icing sugar till you get a rich and creamy frosting.

Finishing the brownies

Spread the luscious creamy frosting over your brownies giving it a swirl or two as you do so just for effect. Then simply cut into squares or bars, however you want to serve this Guinness chocolate dessert.

How many does this recipe make

Using a standard 8×8″ (20x20cm) brownie tin you can either get 9 large brownie squares or cut this into 12 smaller squares. It is entirely up to you and how many people you want to feed.

Storing and freezing brownies

Your brownies will keep in an airtight tin for up to 5 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. Just remember to give them time to defrost completely before serving them.

Looking for more super easy recipes to celebrate St Patrick’s Day? Then check these out before you go;

Spiced Guinness Savoury Jelly

Basic Guinness bread

Bailey’s banana based ice-cream

Gorgeous Guinness chocolate spread

Spiced Guinness chutney

Homemade Guinness choclate truffles

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.