Triple Chocolate Stout Brownies with Baileys Ganache

Well you can tell from the title – these boozy brownies are not for the faint of heart! The brownies themselves are made with reduced stout (I used Guinness), and the ganache is made with Baileys, so while they make a perfect St. Patrick’s day dessert, you can bet I’ll be making these all year round.

If you’re not a fan of beer, don’t worry. Neither am I. You actually can’t taste the Guinness at all in these! The beer just acts as a chocolate flavor enhancer, similar to coffee, and makes for a dense brownie.

I took a note from one of my previous recipes, my merlot chocolate truffles, and reduced the Guinness before adding it to the batter. That just helped give my brownies a more intense, less watery flavor. Ain’t nobody got time for watered down anything, but especially not brownies.

So now for the chocolate. In the brownies themselves there is your usual suspect, cocoa powder, and there are also chocolate chips stirred in to take these up a scrumptious notch. Then instead of frosting, I opted for a Baileys dark chocolate ganache. I know a lot of people like frosting on their brownies, and you can go that route too. I wanted these brownies to be an intense chocolate experience, so that’s why I used a ganache instead.
 
These brownies are ooey, gooey and packed to the brim with chocolate. What more could you ask for?

Brownies Ingredients

12 oz Guinness, reduced to 1/2 cup (see instructions below)
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder (regular is good too, I just went intense)
1/4 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Ganache Ingredients

1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Baileys
2 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Brownies Directions

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper (parchment paper isn’t necessary, it just makes it easier to get the brownies out).

Pour one bottle of Guinness (or other stout beer) into a small pot, and heat over medium heat until it almost reaches a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and let simmer for about 20-25 minutes – or until it has reduced to between 1/2 and 3/4 cups. Let cool.

Whisk together the cooled Guinness reduction, butter and sugar. Add the vanilla, followed by the eggs.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa powder.

Add to the Guinness mixture in two batches, stirring until just combined each time. Add the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into the greased pan, and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Start checking to see if they’re done after 30 minutes, and then check every 2 minutes after that. There’s nothing worse than an over-baked brownie! Mine were done at 34 minutes, for reference.

Let cool almost completely before covering in ganache.

Ganache Directions 

Measure chocolate chips into a heatproof bowl and set aside. 

In a small saucepan, combine heavy cream and Baileys. Bring to a simmer.

Pour the heavy cream mixture over the chocolate chips, and stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Pour over the cooled brownies, and let set for at least five minutes before serving.

Serve with milk or red wine, and enjoy!

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