Fudgy Guiniess Brownies with Whiskey Caramel Glaze
Given my Irish roots, (my granddad James McCann was a full-blooded Irishman,) and the fact that my hubby has a fair amount of Irish blood as well, I couldn’t possibly let St. Patrick’s day go by without at least one themed treat. I’ll be in Paris on Sunday (omg) and won’t get to celebrate (which really only entails wearing green and eating some corned beef,) but eating these delicious brownies was good enough for me.
These brownies on their own don’t taste super boozy, and the addition of the stout really just adds a richness and depth of flavor. The caramel glaze brings a nice kick of whiskey, but that isn’t over-powering either, just a nice addition to the super chocolatey flavor from the brownies.
The texture of these brownies is to die for- they are super fudgy and almost truffle-like with a melt-in-your mouth quality that I love. The glaze is gooey and soft, with a rich caramel flavor. You know what I would do if I made these again? How about some salty pretzel bits on top? Given my sweet & salty obsession- I can’t believe I didn’t do that actually…. (some of my best ideas come to me at 1 AM while editing posts.)
PS- It is SO challenging for me to write posts more than a day in advance. I’m currently scheduling everything for my Europe trip, and there is a very good chance what I wrote will make no sense when you read it two weeks from now… :)
Fudgy Guinniess Brownies with Whiskey Caramel Glaze
Ingredients
For the brownies:
- 1 cup stout, such as Guinness
- 12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
For the whiskey caramel glaze:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup scotch whiskey
- 1 tablespoon Guinness reduction, from brownies
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream or half and half
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
For Brownies:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2" overhang. Set aside.
- Bring stout to a boil in a small sauce pan; cook until reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 12 minutes. Let cool. (Reserve 1 tablespoons of Guinness reduction to use in the caramel sauce.)
- Stir chocolate and butter in a medium heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth.
- Whisk sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in chocolate mixture, then 1/4 cup stout from pan. Fold in flour and salt. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake brownies until surface begins to crack and a tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 45-60 minutes*.
- Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool for at least 20 minutes. Using parchment overhang, lift brownie from pan and let cool completely.
For Glaze:
- Combine sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a dry 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stir until the sugar dissolves- then leave it alone.
- Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is melted into a deep amber color.
- Remove from heat and carefully add the butter and whisk quickly until combined.
- Carefully add the whiskey, Guinness reduction and salt (caramel will bubble and seize up). Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until caramel is smooth.
- Cool sauce to warm.
- Using an electric mixer, add the powdered sugar and mix until thick and creamy. Gradually add milk to thin out a bit if desired.
- Pour glaze over cooled brownies and let set in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- When bars are completely cooled, cut into bars and serve.
Notes
*Cook time will vary based on your oven. My brownies needed a full hour- but yours may be ready much earlier. I'd start checking them at 40 minutes and monitor every 5 minutes or until done. Brownie Recipe adapted from: Bon Appetit
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
These look to die for! I love new recipes for fudge brownies.
Truffle-like brownies? Sign me up!!
Oh my gaahhh. That last picture is KILLING me, Audra! These look amazing. Totally delish and decadent for St. Pat’s Day!
They look amazing, I think my boyfriend would like them for sure ;) Guinness, Whiskey, Chocolate and Caramel… oooh better don’t tell him :P And you are coming to Europe? Where are you going? Just for Holidays? :D
I *have* to make these for Shane, he’d die! I am so excited for you and your trip to Europe, I seriously can’t wait to hear all about it :)
Oh my gosh these look amazing!! Love fudge brownies to begin with … and then the stout and that glaze?? Have so much fun on your trip : )
Just a heads up, I’m making these right now (just couldn’t wait!) and the 2 tablespoons water isn’t in your glaze ingredients list. That’s all! Excited for these to come out of the oven, yummm.
Thanks Ellen! I figured everyone had water around :) let me know how you like them!! :)
Very true, and I agree. I just know that I appreciate it when someone lets me know about typos, can’t always catch them myself! Carry on then :)
And I LOVED them! I adapted them to work with what I had on hand, but I posted about them here! Thanks so much for this.
http://indigoscones.blogspot.com/2013/03/fudgy-brownies-with-salted-caramel.html
Yay! Going to check yours out now.
And yes- I always appreciate hearing about the types :)
audra these look divine but do you think you could make them without the alchohol? would they still be yummy chewy? i love the idea of a salty caramel top to a fudgy brownie….thank you and happy belated birthday! just caught up on instagram and have a blast in europe!
Hey Tricia- I can’t say how the brownies would turn out without the Guiniess- you don’t really taste it (and most of the alcohol gets cooked out) but it adds a great depth and richness of flavor.
As for the glaze- you can skip the whiskey and add heavy cream instead.
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I’m not a huge brownie fan (I know, I know) but these look amazing!! Also, I love Guinness, so even better. So excited you’re going to be in Paris!!! Ahhhhhh!!!
I didn’t know you have Irish roots…!!! And I can’t resist…your borwnies are so fudgy, just how I like the brownies.
mmm these look so chewy and fudgey good!
I am gaga over these!!!
Those look amazing Audra!!!
Mmm these look delicious and I think the pretzels sound delicious on top too! I some have of my best ideas at the most random times as well, and I always schedule posts in advance and I double check them (most of the time) right before they go out to make sure what I wrote before is still relevant lol! Have a fabulous time in Paris!!
Oh my goodness, what an outstanding idea! Will have to give these babies a try. Thanks for the recipe.
Ohh my yum, these look so delicious! :)
These look evil. I like it :)
The brownies look delicious. I keep reading how Guiness intensifies the flavor of chocolate in things. I haven’t tried it yet but these brownies look irresistible! Travel safely and enjoy every second of your amazing trip to Paris!
I love that you added beer and whiskey into this brownie recipe. They look so fudgy and rich!
Oh Audra, this makes me smile. Totally wishing I could lick that glaze with my fingers right now!
These look like a perfect treat for a st patty’s day party! They look sooooo ooey gooey delicious.
uh, yeah- i ended up using a completely different caramel recipe (and just added the whiskey in slowly towards to end) and it turned out MUCH better, in that it turned out at all. i tried the recipe as it’s written not once, but TWICE and the caramel never turned out. your recipe is bunk. the measurements are either completely off or you left something out. and this is not a user error issue, believe me.
if you’re going to put recipes out there, please actually put the recipe you used and not some altered version of it because you don’t actually want to give the real one out. i felt like the measurements were off from the beginning but i tried it anyway, out of good faith. waste of time.
I’m so sorry you didn’t have luck with the caramel- I’ve made the recipe several times and it always works for me! (And I always publish the recipe as I made it) As I said in the post- the caramel does seize up when you add the liquids- but cooking it over low heat will melt the chunks and make it silky smooth.
I’ve had other readers have lots of success with it so I’m not sure what went wrong for you…
Just made these for a St. Paddy’s party! They are sinfully good! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Oh yes, these look good…damn good! Mmm, that whiskey glaze is calling my name. Yum!
Recipe looks very good! I was searching for a whiskey glaze and this should work well. However, I have a question about the process. You miss telling us what to do with the caramel after it has cooled to warm. I’m assuming that you are to put it in with the powdered sugar once it cools, but the recipe doesn’t say that. Just wondering, don’t want to be wondering later what I’m supposed to do with it. Minor issue in some cases I know, but just wanted to ask. Can’t wait to try this out. Two of my favorite things, Guinness and whiskey!
Do you know if you could use just reticle whiskey, such as jack Daniels instead of purchasing scotch? I’m not sure if it would cook differently or if you just used scotch because that was your preference? Just want to see if the glaze would change if I used jack Daniels instead. Thanks so much!! Can’t wait to bake these.
Hi Alex! I think Jack Daniels is totally fine! :)
These are the ultimate best brownies ever! I don’t bother with the topping because they don’t need it! I am so thankful to my friend for finding this recipe!