![Chocolate Guinness Cake](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/03/15/multimedia/NL-Chocolate-Guiness-Cake1-gblf/NL-Chocolate-Guiness-Cake1-gblf-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Guinness Brownies
![Guinness Brownies](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/03/04/dining/ejm-guinness-brownies/merlin_170016606_5359a8c1-0a6b-480d-a3b1-d65608f4f2e0-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- Nonstick spray
- 1¼cups/160 grams all-purpose flour
- ⅓cup/30 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1tablespoon instant espresso powder (optional)
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- 12ounces/340 grams finely chopped bar bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
- 6tablespoons/85 grams unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
- ¾cup/150 grams granulated sugar
- 4large eggs, at room temperature
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼cups/300 milliliters stout beer, at room temperature
- 8ounces/225 grams milk chocolate chips (or other chocolate chips, if you prefer)
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-9-inch pan with nonstick spray, and line with parchment paper, leaving about 1½ inches of excess paper on two sides (these will serve as “handles” to help remove the brownies from the pan later).
- Step 2
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder (if using) and salt to combine; set aside.
- Step 3
Fill a medium pot with about 2 inches of water, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Place a large bowl on top of the pot, and add the 12 ounces of chocolate and the butter to the bowl. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is fully melted and smooth. Add the sugar and continue to heat, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
- Step 4
Remove the bowl from the heat. Use a whisk to mix in the eggs, one at a time, whisking well until each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Whisk in the vanilla.
- Step 5
Whisk in half the flour mixture, then gradually whisk in the stout, mixing just until combined. Add the remaining flour/cocoa mixture and whisk just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Step 6
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the surface of the batter, then transfer to the oven and bake until the brownies appear just set in the center, 23 to 30 minutes. They should seem slightly underbaked and will firm up as they cool.
- Step 7
Cool completely to room temperature, then transfer to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. (It’s easier to cut the brownies when they’re chilled.) Use the parchment “handles” to gently lift the brownies out of the pan, and cut into 16 even pieces. Store brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Made the batter, tasted it, stuck a straw it the bowl and called it done
This is a chocolaty fudgy brownie... a bit hit with all of us. Followed the recipe the first time and it was great. Second time replaced sugar with 1/4 c molasses 1/2 c brown sugar, ( gives more depth to the flavor) used chocolate stout and put caramel chips rather than chocolate chips on top. A big hit again. This is a keeper.
These are a very dense, fudgy brownie. If you’re so inclined, some walnuts on top would help cut through the sweet. I also cut into smaller pieces since they were so rich. They were enjoyed!
This recipe creates a lot of batter, and would probably be better suited for a 9x13 pan than a 9x9 pan. If you use a 9x9 pan, and bake at 350, plan to triple the bake time and add tin foil to the edges to prevent burning. The middle of the brownies take a long time bake thoroughly!
After reading the suggestions I made these brownies in a 9x13 and waited until the following day to dig in. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly, and let me say, these are some of the best brownies I’ve ever made. Absolutely delicious. Rich, fudgy, perfection .
These are great. About to make them for a second time. I originally made for Saint Patrick's Day, as a fun way to celebrate though we couldn't party during social distancing. Give them the full time to cool in the fridge + even longer! The flavor develops and they do round out in sweetness. I ate a piece just after they cooled, and was disappointed by their bitterness. Then, I ate some everyday until they were gone. They became so delicious, I'm about to make them again!
Was skeptical of these brownies because few recipes include liquid, but I wanted to try them for the novelty. I used a heavy chipotle stout and semi-sweet chocolate chips as the melted chocolate. Like another reviewer, I was disappointed in these after taking a bite immediately after cooling. Fluffy fudge was right. But after refrigerating for a day, the texture changed into a luscious flourless cake-like texture and the flavor was very nice! Would make again with a better chopped chocolate.
The only change I made was to add a tablespoon of espresso, as opposed to espresso powder. I also used a chocolate stout that I had in the fridge. Baked in a 9 x 9 pan and am very pleased with the result. It’s a dense, rich and fudgie brownie, but not too sweet. I suppose that the level of sweetness will depend on the combination of chocolate used - milk vs semi sweet vs bittersweet. Will definitely make again!
I would like to point out relative pan sizes. The depth will vary according to the size of the pan since you have a constant volume of batter, so we compare surface area. An 8x8 square pan has an area of 64 sq inches. A 9 inch round is similar in size, 63.6 sq inches. A 9x9 pan is 81 sq inches, significantly larger (81/64 = 1.26). Changing the pan size is going to affect the cooking time and probably the texture.
We really liked these. Thought the batter was too loose, but gave it a shot. Turned out really nice. Husband thought I was nuts to try this one - he doesn't like Guiness. Deep chocolate flavor, and not a really sweet brownie compared to most. Will make this again!
A little more interesting than your basic brownie; Guinness flavor was pretty subtle for me and not too bitter. Used fewer chocolate chips at the end (as per prior suggestions) and regretted it. (I'm a pretty serious chocolate lover though, so I'm not surprised.) I did use a 9-inch (round) cake pan instead of 9X9, and did get a more cake-like end product. Will use larger pan next time... and full 8oz of choco-chips for a more fudgier/chocolatier experience.
Agree with the “...stuck a straw in it...” comment; but other than a quick lick fo the spoon, I doubled recipe, used a 10 x 15 pan; added walnuts to batter; cut finished product in thirds and froze 2 of them wrapped tightly in plastic wrap then placed in large Zip-loc to enjoy in future months. Recipe is a winner!
For all the chocoholics out there: I made these with 1 cup almond flour with 1/4 cup coconut flour to lessen the carb load just a bit and an entire 12oz (355ml) bottle of oatmeal stout, but otherwise prepared the recipe as written. I sprinkled pecan pieces over the top before baking, came out great, especially after overnighting in the fridge. The taste changes fairly dramatically from just out of the oven to the next day for sure.
These weren't my favorite. I did the full cook time of 30 minutes and they were still somewhat mushy, kind of like a fluffy fudge (though now that I think about it I'm wondering if my pan was 8x8). Like another reviewer I found them to be slightly bitter from the Guinness. Used about half the chocolate chips on top and found it to be more than enough. Fun gimmick for St. Patrick's Day but I won't be making these again.
I found these very disappointing. Not really brownies at all - dense like fudge, but with four eggs, kind of sludgy. The Guinness left a strangely bitter aftertaste, even though I used high-quality bar chocolate. I was especially looking forward to trying this recipe because Nigella's Chocolate Guinness Cake is a family favorite, but these were an expensive failure.
I was very pleased with these, and they were a great hit at the St. Patrick's potluck to which I had brought them. The Guiness does give a slightly bitter edge, but it's not unpleasant. Following other suggestions here, I baked them in a 9"x13" dish, which was a good call; they would have been far too thick otherwise. I checked them at 20 minutes, but they still looked "wet", so I let them go another 5 minutes. They were dense, but not dry.
The main selling point on these Guinness brownies/cake recipes seems to be that they don't taste as bad as you'd expect...but that doesn't mean it's good.
This is a fantastic recipe. But I can’t imagine using a 9x9 pan. I increased the recipe by 1/4 and used a 9x13 pan. They were perfect. Much less trouble baking than I usually experience with brownies. Delicious!
Very disappointing. The 4 eggs made them spongy and dense, but not in a good way. Also, the picture on this site was misleading - you can see the chocolate chips on top of the brownie- they must have been put on the brownies just as they came out of the oven, because I followed the instructions and put them in to bake and they just thoroughly melted and are indistinguishable. A big so-what.
I made these for a camping trip and they were Devine. Great depth of chocolate flavor, subtle hints of the ale and espresso. They are in the rotation with Katherine Hepburn's recipe.
Halved the recipe, used an 8x8 tin, and coffee stout. Added espresso powder to offset the chocolate without realizing that double coffee plus stout ups the bitter, earthier notes. As others have said, this is more fudgelike than brownie. It cries for experimentation with both different stouts and chocolate. Semisweet or even milk chocolate in the batter would offset the bitterness of the stout. I used bittersweet in the batter. It was overpowered by the stout.
Adding to the chorus of feedback here-- these are definitely the consistency of fudge. I just had one after overnight cooling and hours of warming to room temperature and I'm disappointed by how bitter the brownie is. Next time I would use semisweet, not bittersweet, chocolate. The milk chocolate chips on top (and some crushed walnuts) are the only thing saving this from being downright yuck, and I generally enjoy dark/bitter chocolate. Pretty sure I wont be making these again.
They are delicious but more like fudge. Even though the recipe says to take them out when they still look underbaked, they're very dense.
gonna make this - but so much chocolate, almost a pound!
I’m very disappointed with the way this recipe came out. It did not make brownies. The outer part came out like a cake and the inner part still did not “set up” after cooling and chilling. Sorry, this was not delicious and was a waste of a lot of good ingredients.
Second comment - these are incredible once they come to room temp. The chocolate flavor and texture really shines then. I tasted one when it was still cool from the fridge - didn't like it at all. Be patient, give them a few hours to sit out, you'll appreciate them much more.
Couldn’t sleep afterwards! But sooooo good.
I didn’t have fresh mushrooms so used a package of dried mixed mushrooms and used the mushroom rehydration liquid in place of the extra oil on the sauce (which I doubled). It was fantastic! (I also used some chopped steamed fresh vegetables and tofu instead of frozen vegetables and egg.)
Goodness, those sound like some strange brownies. You didn't find the mushrooms interfered with the chocolate flavor?
I used a 9 x 13 pan, kept to ~30 min baking. The batter did develop a large bubble in the center about halfway through baking. They cooled off overnight and then 2 hours in the fridge in the am. Perhaps because they weren't at room temp, the bitterness of the stout was left in my mouth for a awhile afterwards. I used semi-sweet bar chocolate, and semi-sweet chips. I was not wow'd by the chocolate. Again maybe room temp would make a difference. I'm adding walnuts to the top next time.
Too dense. I wouldn’t make them again.
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