Fudgy Beer Brownies

Using a stout or porter in these homemade Fudgy Beer Brownies brings out all the triple chocolaty and espresso gooey goodness. Jump to Recipe

It’s My Birthday Friday!

It’s my Dirty Thirty on Friday! I can’t believe it. A cake is in the works but I didn’t want to stress about creating a cake, taking pictures, and putting together a post about it. It will probably show up here eventually. Maybe I’ll save it for my 1 Year Anniversary of being hospital free. It’s going to happen guys, I just know it.

The unfortunate thing about having a birthday in May is that it’s hard to celebrate with other people. I never had parties with my friends growing up because of Mother’s Day and I was always okay with it. I feel like the world falls into two types of people: people who really care a lot about their birthday and people who don’t.

I’m normally in the second group. Most of it is because that’s just how I am. I forget anniversaries, other people’s birthdays, and sometimes even major holidays. But a small part is because I think I was conditioned to not care because of Mother’s Day. I’m learning that again.

This birthday is a major life marker. In some ways, it’s the age I’m turning but mostly it’s because my battle with ulcerative colitis is closing. I want to celebrate the years I was unable to celebrate and greet my new journey with joy.

Trying to get all my friends together for a big celebration is proving to be difficult though. But no matter what, I’m having an all day exploring adventure in San Francisco on Saturday the 13th. Any suggestions on places I should absolutely stop off at?

Fudgy Beer Brownies

Even though I’m not sharing a cake for my birthday, these Fudgy Beer Brownies are a pretty special treat. And they celebrate my love of chocolate, espresso, and beer all in one amazing recipe.

They’re based off my Death by Chocolate Brownies and the only difference between the two recipes is that I replaced most of the butter with beer.

Sometimes when I’m drinking beer I’ll instantly want to try adding it to food. That happens a lot with porters and stouts because of their chocolate and coffee notes. I was sipping on a Modern Time’s Imperial Stout and drooling over the thought of eating brownies with it.

When I set out to make these Fudgy Beer Brownies I couldn’t find the Modern Time’s Imperial Stout or City of the Dead so I used Victory at Sea from Ballast Point.

I had read that beer acts as a gentle leavener and these did puff up more than my original brownies. It’s a toss up which version I like better. I think it comes down to what you’re in the mood for. These are slightly lighter feeling because I replaced a lot of fatty butter with beer.

I brought these to Heretic Brewing Company because my sister’s boyfriend celebrated his birthday there and requested them. It’s a pretty cool place because it allows you to bring in your own food or have food delivered. These Fudgy Beer Brownies tasted amazing with Incubus, their Imperial Stout that’s aged in bourbon barrels for six months.

Sometimes I feel like I have a skewed perspective on how my food tastes since it’s primarily my family and close friends who try my creations. So it was nice to have other people devour these up and get all offended on my behalf when I mentioned the recipe it’s based on isn’t popular at all.

5 from 2 votes

Fudgy Beer Brownies

Using a stout or porter in these homemade Fudgy Beer Brownies brings out all the triple chocolaty and espresso gooey goodness. 

Servings 16

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Ingredients

Brownie Mix

• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons chocolate covered espresso beans, finely ground
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Fudge Mix

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup chocolate covered espresso beans, finely ground
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup porter or stout
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8x8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper. 
• In a microwave safe bowl, melt the 8 ounces coarsely chopped semi-sweet chocolate in 20-second intervals, stirring between each until completely melted. 
• Pour into a large mixing bowl and let cool while you prepare the fudge mix. 

Fudge Mix

• Put the chocolate covered espresso beans in a food processor and pulse until they resemble a fine powder and measure out a 1/2 cup.
• In a small mixing bowl, combine the unsweetened cocoa powder, finely ground chocolate covered espresso beans, brown sugar, and powdered sugar. 
• Beat in the melted butter until blended and then stir the beer into the mixture until smooth. Set aside.  

Brownie Mix

• Beat the granulated and brown sugars into the melted chocolate until incorporated.
• Beat the eggs in one at a time on low speed. Only mix until just incorporated.
• Beat in the vanilla extract on low speed.
• Gently fold in the flour, finely ground chocolate covered espresso beans, cocoa powder, and salt until combined. This will be very difficult because the mixture will be extremely dry. Do the best you can. 
• Pour the fudge mix into the brownie mix and fold until only just barely combined (it's nice to have some streaks of fudge).
• Fold in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into the parchment lined baking pan.
• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the edges begin to pull a little away from the pan. The toothpick test isn't very reliable because there is so much chocolate in the brownies. 
• Let the brownies cool in the pan completely and then lift them out by pulling on the parchment paper. Cut them out into 16 small squares and store the brownies in an airtight container at room temperature. 

Author: Megan Wells

Course: Desserts