rogue chocolate stout brownies with bailey’s buttercream frosting

Oh yeah…you read that right!  Remember…I love indulgences (in moderation, of course!)

I’ve long been a fan of using Guinness in soups, chilis, stews, and of course, cupcakes /grin.  The rich stouty-ness (my blog so I get to make up words to use) of the beer enhances both savory and sweet flavors, especially that of dark chocolate.  In fact, we love Guinness so much in our house that we named our old lady Newfie girl, Guinness!  Just look at that sweet face….I luff her.  And unlike most Newfs, she doesn’t drool….except when avocados are present.  Weird, right?

I always get odd looks though when I bring Guinness cupcakes to a gathering.  I don’t know why…people are weird that way.  Upon trying (after some not-so-gentle prodding on my part) their eyes roll to the back of their head and their lips purse in sensual satisfaction as they exclaim the glory-ness that is the almighty Guinness cupcake.

But I have ingredient ADD so when presented the opportunity to enter the MN Food Bloggers Big Bar Bake-Off at the end of the summer bash (hosted by Stephanie Meyer (Fresh Tart)  and Molly Herrmann (Tastebud Tart Catering) with fabulous beers from Fulton Brewing Company) I jumped at the chance to share my Guinness cupcakes with Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting.  Only…I needed to bring bars and since I was going to play with the recipe…I might as well change up some of the ingredients!  Hence, my Rogue Chocolate Stout Brownies with Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting sprinkled with Vanilla Fleur de Sel (boy is that a mouthful!) were born.

Ultimately, I was disqualified from the Bake-Off because my bars were more cake-like than bar-like (which I get….I kind of agree with the judges…plus my mom says I’ve never been known for my bars….) but that doesn’t mean these aren’t beyond delicious and meant to be shared with the world /grin.  By the by…how does one become a judge for something like that?  I want that job!!!

Rogue Chocolate Stout Brownies with Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour (I like to use King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat but any all-purpose flour will do)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (I use Celtic Sea Salt for all it’s minerally goodness)
• 5 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or darker if you dare!)
• 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar (I use a mixture of organic cane and turbinado sugars but white sugar is fine too)
• 1 1/4 cups Rogue Chocolate Stout (room temperature with no foam) or any other similar beer of choice (again, Guinness would work well here too)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (to sprinkle on top prior to baking)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° and grease a 9 x 13 pan
2. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder and salt together. Set aside
3. In a double broiler (you can see my fancy-dancy (not!) double broiler in the photo above), melt the chocolate chips (only 1-cup of the semi-sweet…the rest are for later) and butter together until fully melted.  Stir often so the chocolate doesn’t burn
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together.  Slowly, pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture whisking the entire time (don’t go too fast or the heat from the chocolate will scramble the eggs!)
5. Whisk in the beer and then slowly fold in the flour mixture.  Do not overmix – you want to see some lumps here and there
6. Pour into the greased pan, top with the remaining cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
7. Remove when done and let cool completely

Buttercream Frosting

• 6 tbsp. butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted (sifting truly does make all the difference….try not to skip this step!)
• 3 tbsp. Bailey’s (I like mine nice and boozy but adjust to your taste and consistency desired; substitute heavy whipping cream if using less Bailey’s)
• Cream together (I used my KitchenAid) and spread over cooled brownies

Now…if you really want to get fancy, sprinkle a titch of fleur de sel over the entire pan of frosted brownies. I use Vanilla Fleur de Sel from Golden Fig but any fancy salt will do.  I love how the salt enhances and binds all the flavors together.  Glorious indeed!

Enjoy!