Beer brownies made with coffee stout beer. Your Valentine wants his brownies made with beer. Brownies for two featuring your favorite beer.
Re-sharing these bites of heavenly brownies. With over 23,000 pins on Pinterest, you know they’re delicious!
Trust me. He told me. He wants a super thick fudgy brownie laced with his favorite beer.
And these beer brownies are sooo it.
Plus, it only uses 1 beer from his stash. I’m not trying to be sexist here—in my house, we each have our own beer stash. Mine is up here in the fridge–quick access to my fruity shandy beers. His beer is in the basement fridge–all dark and shady.
I will confess to stealing an oatmeal stout from his stash every now and then. I used to think people only ordered dark beers to prove their manliness. And then, my lactation coach told me to drink dark beer. Now I think dark beer is synonymous with lactation, and that’s just about as girly as you can get. Sorry, boys.
To make these brownies, I stole a coffee stout from his stash.
See how thick these brownies are? I basically doubled my usual small batch brownie recipe.
I was worried it wouldn’t work, but I was so glad to be proven wrong. Biting into these brownies is almost like biting into fudge. Deep, dark fudge. I love it.
You’ll see that I used cocoa powder and 2 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate in these beer brownies. I really believe in my heart of hearts that the best brownies are made with unsweetened chocolate. However, you can omit the unsweetened chocolate, or use half the amount. These brownies hit you in the face with their rich chocolate flavor.
Start with an entire stick of butter (praise Jesus!), granulated sugar, cocoa powder, and chopped unsweetened chocolate. Like I said, the unsweetened chocolate part is entirely optional and only for those who love love love chocolate.
Best way to melt chocolate for beer brownies:
After microwaving the butter and chocolate on HIGH for two 30-second pulses, let it cool for 1 minute. Then, stir in the egg white, vanilla, and salt. After they are well-incorporated, add the flour.
Now, you’re going to roll up your shirt sleeves and give this brownie batter 50 strokes. I explain this in the Dessert for Two cookbook, but I’ll go over it again–in most baked goods, you want to minimize stirring for fear of activating the gluten in the flour. When gluten is activated, it makes baked goods chewy. But when it comes to brownies, we want chewy! (Side note: this is why gluten free breads have zero chew to them…see also: zero taste LOL).
Scrape the beautiful batter into your loaf pan, and bake for 40-45 minutes. It’s a long time, I know.
Add 1 cup of his favorite beer to a small sauce pan; I used coffee stout here. Chocolate and coffee love each other so.
Boil it down until it’s only 1/3 cup of liquid. Keep an eye on it–the foam can over-flow.
You’re going to use 4 tablespoons of the beer concentrate in the beer brownies. The final tablespoon is used in the frosting. (One-third cup is 5.33 tablespoons…drink the remaining 0.33 tablespoons….)
I hope you know I’m kidding. Use the remaining portion of the boiled beer for the frosting.
I cut these super rich brownies in 8 small pieces, but your burly man can probably take down at least half of these beer brownies in one sitting.
Happy Valentine’s Day, dudes!
Beer Brownies
These frosted beer brownies are a real treat!
Ingredients
For the beer brownies:
- 1 cup dark beer (I used coffee stout)
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped (optional)
- 1 large egg white
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
For the frosting:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- First, make the beer concentrate: add the beer to a small saucepan and boil until it reduces to 1/3 cup. It will take about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it to prevent boiling-over.
- Preheat the oven to 325, and line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the butter, cocoa powder, sugar, and unsweetened chocolate (if using). Microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds. Stir, and microwave for another 30 seconds.
- Let the mixture cool for 1 minute.
- Stir in 4 tablespoons of the beer concentrate, the egg white, vanilla and salt.
- Finally, stir in the flour and stir for 50 strokes to incorporate and activate the gluten in the flour.
- Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. It's done when the surface is dry and a toothpick inserted has only moist crumbs sticking to it. Let cool.
- Once the brownies are cool, make the frosting: beat together the softened butter and powdered sugar until combined.
- Beat in the remaining beer concentrate (1 tablespoon).
- Frost the brownies and serve.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
9Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 308Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 72mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 1gSugar: 15gProtein: 3g
Love the use of Schlafly in these photos :D the brownies look amazing!
Never thought to put beer in brownies before. I’m going to ask my mom to make these for me because I know EXACTLY what my wife is going to say when I put in a request. In fact, never made brownies from scratch before and the boxed ones aren’t worth the calories.
We have the same beer arrangement at our house two! And yep, I’m always cooking with his. I’d gladly take a brownie or five off of your hands.
My man totally wants beer brownies. And so do I! I love baking with beer and these look like the perfect midnight snack :)
My husband has just started drinking stout as his ‘beer of choice’ so he’ll most definitely be into these! It is very sexist in our house when it comes to alcoholic beverages – wine for me, and beer for him! Although we both agree on whisky.
Manly yes, but I like it too!
yummy! These look really good!
These look so amazing, I think I’ll make them for my man for our anniversary in a couple weeks. And, probably again on Valentine’s Day, because beer brownies, duh! I also appreciate the Schlafly shout-out in the pictures, 314 represent ;)
Forget my man, I WANT THEM!
These look so soft and fluffy, and that frosting…. *swoon*!!!
Huh! I’m thinkin we are the odd couple here for having our own chocolate stashes! I keep my dark chocolate stash and he, in his desk, his own milk chocolate that isn’t talked about because it’s, you know…milk! To make it worse, it’s the awful kind you find in the dollar or less stores! You that waxy stuff that sticks to your teeth? Pretty embarrassing when when guests turn down an offering of my good quality dark saying they really only like milk chocolate, and he scurries down the the hall before I can step on his toes!
I LOVE this idea! And I’m not even a beer drinker, but I know I love the deep layer it adds to my chili. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to do for your already wonderful brownies! Can’t wait to borrow…nah, you said it…raid, I’m not one to to pay back, just take..his dark beer!
I don’t where you find the time, with that cute little bundle! but thanks SO MUCH, for the beautiful, delectable recipes. If they weren’t presented so darned beautiful we wouldn’t be be so enticed into making them and look at what we’d be missing!
Wow,beer and brownies, the men in my family will love it! This goes on my weekend to make list. Thanks for posting.
Hmmm! How about experimenting with wine brownies?!
My husband absolutely does want these you’re right!!! But seeing as how I’m still nursing my baby, I think I may be required to eat them all then..since there’s dark beer in them and all..and apparently that helps ;)
My husband totally wants these brownies…umm and me too, obviously. He’s really into the Not Your Father’s Root Beer right now, I’m thinking that would be awesome in these! Great recipe!
Forget my man, I need these for MYSELF!
Seriously, I think these brownies were meant for me. Does that make me a burly man? I guess I’d be ok with that if I could shamelessly eat batch after batch of these. True story, I often drink coffee stout in the evening when I can’t decide between coffee or beer haha.
I can’t handle how good these look!
When I saw these in my feedly feed, I just had to click over and check them out! My husband (and I) would love these! Love the post title. :)
Okay, I thought I had to make those other brownies … but then I see these!!!!! Yes, my man does want these. You’re right. These might have to come first.
It’s like you know my husband…and me.
Really, it’s just shelving in the basement, but it sounds so sophisticated to mention that we “age” (er, don’t drink) the beer in the “beer cellar.”
Loving these brownies! My hubby is not always big into sweets, but if they’re laced with beer…that might be a different story! ;)
Just had to open an oatmeal stout to use a tiny bit in another recipe, so I might as well use up the rest and make these brownies tonight! Looks so good
All good brownies begin with a stick of butter.. even gluten free ones ;)
These look great! My brothers brew their own beer, so I’m definitely going to take some to make these for them! ;)
Thanks for sharing, Christina
Best Brownie Ever! I used Genesee Brew House Salted Caramel Chocolate porter. DEEEE-Lish! The frosting is my favorite part. You can really taste the salted caramel from the beer. Thank you for this wonderful recipe :)
I’m so glad to hear it, April! Thanks for writing :)
I dunno if “my man” wants these brownies, but I certainly do! They look incredible. Love the idea of using a beer concentrate for extra boozy flavor :)
I should make this for Abe’s birthday!
These are so so so delicious! I used Stone Coffee Milk Stout. The frosting alone is amazing. Combined with the fudgy bittersweet brownie…heavenly!
European fan here..I do have cups so those measurements are sorted.. but how much butter is in a stick? :/
Hi Judith! So sorry I didn’t include that information for you! 1 stick of butter is 4 ounces :) Enjoy!
Made these tonight for dessert after dinner with friends, and they wer absolutely delicious! Hard to recognize the flavor as beer, But it makes the brownies, and especially the frosting, absolutely delicious!
I was searching for a beer brownie recipe to try and recreate the ones from Kyra’s Bake Shop in Portland when I came across yours. I was intrigued until I came to your comment slamming gluten-free breads… which is completely false! Sure, there are tons of crappy gluten-free baked goods out there, same as there are tons of sub-par gluten-filled things as well. Kyra’s baked goods, for example, are four-time winners on Cupcake Wars and all her treats are 100% gluten-free, which the judges said they couldn’t even tell the difference. More flavorful than many gluten-filled cakes, to be sure!
There are so many of us like Kyra, who are gluten-free thanks to an auto-immune disorder, whose food needs gets a bad rap when people make snap judgements based on one crummy gluten-free experience and spread the negativity around. Please understand comments like this hurt our community, who try so hard to get friends and family to see that we can eat just as good as the rest of you – and sometimes better! I truly hope you get the chance to try some amazing gluten-free baked goods like I have (many that I make myself!) that will turn that judgement on its head.
These brownies are to die for. I’ve been looking for a go-to brownie recipe for a long time and I think I’ve found it! I chose to use Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout since it has bourbon and coffee flavor, both of which are amazing with chocolate. I’ll definitely be making these again and again!
Yay, Brittany! Thank you :)
Looks delicious!
I’m thinking about making these for Valentine’s day, but I only have a pyrex that must be about 10*10 inches. Would you recommend doubling the recipe in this case?
Thanks for sharing!
Ooh, I’m not sure Tara. The only thing I can recommend is doubling it and baking in a 8×8″ pan (which is roughly double the size of the bread loaf pan). I’m not sure about a 10″ pan. You could double, and maybe you’ll get thinner brownies? I would reduce the cooking time in that case. Sorry, I can’t be of more help-I only test the recipes on this site as-written and I rely on readers to say if they doubled or tripled. Best of luck! And let me know :)
So I ended up making these in the 10*10 pan. I have a convection microwave, which usually works just fine when baking. I, however, distracted by default, put the brownies in for an extra 5 or 10 mins in the microwave setting instead of the convection oven one, so they dried out a bit. Other than that, the recipe is very fudgy and rich; my boyfriend usually eats brownies mercilessly, but after one of these he had had enough. He said they were good (despite my mess up), but very filling. I should also mention I did add the optional dark chocolate. So I’d probably hesitate to recommend doubling this recipe unless you’ll be sharing with many. Other than that, great recipe for rich brownies :P
I made these with Saugatuck Neopolitan milk stout (flavored like the ice cream) and they were fantastic! I was on the fence about making the frosting (not generally a fan of frosting on my brownies), but I am so glad I did!
ohhhhhhhhh milk stout sounds SO good. I’ve been drinking a chocolate milk stout lately, and I’m obsessed! I’m glad you made the frosting, too :) Thanks for writing, Michele! :) <3
Hmm. Beer brownies… Sounds pretty amazingly good!
This is the first time that I see beer and brownies together. Love it!
Never having heard of beer reduction, these brownies intrigue big time. I may make these before I get an answer to this question, but here goes anyway. Would love to know why the yolk of an egg is purposely left out in this recipe.
Hi Jeff,
It’s just the way to cookie crumbles when scaling down recipes for me. I’ve been scaling down recipes for 8 years now, and sometimes I use the egg yolk and sometimes the egg white. In general, I use the yolk for fattiness and richness, and the white for lift and fluff. In this particular recipe, I had enough richness from the chocolate, you know? So I just used the egg white to bind everything together. There is an entire section on my site with ways to use up leftover egg whites and leftover egg yolks.
Happy baking!
So glad I checked back here before proceeding. Now it’s full steam ahead! Thank you.
I have kerrygold salted butter, will this affect the recipe in a bad way?
Nope, just leave out the salt when you’re making the brownies. There’s enough salt in the butter. I LOVE KERRYGOLD <3 It's all I bake with, too :)
Hello! I just made these with a coffee milk stout and they took forever to bake – I’m thinking I may not have reduced the beer enough, but I let it simmer for a good 20 minutes! After 45 minutes the brownies were still bubbling (from the alcohol, perhaps?), which I’ve never noticed before. It very well could be my oven, but I wanted to see if you had any suggestions? The brownies are still delicious, just chewier on the outside. The good news is I have five more beers to try them again :)
What could you replace the beer with to give it a similar consistancy?
How about coffee? That sounds good to me, too :)
So, what would happen if I made these with the whole egg? I suck so badly at separating eggs. Thanks!
Hi Julie,
I don’t recommend it since it’s a small-batch recipe. The extra egg yolk will throw it off. You could use egg whites in a carton instead?
Your post doesn’t make any sense… you say to make the beer concentrate while the brownies are in the oven, but you need to use some of that beer reduction in the brownie batter!?!
Hah, good call. Sorry, make the reduction first like I did. I don’t know why I added the phrase ‘while the brownies cook.’
I meant your actual post. Towards the end, you say: Scrape the beautiful batter into your loaf pan, and bake for 40-45 minutes. It’s a long time, I know. But in the meantime, we’re going to make a beer concentrate…
And then you instruct on how to make the reduction and mention that we will only be using 4 tablespoons in the batter.
You might want to revisit that… it’s a tad confusing!
Hah! I’m the worst. Thank you, Sonia! I’ll correct it now :)
NOT just for men for sure! I want them all for myself!
Hi Christina, these brownies sound awesome! Do you think the recipe will work with dark rum?
I made these on the weekend for a friends birthday and they were a huge success… these might be the richest, fudgiest most chocolatey brownies I have ever had! Thanks for the recipe!
So why are there no leavening agents in this recipe? My batch are in the oven now and I know they’re going to be very fudgey but I’m curious as to why you left out baking powder?
No leavening agents because I want thick, fudgy brownies, not fluffy cake. Eggs are technically leaveners, though.
These look AMAZING!