Guinness Brownies with Guinness Ganache
Guinness Brownies are rich & chocolate-y with an entire cup of stout in the batter. They’re frosted with whipped Guinness Ganache. The tan ganache on top of the brownie echoes the colors of a pint of Guinness with a head of foam. So cute!
Table of contents
Why these are The Best Guinness Brownies
These are truly fudgy and tasty brownies. There’s a whole cup of Guinness in the batter. The malty, chocolatey, slightly bitter stout enhances the chocolate flavor in a really lovely way.
When I created the recipe I knew that adding Guinness to the batter might make the brownies more cakey and less fudgy. The flour in the batter would absorb the liquid in the stout to form a strong, cakey crumb.
To prevent the formation of too much gluten, I use just a cup of flour in the recipe. Less flour means less structure.
To further compensate for the extra water from the Guinness I reduced the total number of whole eggs in the batter and added extra yolks.
Egg whites contain a lot of water. So removing some of the whites helps balance the recipe. The yolks also add extra fat and emulsify the batter.
The final perfect touch for these brownies is the whipped, white chocolate Guinness ganache. It just melts in your mouth.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Semi Sweet Chocolate – Use a high-quality semi-sweet chocolate in this recipe. Chocolate chips may have added ingredients that can compromise the texture of the brownie.
- All Purpose Flour – There’s enough flour in the recipe to give the brownies structure and prevent them from becoming greasy. But not so much that the brownies become cakey.
- Sugar – I use both white and brown sugar in this recipe. Brown sugar not only has a great molasses flavor that works well with the stout, brown sugar also holds onto moisture for a very moist crumb.
- Guinness – The stout has flavors of malt, chocolate and coffee. All those flavors work beautifully with chocolate.
- White Chocolate – Use a good quality white chocolate for the ganache. White chocolate chips may have added ingredients that can compromise the texture of the ganache.
The Process for making Guinness Brownies
See the recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions.
- Melt the butter and chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl. Stir in the white and brown sugars.
- Stir in the Guinness.
- Add the eggs and yolks.
- Add the flour.
- Pour the batter into a 13″x9″ pan that has been buttered and lined in one direction with parchment paper.
- Bake until the center of the brownie is set. Cool completely in the pan.
- Melt the white chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl.
- Stir in scalding hot cream.
- Stir until the chocolate is completely melted into the cream.
- Stir in the Guinness.
- Set the Guinness ganache aside to cool to room temperature. It will be quite liquid at this point.
- Whip the ganache until it’s light and fluffy.
- Immediately spread the Guinness Ganache over the cooled brownies. Allow the ganache to set before cutting into squares.
Recipe Tips
- The recipe can be halved and baked in an 8″ or 9″ square pan.
- Butter the pan and line with parchment paper. This not only prevents sticking, it makes it much easier to lift the brownies out of the pan.
- The Guinness Ganache will be quite liquid when you first mix it. It will thicken like cream as you whip it. Once it’s whipped it will start to firm up fairly quickly. Ice the brownies with the ganache as soon as it’s is whipped.
Storage & Serving
- The Brownies will keep at room temperature for several days.
- Iced or un-iced brownies can be frozen. If the brownies are iced, layer them with parchment paper or plastic wrap to prevent them from sticking together. They are delicious straight from the freezer.
More Guinness Recipes
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Guinness Brownies with Guinness Ganache
Ingredients
- 5 oz all purpose flour (1 cups, see note)
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (chopped)
- 8 ounces unsalted butter
- 8 oz Guinness Stout (1 cup)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 oz granulated sugar (¾ cup)
- 6 oz brown sugar (¾ cup)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 large yolks
Guinness Ganache
- 8 oz white chocolate (chopped)
- 1 oz butter
- 2 oz heavy cream (¼ cup)
- 2 oz Guinness (¼ cup)
Instructions
Prep the pan
Make the batter
- In a small bowl, whisk together 5 oz all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon table salt, set aside.
- Combine the 10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate and 8 ounces unsalted butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, stir to combine. Microwave in 30 second increments (stirring between) until all the chocolate is melted.
- Add 6 oz granulated sugar and 6 oz brown sugar to the chocolate mixture, stir to combine. Stir 8 oz Guinness Stout and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Add 3 large eggs and 2 large yolks and stir to combine. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined.
- Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (25-30 minutes). Cool to room temperature. Run a paring knife around the two ends of the brownies to separate from the pan, then use the parchment paper to side the brownies out onto a cutting board.
Make the Guinness ganache
- Melt 8 oz white chocolate and 1 oz butter in the microwave, stir every 30 seconds to avoid burning. Microwave 2 oz heavy cream until its scalding hot. Add the warm cream to the ganache and stir until the chocolate is melted. Add 2 oz Guinness to the ganache and stir until smooth. Cool the ganache to room temperature.
- Whip the ganache until it lightens in color and is aerated. It should be the texture of whipped cream. Spread the ganache evenly over the cake.
- Once the ganache is set, cut into 24 squares (for clean edges wipe the knife with a damp cloth between cuts).
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Could you use baileys Irish cream in the frosting rather than guiness?
Yes!
Is the Guinness room tempature?
Preferably, but if it’s a little cool that’s fine.
Could this b made as a layer cake?
I suppose you could bake it in two smaller pans and layer the cakes with the ganache. But it is a fairly dense cake, almost a brownie, so I might be a bit heavy.