Guinness Brownies -- a #recipe for a St. Patrick's Day Treat from @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Mr. Right loves Guinness Stout, which in these parts is available bottled only this time of year. He also loves brownies, so I didn’t think he’d mind me sacrificing a bottle to make these brownies, using reduced beer, espresso powder, and frosting. They are more cake than brownie, incredibly rich and flavorful. 

Perfect for St. Patrick's Day -- with or without a bottle of Guinness! Slainte!

Guinness Brownies -- Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction blog, by Sally McKenney

Ingredients: 

one 12-ounce bottle Guinness Stout, reduced (see below)

For the brownies:

3/4 cup unsalted butter

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1-1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon espresso powder

For the frosting: 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at to room temperature

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2–3 tablespoons reduced Guinness 

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

Reduce the Guinness: 

Pour the stout into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, reduce to medium and simmer until reduced down to 2/3 cup, about 15-20 minutes, then set aside to cool at least 10 minutes. Note that the beer will continue to reduce as it cools, so don’t overdo the reduction. The brownies call for 1/2 cup; you’ll use the rest in the frosting.

Make the brownies: 

Heat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a a 9×9 inch pan by buttering or spraying it – be sure to get the corners. Or line it with foil or parchment paper, leaving an overhang for lifting out the brownies – this makes cutting them easier. 

Use your preferred method to melt the butter and chocolate – in a small saucepan, double boiler, or microwave. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in the sugar and 1/2 cup of reduced Guinness until completely combined. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla, then add the flour, salt, and espresso powder, and mix until the batter is thick and shiny. Pour the batter into the pan. 

Bake 32 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the pan. If it comes out wet, bake another 2 minutes. Moist crumbs clinging to the toothpick are fine. No one likes an overdone brownie! 

Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely before frosting. 

Make the frosting: 

In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter on high until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar, beating on low; when the sugar is largely incorporated, increase speed to high and beat until creamy. (You don’t want a cloud of powdered sugar in your kitchen!) Add 2 tablespoons of reduced Guinness, 1 teaspoon espresso powder, vanilla, and salt. Taste. Add any remaining Guinness, if needed. If the frosting is a little too thick, you can thin it with a splash of milk.

Frost cooled brownies. Cut and serve. 

Cover and store leftover brownies at room temperature for up to 1 week. Or just bring them over to my house. 

And if you'd like to enjoy your brownies while reading about an Irish-American family, my Food Lovers' Village mysteries feature Erin Murphy, who runs a local foods market in her family's hundred-year-old grocery in the heart of the village of Jewel Bay, Montana, a lakeside resort community on the road to Glacier National Park. The series starts with Death al Dente and continues for five novels, ending with the sixth volume, Carried to the Grave and Other Stories, a collection of 5 contemporary short mysteries featuring Erin and the Villagers and a historical novella set in 1910, the year Erin's great-grandmother Kate came to the village and married Paddy Murphy. Seems Erin's sleuthing skills may be inherited! 

From the cover of BLIND FAITH, written as Alicia Beckman (in hardcover, ebook, and audio from Crooked Lane Books, October 2022)  

Long-buried secrets come back with a vengeance in a cold case gone red-hot in Agatha Award-winning author Alicia Beckman’s second novel, perfect for fans of Laura Lippman and Greer Hendricks.

Two women whose paths crossed in Montana years ago discover they share keys to a deadly secret that exposes a killer—and changes everything they thought they knew about themselves. 

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries, continuing in July 2022 with Peppermint Barked. She's the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories. Death al Dente, the first Food Lovers' Village Mystery, won Best First Novel in 2013, following her 2011 win in Best Nonfiction. Her first historical short story, "All God's Sparrows," won the 2018 Agatha Award for Best Short Story. As Alicia Beckman, she writes standalone suspense, beginning with Bitterroot Lake (2021) and continuing with Blind Faith (October 2022, Crooked Lane Books).

A past president of Sisters in Crime and a current board member of Mystery Writers of America, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by her website and subscribe to her seasonal newsletter, for a chat about the writing life, what she's working on, and  what she's reading -- and a free short story. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.