Chocolate Guinness Beignet Brownies

Oktoberfest tonight?  All you can drink German beer?  Sure, we'd love to come!

Pie Man and Scout have been to the real Oktoberfest.  The one in Germany.  The one in September.

By the time I usually think about attending Oktoberfest, it is already well into October.  Every year I vow to plan a trip to Germany for the next September.  As we raised our Spatens, every one at the table vowed the very same thing.

As a guest, I didn't strictly have to bring food.  But if you've got an hour, you can make brownies.  

(I like to make brownies to take to parties.  Whatever pieces you can't cram onto a serving plate, you can keep for yourself.)

Making brownies is easy enough, but how does one make them "German"?

Chocolate, we have.  Always.  Pecans or coconut for a traditional German chocolate cake style treatment?  No, never. 

But we do have beer!  (Always.)  Irish beer, to be sure, but surely no good German would turn down a dessert made with beer? Not when there's chocolate included. 

Well, I wouldn't, anyway.  

Apologies to the anonymous blogger who posted this Chocolate Guinness Brownie recipe last year, I'd love to credit you, but I just don't see a source on the print-out. 

Double apologies, in fact.  I'm sorry.  I just didn't like these brownies very much.

Between the Guinness and a double dose of dark chocolate, these brownies are cake-like, very dark, and bittersweet. 

If dark chocolate is your thing however, you will LOVE them!  The bittersweet chocolate and the Guinness really intensify when they get together. 

Not my idea of a pleasant expenditure of precious dessert calories. 

I like sweet.  No, I like sweeter than sweet.

So I changed 'em.  Just not enough.

Chocolate Guinness Brownies

- more bitter than sweet -

Going international with my leftover pieces, I tried a beignet treatment to sweeten them up.  Surely a party-minded Oktoberfest crowd wouldn't mind a bit of New Orleans influence along with the Irish? 

I put the cut brownies into a ziploc loaded with confectioners sugar, gently making sure they were well coated.

Who's Tipsy?

Proving only that you can't make a beignet out of a beer brownie. 

(But you can make it pretty.)

After Spaten and schnitzel, nobody really seemed to mind.  Only two Guinness brownies remained on the dessert end of the pot-luck table when PieMan shooed us all home with him to watch his Gator game.  Not a hit, but not a complete miss, either. 

But what if it wasn't the all you could drink Spaten?  Maybe there are some bonafide bittersweet fans in the neighborhood? 

If so, this recipe's for you.

For me?  I am thinking a much lighter version for the next party.  Chewy.  With milk chocolate.  And toffee.  And what the heck.  Just for the sake of sweeter than sweet, a bit of the beignet treatment too.    

Chocolate Guinness Beignet Brownies

1 c. flour

¾ c. cocoa powder
¼ tsp. salt
5 Tablespoons butter, cut into cubes
8 oz. dark chocolate bar, chopped
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 ¼ cup Guinness, stout or draught
1 cup semi sweet chocolate pieces

Preheat oven to 375.


Line with parchment paper, oil, or grease, a 9x13 baking dish.


Whisk flour, cocoa, and salt together.


In a sauce pan or double boiler, melt the dark chocolate and butter. Keep the temperature low and slow.  Don't cook it, just melt it.  Set aside.


In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until slightly frothy. Pour in chocolate mixture slowly. (Don’t cook the eggs!)


Whisk Guinness into egg/chocolate mixture. Fold carefully. Don’t beat!  The goal here is soft and fluffy.


Whisk flour mixture in slowly until thoroughly combined.


Pour mixture into baking dish and top with chocolate chips.


Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.


Remove from oven, cool, and drown in a ton of powdered sugar. 


Or not.