Double Chocolate Guinness Brownies

My evil Irish twin put me up to these.

Now, before you judge him too harshly, a few things to keep in mind: these are flourless, low sugar, flavonoid rich dark chocolate brownies.  Very respectable as treats go. 

And the taste?  Imagine the rich, velvety, melt-in-your-mouth moistness of chocolate torte combined with the earthy notes of Guinness and the textured crunch of pecan.  Yup. You'll want to be putting these puppies on your St.Paddy's Day party list!

Double Chocolate Guinness Brownies

• 300 grams 75% cocoa chocolate, (3 large bars) I use Lindt
• 1/3  cup butter
• 1/3 cup demerara sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 tsp corn starch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans + a few whole ones for topping
• 3 eggs
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup), stout beer such as Guinness

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Notes:

I made these brownies twice (all part of the sacrifices I make for my readers).  In my first batch, I used a dark Muskoka ale with caramel and chocolate notes that was lovely.  In my second batch, I made a few happy adjustments to the recipe and used Guinness.   Hard to go wrong with Guinness... but, if you can't get your hands on it or don't like it, any stout or dark ale is workable.

I should also say that these brownies work equally well without alcohol so it remains, as always, optional.

Heat oven to 300 F.

In a sturdy pot on stove set to the lowest temperature, melt butter and chocolate.

In a separate bowl, combine demerara sugar, cocoa powder, corn starch and baking powder.  Be sure to work through any lumps in the sugar and corn starch, so that the surface of the mixture is as smooth as possible.  Add chopped pecans to the mixture.

Once butter/chocolate mixture has fully melted, remove from heat and allow mixture to cool for 5-10 minutes.

Once cooling time has elapsed, add sugar/pecan mixture to chocolate mixture, whisking to combine.  Add all 3 eggs to the mixture and whisk to combine (you will notice the mixture beginning to thicken at this stage).  Add stout beer if desired to the mixture, whisking to combine. 

Pour brownie mixture into a lightly sprayed 8" square baking pan.   Smooth out surface and top with whole pecans, as desired.  Bake in oven for approximately 40 minutes, or until set.

As difficult as it may be (!), allow the brownies to cool on a rack for 30 minutes before slicing.   This allows the flourless brownies precious setting time - but don't worry, they will still taste every bit as delicious.  If you slice into them ahead of schedule, they'll crumble all over the place and you'll be disappointed.

Enjoy!