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Root Beer Brownies

Root Beer Brownies

Beer is a major ingredient in a lot of recipes. Guinness, in particular – not to mention other dark stouts – works its way into quite a few baked goods. It pairs especially well with chocolate because of its naturally dark, chocolaty flavor, so Guinness Cupcakes and Guinness Chocolate Cake are fairly common. Guinness Brownies are not seen quite as often, but work for much the same reason. Unless St Patrick’s Day is coming up, I don’t usually keep Guinness around so I decided to play around and see if I could get the brownies to work with something I always have on hand: root beer.

I know that root beer isn’t really beer, but once the idea popped into my head I couldn’t resist trying it out. I used a bottle of Dr Brown’s root beer, pouring most into the brownies and saving a few sips for myself.

Most of the recipes I’ve seen for Guinness brownies include both dark and white chocolate, which is an unusual touch for a chocolate brownie recipe. The sweetness of the white chocolate covers up some of the bitterness of the beer and gives the brownies a smoother finish. I included the white chocolate in this recipe, too, but in my case I was hoping to temper the strength of the darker chocolate and let the root beer flavor come through.

In the end, the flavor of the root beer is definitely overpowered by chocolate – and that’s not really a bad thing for a batch of brownies! They are very chocolaty and have a slightly unusual texture to them. They’re fudgy and definitely give you a melt-in-your-mouth effect, but they are not dense or very chewy. I believe that is the root beer’s signature addition to these treats.

These brownies are much better the day after they are made: fudgier, moister and with a deeper flavor. Make them in the evening, then wrap them up and slice them the next day!

Dr Brown’s Root Beer

Root Beer Brownies
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
6-oz chopped bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate (1 cup)
3.5-oz chopped white chocolate (1/2 cup)
4 tbsp butter
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
8-oz root beer (no foam!)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 9-in square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
In a small bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, melt together chocolates and butter, stirring frequently until mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs and sugar until well combined. Blend in cooled chocolate mixture. Stir in half of the flour mixture, followed by half of the root beer. Stir in the rest of the flour mixture, the remaining root beer and the vanilla. Scrap down the sides of the bowl well and stir until just combined. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 26-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with only a few moist crumbs stuck to it. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.
When brownies have cooled, wrap them up well and store them overnight before serving. Brownies are best the day after they are made.

Makes 25 brownies.

Note: White chocolate and bittersweet chocolate seemed to have slightly different weights by volume. Go with the weight measurement, if you can, though I have included the volume for convenience if you need to go that route.

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31 Comments
  • Nikki
    October 17, 2008

    These look fantastic! Can’t wait to try them out!

  • Katrina
    October 17, 2008

    Interesting! They sure look good!

  • Isa
    October 17, 2008

    Wooow those look amazing! So fudgy, and rich and delicious looking! Thanks for sharing the recipe

  • chachiskitchen
    October 17, 2008

    amazing recipe, have to try it.

  • Sarah
    October 17, 2008

    Oh this is so not fair. I *just* ate dessert & here is a recipe that combines two of my absolutely favorite things. What a great idea! I’m so excited you thought to try this…I will be making it very soon!

  • Aim
    October 17, 2008

    What a great idea! I want to try these now!

  • snookydppd;e
    October 17, 2008

    interesting recipe. Pitty root beer is not available here. These look delicious

  • Kiersten
    October 18, 2008

    this is a really cool idea!

  • Kiersten
    October 18, 2008

    this is a really cool idea!

  • Kate
    October 18, 2008

    These looked so good I made a batch today! They turned out so yummy–thank you!

  • Heather @ Not a DIY Life
    October 18, 2008

    Wow, these sound absolutely wonderful! Thanks for sharing. I stumbled this post.

  • CookiePie
    October 19, 2008

    What a delicious idea! I have to try these – anything good is better with root beer!

  • Mike Wilson
    October 20, 2008

    now THAT sounds good. I’ve been a fan of a heavy Guinness beer bread for years. I’ll definitely give these a shot on the soonish.

  • Kt
    October 21, 2008

    Yum! Those look great … will have to try them.

  • saucymomma
    October 22, 2008

    Husband will adore these! As will the kiddos. Thanks for such a fun idea.

  • Jesse
    October 22, 2008

    What a great idea! It makes me wonder what ginger beer would do for brownies?

  • Lisa magicsprinkles
    October 22, 2008

    So creative! The boys will love these!

  • Hillary
    October 22, 2008

    Cool idea! I love root beer. It’s one of the only pops I will drink so I would love to try these brownies. I imagine they’re extreeeemely moist and fudgy 🙂

  • Graeme
    October 22, 2008

    I’ll have Root Beer over Guinness any day.
    Great idea, Nicole.

  • Amber
    October 22, 2008

    Okay you had me at the title on tastespotting and I had to check this out. Very interesting.
    Hey, if you add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, you would have root beer float brownies.
    You first photo is beautiful.

  • megan
    October 24, 2008

    wow, root beer brownies. i’ve got to try these out!

  • That's nasty
    November 26, 2008

    Ew, what the hell? Who in the right mind would want Root Beer in their brownies? Irk.

  • geek+nerd
    March 2, 2009

    I’m intrigued. I think I’ll have to give these a try.

  • kcal9
    August 23, 2009

    So i just made these brownies vegan and non vegan…and its amazing!! Though with the vegan version i used 1/4 cup applesauce unsweetened for each egg, and it kinda does taste more like apple with a hint of rootbeer it still came out the same way with the initial recipe did…I used earth balance butter (vegan friendly) instead of regular butter****

  • mrsblocko
    March 9, 2010

    I made these and wrote about them here: http://tomatoesforapples.blogspot.com/2010/03/root-beer-brownies.html

    Root beer in the brownies sounds weird, but they were moist and tasty. Thanks for the fun experimental recipe!

  • Katrina
    August 30, 2011

    I made these yesterday, they are really good! Course, we had to serve them with some ice cream on top, drizzled with a root beer glaze I made. 😉

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