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Pretzel Crusted Chocolate Beer Fudge Cookies

Pretzel Crusted Chocolate Beer Fudge Cookies #beer #chocolate #cookies #pretzels #recipe

I’ve never really been the girl with the sweet tooth. I’ve had a meat tooth. A salt tooth. A beer tooth. I could eat my weight in guacamole or tater tots and it takes a small act of God to get me to stop eating sushi. But sweets don’t give me the mad rabid cravings that get me to lose my mind. I love chocolate, and pie and cake, and I’ll always eat dessert if it’s around. I’ll take a small slice of every single pie at the Thanksgiving table, but those late night cravings that come after a few IPA’s are almost always of the salty variety.

But every once in a while something will hit the right note. Like this toffee that I ate the entire batch of before I could share and then lied and said it fell on the ground when really it just fell into my mouth. The perfect combination of sweet and salty will get me every time. A little sea salt sprinkle on a danish before it’s baked, or salted caramel, or candied bacon, it’s hard for me to really fall in love with a dessert that doesn’t kick me some salt. Which is why pretzels seem to make it into my desserts more often than fruit does. Maybe you like this too, after all, chocolate and pretzels go perfectly with beer.

Pretzel Crusted Chocolate Beer Fudge Cookies #beer #chocolate #cookies #pretzels #recipe

Pretzel Crusted Chocolate Beer Fudge Cookies

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup bread flour
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 10 wt oz about 1 ¾ cups, chopped good quality dark chocolate (60% cocao)
  • 4 tbs unsalted butter cut into cubes
  • 2 tbs vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup black IPA stout or porter will also work
  • 1 large egg plus 1 yolk
  • 2 cups mini pretzels
  • 2 tbs golden brown sugar

Instructions
 

  • In a bowl add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, espresso powder, and sugar, mix until well combined. Set aside
  • In a microwave safe bowl add the chocolate, the butter and the oil. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted. Don't over heat or the chocolate will seize.
  • Stir in the beer.
  • Add the chocolate mixture, egg and yolk to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, some lumps are OK.
  • Cover and refrigerate until the dough as has set, about 1 hour and up to 36.
  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Add the pretzels and brown sugar in a food processor. Process until pretzels are broken up but large pieces still remain.
  • Using a cookie dough scoop, make balls just a bit smaller than golf balls, roll into shape with your hands. Place dough balls into pretzel mixture, press until pretzels are coated.
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, add cookie balls
  • Bake cookies at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until the edges have set but the center is still soft. Cookies will firm up as they cool. Don't over-bake or the cookies will be dry and crumbly.

Pretzel Crusted Chocolate Beer Fudge Cookies #beer #chocolate #cookies #pretzels #recipe

Top 15 Chocolate Pie Recipes

 

Chocolate Stout Cherry Pie3

I’ve learned a thing or two about what you like since I joined Pinterest. You like heathy food, football food, chocolate food and pie food. Today, I’m focusing on those last two, they’re the most fun anyway.

If you fancy yourself a bit of a Pinterest junkie and need a new fix, you might want to wander over to Foodie and check that out as well. It’s just as easy to make collections and much easier to share those with the embed feature.

In honor of the upcoming Pi Day (March 14th), here is my collection of Chocolate Pies. Now if you’ll just grab me the strongest coffee you can find and fork, I’d like to get started.


This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

Chocolate Porter Berry Cobblers

Chocolate Porter Berry Cobbler 3

There is this way that I make food that I can only really see in retrospect as a mirror to how I’m feeling. Messy food means that I’ve wandered into internal chaos. It’s OK, there are much less healthy ways of dealing with emotions than the culinary mood ring that my kitchen becomes.

There are some changes on my horizon, good changes, but ones that will put me on a new path. A path I’m ready for, excited for, but the thing about transition is you can only clearly see what you are giving up. What you have to gain is still a mystery, but you have a firm account of what will be lost in the shift. It takes faith in yourself, and those decision you’ve made, to keep your eyes firmly on the next trapeze bar after you’ve already let go of the one you were holding, flying through the air with nothing more than hope in what you’ve decided to do. Faith that the world will conspire in your favor.

I’m not going to keep you in the dark for long. I want you to join me in this transition, this journey. But today isn’t for that. Today is for eating chocolate, drinking beer and enjoying the moment. More about my figurative trapeze leap later.

Chocolate Porter Berry Cobbler_

Chocolate Porter Berry Cobbler

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

Topping

  • ¾ cup flour
  • ¼ cup quick oats
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ cup chilled butter

Filling

  • 3 cups berries* thawed if frozen
  • 7 wt oz dark chocolate about 1 ¼ cups
  • ¾ cup porter or stout I used Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean

Instructions
 

  • Add the flour, oats, both sugars, and salt to a food processor, pulse to combine.
  • Add the butter, process until combined.
  • Place in the freezer until the filling is ready.
  • In a double boiler over medium heat, add the chocolate and the beer, stir until melted, remove from heat.
  • Stir in the berries.
  • Place 4 oven safe bowls (8 to 10 fl oz size) on a baking sheet.
  • Add the filling to the bowls, about 2/3 full.
  • Add the topping until level with the top of the bowl.
  • Bake at 350 until golden brown, about 45-50 minutes.

Notes

I used a combination of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Because overly ripe berries are so hard to ship, most pickers choose those to freeze, making frozen berries of a very high quality. Don't be afraid to use frozen berries when baking, they are often the best choice and most often frozen in season rather then grown in greenhouses out of season like some berries often are in the winter.

Chocolate Porter Berry Cobbler 2

Chocolate Stout Shortbread Cookies

 

Chocolate Stout Shortbread Cookies3

I need to start a petition.

To change the usually paring of Milk and Cookies to Beer and Cookies. First of all, it’s just a better idea. If you want to lure friends over, "Hey I’ve got beer and cookies" will go over much better than the alternative. Second, milk is gross. Sure, you turn it into butter, cream or cheese and I’m in. But a tall glass of liquid that was recently inside of a cow just makes me gag. I’m not sure if I have ever in my life drank a glass of milk that wasn’t in the form of blended ice cream. Not even as a kid, I was the juice and cookies type. Now, it’s beer. A nice milk stout is as close as you can get me.

So next time you find yourself at my house and I offer you cookies, don’t expect a glass of milk. But I will give you some good beer, and some cookies made with beer. So I hope that’s a good substitution.

Of course it is, it’s beer and cookies.

Chocolate Stout Shortbread Cookies2

 

Chocolate Stout Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients
  

For the Shortbread

  • 1 ½ cups butter softened
  • 1 ¼ cup sugar
  • ½ tsp almond extract
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 tbs cornstarch

For the chocolate layer:

  • 3 cups 18 wt. oz dark chocolate chips (60%)
  • 2 tbs heavy cream
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons chocolate stout or imperial stout
  • 1 tsp Fleur de sel or other flaky sea salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter, sugar, almond extract and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  • Sprinkle with the salt, flour and cornstarch, mix until just combined.
  • Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper. Press the shortbread dough into the bottom of the baking sheet in an even layer.
  • Prick all over with a fork.
  • Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes or until the edges have just started to turn golden.
  • In the top of a double boiler (or a metal bowl set over a pot of water, but not touching the water) over gently simmering water, add the chocolate, cream and stout. Stir until the chocolate is smooth and melted. Pour over the shortbread in an even layer.
  • Sprinkle with salt. Chill until set, about 3 hours and up to overnight.
  • Cut into squares. Chill until ready to serve.

Chocolate Stout Shortbread Cookies

Flourless Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Flourless Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are naturally dairy and gluten free, take 5 minutes and one bowl to throw together. 

flourless peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chips cookies 2

 

There is really nothing simple about my life these days. Between two blogs, freelance work, a book, a book tour, another super secret project I hope to tell you about soon, and (oh yeah) a family, I’ve officially crossed over into complex living. As a result, my food has become more simple. Beautifully simple. Fewer (but better) ingredients, less waste, more time with that family who gives me so much support. These cookies are a great example. My favorite cookie recipe ever (on the planet) takes 3 days to make, inspiring the name Thursday Night Cookies because if I want them for the weekend, I need to start making them Thursday night.

But right now, in this crazy phase of my life, I want something that can give me near instant comfort and gratification with just a few ingredients I already have. So that someday I can get back to those lazy days and Thursday Night Cookies.

Flourless Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 17 minutes

Yield: 12 cookies

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup whole oats
  • ½ cup chocolate chips
  • 1 large egg

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. In a large bowl gently stir together all ingredients.
  3. Using a cookie scoop, add golf ball size mounds to a cookie sheet that has been covered with parchment paper, evenly spaced. Flatten to one-inch circles using your hand.
  4. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Pull the parchment paper off the cookie sheet and onto a flat surface. Allow to cool.

Notes

A lot of oat companies process their oats with machines that also come in contact with gluten, making the contamination rate high for store bought oats. If you need these to be gluten free, make sure to buy oats labeled "gluten free."

flourless peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chips cookies 3

Mile High Chocolate Stout Pie

This past Sunday, as I stood at a podium in the middle of a convention center talking about the glorious interplay of beer & chocolate  and how to pair the two, I was asked which chocolate stout I recommend.

read more

Epic Chocolate Stout Cake with Chocolate Bourbon Sour Cream Frosting

Epic Chocolate Stout Cake

Epic Chocolate Stout Cake3

Although I may be shattering illusion with this admission, I don’t always cook with beer. I often create very sober meals with teetotaling side dishes, not a whisper of booze in sight.

However, over the years of carving out a niche in this corner of Craft Beer Land, I have found that beer is an essential and non-replaceable ingredient in several dishes, it just does the best job.

Epic Chocolate Stout Cake2

My Thanksgiving Turkey will always be brined with a brown ale, the meat tenderizing properties of beer have no match. If you want a juicy bird, it’s the best way to get there.

My dinner rolls will always be made with wheat beer, the leaving agents are just too good.

My steak will always be given a good soak in a dark craft beer, it gives the best results.

Epic Chocolate Stout Cake5And my chocolate cake will always be made with a nice chocolate stout. The first recipe I ever made with beer was a stout cake, it was by far the best homemade chocolate cake I had ever made, wooing me to the boozy side of baking.

The taste was both rich and light, smooth and bold. It may have been a gateway recipe that lead me down a path of beer cooking obsession.

Epic Chocolate Stout Cake4

Epic Chocolate Stout Cake with Chocolate Bourbon Sour Cream Frosting

Ingredients
  

For the Cake:

  • 7 wt oz 72% dark chocolate chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
  • 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter
  • 12 ounces Chocolate Stout
  • 3 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 4 eggs + 2 yolks
  • ¼ cup canola oil
  • 2/3 cup sour cream
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tbs baking powder
  • 1 tbs espresso powder
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp kosher salt

For the Frosting:

  • 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 4 cup dark chocolate chips melted & slightly cooled
  • 4 cups confectioners sugar
  • 1/4 cup bourbon
  • ½ cup heavy cream

Instructions
 

For the cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • In the top of a double boiler (or a bowl set over gently simmering water), add the dark chocolate, and butter, stirring frequently until just melted. Stir in the chocolate stout.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the sugar, eggs and yolks until well combined, light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  • Add the oil and sour cream, beat until well combined.
  • Slowly add the chocolate, beating until all ingredients are well incorporated, scraping the bottom to make sure all us well combined.
  • In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, espresso powder, cocoa powder, and kosher salt.
  • Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients, stir until just combined.
  • Grease and flour 3, 9-inch cake pans (or two cake pans, and 12 cupcake tins).
  • Pour the batter evenly between the pans.
  • Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched, (15-17 minutes for cupcakes).
  • Allow to cool, remove from pans (it’s easiest to transfer to a plate lined with parchment paper.)
  • To assemble a tall cake it’s easiest if all ingredients are cold, warm cake and frosting tend to slide. For best results chill the cake layers for 1 hour prior to assembling.
  • Chill assembled cake until ready to serve.

For the frosting:

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the softened butter on high until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sour cream, beat until light and fluffy.
  • Slowly pour the melted chocolate into the mixer, beating until well combined with the butter mixture.
  • Add the powdered sugar and slowly building up speed, beat on high until well combined.
  • A few tablespoons at a time add the bourbon and the cream, allowing to fully incorporate before adding more. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
  • Cover bowl and refrigerate until set, about 20-30 minutes.

 

Chocolate Stout and Dulce de Leche Ice Box Pie

Chocolate Stout and Dulce de Leche Ice Box Pie via @TheBeeroness

There are a few buzz words that seem to grab peoples attention and promote a recipe to Social Media Sharing Gangbusters status. These words include: Skinny, Quick, Easy, No Bake, Only 3 Ingredients, You’ll Never Guess The Secret Ingredient!  None of these phrases are the type to attract my attention on their own.

I like a recipe that takes time, uses fat and sugar, and I’m not scared of a long list of ingredients or complicated directions.

Sometimes, however, I do invent a recipe that inadvertently falls into one of those Gangbusters categories that people seem to like. This, for example, takes 15 minutes and zero baking. It also tastes amazing in a way that seems to contradict the short amount of time it took to make.

Chocolate Stout and Dulce de Leche Ice Box Pie via @TheBeeroness

You can buy Dulce de Leche, or make it from scratch (here is a really great post on How to Make Dulce de Leche from a blogger I have a girl-crush on). It’s simple to make from scratch, but if that doesn’t fit your time schedule, or intimidates you, it’s fairly easy to find in markets.

I found myself in ownership of a batch of Dulce de Leche after spending a 100 degree day knee deep in Holiday Cheer while making and shooting Christmas Cocktails for the Holiday Issue of a print magazine. Nothing screams July like Brandied Hot Chocolate with Candy Cane Whipped Cream or Dulce de Leche Eggnog. Although I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity, I can’t say that I really wanted to consume hot buttered rum or mulled wine on triple digit summer day.

Ice box pie was in order.

 

Chocolate Stout and Dulce de Leche Ice Box Pie

Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients
  

For the Crust:

  • 12 graham cracker rectangles
  • 2 tbs brown sugar
  • 4 tbs melted butter

For the Chocolate Stout Layer:

  • 1/3 cup stout
  • 1 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips 8 wt ounces
  • 1 ½ cups heavy cream
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar

For the Dulce de Leche Layer:

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 3 tbs powdered sugar
  • ½ cup Dulce de Leche
  • Additional Dulce de Leche for serving if desired.

Instructions
 

  • In a food processor add the graham crackers and brown sugar, process until reduced to fine crumbs.
  • While the food processor is running, add the melted butter, process until combined.
  • Add crust to a 9 inch spring form pan. Using a heavy, flat bottom glass, press very well into the sides and bottom of the pan (starting with the sides), make sure to press very well until the crust is very compacted into the sides and bottom of the pan.
  • Add the chocolate chips to a small bowl. Heat the stout until very hot (about 170 degrees), pour stout over the chocolate chips, stir until well combined and creamy. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 ½ cups heavy cream and ¼ cup powdered sugar, beat on high until soft peaks form. While the mixer is running, slowly drizzle the cooled chocolate mixture into the mixer. Once it has all been added, turn off the mixer and gently stir until all of the cream and chocolate has been combined an no white streaks or dark chocolate streaks remain. Pour into the crust. Place in the freezer while you work on the Dulce de Leche layer.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 cup heavy cream and 3 tablespoons powdered sugar. Beat on high until soft peaks form. While the mixer is running, slowly drizzle the Dulce de Leche into the mixer. Once it has all been added, turn off the mixer and gently stir until all of the Dulce de Leche and whipped cream have been combined.
  • Add the Dulce de Leche cream on top of the chocolate layer, smooth into an even layer.
  • Freeze until set, about 1 hour. Remove from freezer 10 minute prior to serving and allow to warm slightly before cutting. To remove from pan, run a sharp knife under very hot water, then run the knife between the crust and the side of the spring form pan to release.
  • Heat remaining Dulce de Leche and drizzle over slices prior to serving.

Chocolate Stout and Dulce de Leche Ice Box Pie via @TheBeeroness

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Chocolate Stout Cheesecake Fudgesicle

Chocolate stout cheesecake Fudgesicle

Chocolate-Stout-Cheesecake-Fudgesicles

Would you judge me if I tell you that I’m not a huge fan of ice cream? Clearly, I like it just fine I have several ice cream recipes on this blog, but it’s never my first choice.

Of course, I’ll eat it, although I do tend to prefer it in the winter (probably more of that inherent rebellion I told you about earlier), but there are just so many other desserts I’d rather run five miles to work off. Like, cheesecake. Or doughnuts. Or cheesecake doughnuts.

Chocolate Stout Cheesecake Fudgesicles

 I love cheesecake. So this cheesecake version of ice cream, in pre-portioned sizes (this addresses my serious portion control issues) is just about the most perfect way to consume a frozen dessert.

And because the recipe only calls for 1/3 cup, you are going to have some stout left over that you’re going to have to figure out what to do with.

I apologize for the dilemma this creates.

Chocolate Stout Cheesecake Fudgesicles

Chocolate Stout Cheesecake Fudgesicle

Ingredients
  

  • 8 ounces cream cheese softened
  • ¼ cup sour cream
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tbs whole milk
  • 1/3 cup stout
  • ½ cup dark chocolate chips
  • 6 standard sized graham crackers
  • 2 tbs melted butter

Instructions
 

  • In a bowl (or a food processor) mix together the cream cheese, sour cream and powdered sugar until well combined.
  • Add the milk and stout, stir to combine.
  • Add the chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl, microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted. Pour the chocolate into the cream cheese mixture, stir until combined.
  • Pour mixture into popsicle molds, leaving about 1 inch of the top empty for the crust (if you don’t have popsicle molds, use small paper cups and popsicle sticks) tap the molds gently on the counter to remove air bubbles.
  • In a food processor add the graham crackers, process until only crumbs remain.
  • While food processor is running, add the melted butter in a slow stream until the mixture resembles wet sand.
  • Divide the crust evenly between the popsicles, press down gently to compact. Insert popsicle sticks, freeze for at least 6 hours and up to 3 days.

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Beerscotti: Chocolate Beer Biscotti, Made with Beer for Beer

Beerscotti: Chocolate Beer Biscotti, Made with Beer for Beer

 Something about this just isn’t right, it’s a cookie made to dunk in your beer. Who does that? Maybe I’m trying to start a beer cookie revolution that ends with crumbs at the bottom of your pint glass. Maybe I just liked the alliteration, or maybe this just ends up working. You’ll have to judge for yourself.

Beerscotti: Chocolate Beer Biscotti, Made with Beer for Beer

For this I wanted a big beer, with lots of roasted chocolate malt. Drakes Drakonic Imperial Stout works great, it’s a malty beast, as they say, and has those dry cocoa notes that work with the cocoa nibs and hazelnuts in the Beerscotti. It’s a sippin' stout, made for lingering and conversation, it’s not a beer that wants to be ignored.

But who can ignore the guy dunking a cookie in his beer? Not me.

Beerscotti: Chocolate Beer Biscotti, Made with Beer for Beer

Chocolate Beer Biscotti

Ingredients
  

  • ¾ cup white sugar
  • 4 tbs butter
  • 2 large eggs plus 1 yolk
  • ¼ cup stout beer
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp almond extract
  • 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ cup hazelnuts
  • 1/3 cup coca nibs

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the sugar and butter. Beat on medium high speed until well creamed.
  • Add the eggs and yolk, mix until mixture is pale and fluffy.
  • Add the stout, vanilla and almond, mix until well combined.
  • In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, corn starch, espresso powder and salt.
  • Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the butter mixture, mix on low until just incorporated. Stir in the hazelnuts and cocoa nibs.
  • Scoop half of the dough onto a baking sheet that has been covered with a Silpat or parchment paper that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
  • Shape into a log that is about 8 inches long and 2 inches wide. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
  • Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool for about 5 minutes. Cut diagonally into ¾ inch slices. Return to the baking sheet, cut side up.
  • Bake until slightly crispy, about ten minutes.
  • Cool on a wire rack.
  • Biscotti can be made up to three days ahead of time and taste the best 24 hours after baking. Store in an air tight container.

Beerscotti: Chocolate Beer Biscotti, Made with Beer for Beer

Chocolate Stout Muffin Bread

 

Chocolate Stout Muffin Bread7

Let’s talk about chocolate stouts for a minute.

If you aren’t aquatinted with these Dark Knights, you might be under the impression that your beer will be like a tall glass of malty chocolate milk. For the most part, that isn’t the case. While I was at Hanger 24, those awesome guys let me taste some of the grains they use in their Chocolate Porter.

 

Hanger 24-2

(By the way, neither of those hands are mine, I’m taking the photo)

It tastes, even pre-brew, more along the lines of unadulterated raw cocoa rather than a giant slice of cake. For me, this is great news. The flavors of cocoa (before the butter, cream and sugar are added) are dry and even bitter, making a great addition to the flavors of a stout. If you’re afraid of a beer flavored Yoo-Hoo, you’re in luck. For the most part, chocolate stouts grab those great dry flavors of that cocoa bean without that cloying sweetness of a dessert that you don’t really need in your pint glass.

Here are some of my favorite chocolate stouts and porters, please let me know if you have a favorite of your one:

Bison Chocolate Stout

Rogue Chocolate Stout

Hanger 24 Chocolate Porter

Ken Schmidt / Iron Fist / Stone Chocolate Mint Stout

Souther Tier Choklat (I have yet to get my hands on this on the West Coast, but it’s on my Must Drink list)

Chocolate Stout Muffin Bread

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup coca powder
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 tbs baking powder
  • 1 tbs cornstarch
  • 2/3 cup chocolate chips
  • 10 ounces stout
  • 2 tbs vegetable oil
  • ¼ cup melted butter divided in half

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Add the flour, salt, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, cornstarch, and chocolate chips stir to combine.
  • Pour in the stout, oil and 2 tbs of the melted butter, stir until just combined, some lumps are expected.
  • Pour into a loaf pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Pour the remaining butter over the top.
  • Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs on it. Allow to cool before slicing.

Chocolate Stout Muffin Bread8

 

Smoky Chocolate Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon

Smoky Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon4

Yesterday I was a guest on KCRW’s St. Patricks day episode of Good Food. The host was Evan Kleiman, a chef, author and Los Angeles food scene legend. She called my recipes, "smart," which if you are a home cook, sitting in front of an accomplished chef, is the best word you can hear.

Smoky Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon3

We chatted about stouts, one of my favorite beer topics. Forget about pale lagers and green food dye, stouts are the life blood of St. Patrick’s day. In preparation for our stout conversation, I asked my Facebook readers what their favorite stouts are, and the response was amazing. My non-scientific poll concluded the most popular stouts among those who have clicked "like" on The Beeroness Facebook page are: Old Rasputin, Souther Tier Choklat, Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout and Founders Breakfast Stout. All of which would be amazing in this recipes, but I used Alaskan Brewing Smoked Porter. Just goes to show how many amazing dark craft beers there are in this nation. If you have a stout or porter that you love, let me know about it. I’m always up for a tall glass of dark beer.

Whatever you use, don’t forget to make it a chocolate bacon beer float.

Smoky Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon5

Beer Candied Bacon

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup brown sugar packed
  • 3 tbs stout
  • pinch cayenne
  • 12 thick cut strips of bacon

Instructions
 

  • Combine the brown sugar, stout and cayenne until thick and syrupy.
  • Lay bacon on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet.
  • Brush bacon with beer syrup on both sides.
  • Cook at 350 for ten minutes, flip and re-brush with beer syrup.
  • Cook for 8 to 10 more minutes or until the bacon is an amber color.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool. Bacon will harden as it cools.

Beer Candied Bacon

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup brown sugar packed
  • 3 tbs stout
  • pinch cayenne
  • 12 thick cut strips of bacon

Instructions
 

  • Combine the brown sugar, stout and cayenne until thick and syrupy.
  • Lay bacon on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet.
  • Brush bacon with beer syrup on both sides.
  • Cook at 350 for ten minutes, flip and re-brush with beer syrup.
  • Cook for 8 to 10 more minutes or until the bacon is an amber color.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool. Bacon will harden as it cools.

Beer Candied Bacon Adapted from Oskar Blues via Tide and Thyme.

 Smoky Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon2

Chocolate Stout Waffle Sundae with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce

Chocolate Stout Waffle Sundae with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce5

In my world, this is dessert.

But that being said, I ate it at 3 in the afternoon (mostly because I wanted to make it for you, and I refuse to photograph using artificial light, necessitating a mid-day desert for picture taking purposes).

Breakfast in my land, is savory. Although I occasionally indulge in sugar loaded calorie bomb in the morning hours only because for some reason it’s socially acceptable, but if we step back and look at it objectively, this is dessert.

Since I put beer in your breakfast on multiple occasions (Like this, and this and don’t forget about this), I would never judge you for eating this pre-noon. BUT, it’s dessert. And it needs to be served with a stout that’s almost warm. Maybe a sipin' stout that’s been aged in a bourbon barrel, or a smokey porter.

But it’s definitely dessert. Even if you eat it in the middle of the day.

Chocolate Stout Waffle Sundae with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce2

Chocolate Stout Waffle Sundae with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce

Ingredients
  

For The Sauce

  • 3 tbs butter
  • ½ cup stout
  • 2 tbs corn syrup
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips

For the Waffles

  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 2/3 cup stout
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs divided
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • Ice Cream for serving

Instructions
 

  • Add the butter, 1/2 cup stout and corn syrup to a sauce pan. Cook over medium high heat until butter has melted and the mixture has just started to boil.
  • Turn off heat and stir in 1 cup chocolate chips until completely melted. Allow to cool slightly before using.
  • Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturers specifications.
  • In a large bowl add the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt, stir.
  • In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and milk. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted. Stir in the beer, vegetable oil, vanilla and only the yolks of the two eggs.
  • Add the whites to separate bowl, along with the sugar. Whip with a hand mixer until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes.
  • Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the chocolate milk mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold into the egg whites until just incorporated.
  • Cook in waffle iron according to manufacturers specifications, using butter flavored cooking spray if indicated.
  • Plate waffles, top with desired amount of ice cream, drizzle with chocolate sauce. Serve with a malty stout.

Chocolate Stout Waffle Sundae with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce3

Creme Brulee Topped Chocolate Stout Brownies & Some Big News

I have some news.

If you Follow me on Twitter, you probably already know the Big News.

I signed a book deal on Thursday. A publisher has actually decided to pay me to write a cookbook.

How amazing is that?

Writing a cookbook has long been on my list of goals, and as I somewhat naively and idealistically jump into this process, I am reminded that it is you I have to thank for this milestone. The ones who share my posts, tell their friends about my little blog, believe in what I’m doing here,  the ones who read every silly word I write, and yes, even those of you who write creepy comments about wanting to wake up in my bed and email me about how you google stalk me on a weekly basis. I am grateful for all of you.

This isn’t just my book, it’s yours too. The ideas you give me, the way I’m inspire by your questions and humbled by being seen as a source of knowledge and beer-cooking wisdom.

I wish I could properly thank you all, over a beer and some possibly inappropriate conversation.  But for now, we’ll have to settle for some Creme Brulee Brownies made with two different types of beer. Which seems to be fitting, since chocolate stout was the first beer I ever cooked with and creme brulee was the subject of my first post. It’s an homage to my beer cooking beginnings, hope you like it.

If you are at all interested in helping me with this book, as an un-paid but thoroughly appreciated, recipe tester, for which you will receive my undying love and affection, a mention in the book, a sneak peek at never-before-seen-recipes, and possibly more, stay tuned. Once we get to that place, I’ll let you know how you can be my beer cooking partner in crime.

Creme Brulee Topped Chocolate Stout Brownies

Ingredients
  

For the Brownie Layer:

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 stick butter
  • 7 oz dark chocolate 60%
  • 2/3 cup chocolate stout

For The Creme Brulee Layer

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup low-hop pale ale beer
  • 1 vanilla bean split and scraped or 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 3 eggs plus 2 yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tbs corn starch
  • Plus 1/4 cup sugar for the brulee topping

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the 3 eggs, white sugar, brown sugar and vanilla on high for at least ten minutes. You need a meringue type consistency in order to create a crust on top of the brownies to insure the layers stay separate. In a separate bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder and salt, stir to combine.
  • In a microwave safe bowl, add the butter and the chocolate. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted.
  • While the stand mixer is on medium speed, slowly add the chocolate until mostly combined. Add the beer and stir. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
  • Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour batter into dish and smooth out the top. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until the top is matte and a bit cracked. Don't over bake.
  • Allow to cool to room temperature.
  • For the creme brulee layer:
  • In a sauce pan over medium heat, bring the cream, beer and vanilla to a slight simmer, removing from heat when bubbles start to form around the edges. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk the 1/2 cup sugar, eggs and yolk, and cornstarch until well combined and slightly frothy.
  • While continuing to whisk the egg mixture, slowly add the cream and whisk until well combined. Make sure the cream has cool or you will just have created vanilla scrambled eggs.
  • Return the cream to the stove and stir over medium heat until it comes to a low simmer. Continue to whisk until thickened, between 5 and 10 minutes. The cream should leave a track when you drag the whisk through it. Allow to cool to about room temperature.
  • Pour over the brownies, cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill until set, about 1 hour.
  • Just prior to serving, cut into squares, cover with a light layer of white sugar and brulee the top with a kitchen torch until the sugar has melted and turned a dark amber color.

 

 

Chocolate Stout and Bacon Skillet Brownies

 

I hope you don’t mind my excessive use of stout over the past few weeks, but to be honest I’m really not sorry. I love stouts, I’m  unreasonably excited about stouts being back "in season," and we are only about 2 weeks away from International Stout Day.

I’m geting you all stocked up on stout recipes, in case you want to celebrate via beer infused baked goods.

Which, of course, I hope you do.

You can use a chocolate stout for this, and that will be perfectly fine. You can also use a smoked porter or stout, or you can use a coffee or espresso stout.

Whatever you choose, this is best served warm, in the middle of a table full of fun people, each with a spoon in one hand and a stout in the other.

Chocolate Stout and Bacon Skillet Brownies

Ingredients
  

  • 2 strips thick cut bacon
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 3.5 oz 100g dark chocolate (60%), broken into pieces
  • 1/2 cup stout chocolate or coffee stouts work best
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tbs espresso powder
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • Preheat oven to 350.

Instructions
 

  • In a 8 or 9 inch cast iron skillet cook the bacon until done. Remove bacon from skillet. Swirl the bacon fat to coat the pan, discard the excess bacon fat.
  • Add the butter to the skillet, return to heat and cook until melted. Add the chocolate and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add beer and stir.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until well combined. Sprinkle the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and espresso powder over the eggs, whisk until just combined.
  • Add the egg mixture to the chocolate skillet and stir until just combined. Chop bacon and sprinkle over the top.
  • Bake until the top has set (don't over bake) about 25 to 30 minutes.
  • Remove from oven, top with vanilla ice cream if desired (and I'm pretty sure you should desire) set in the middle of a table full of hungry people. Add spoons.

Chocolate Mint Stout Lava Cake

 

 

 

Let’s talk about mint for a second.

If you know me well, you know I have an issue with mint. Although it would be hard to tell, given that I’ve made you Chocolate Porter Brownies with Mint Frosting, Chocolate Mint Stout Ice Cream, and our neighborhood beer float hussy, The Dirty Girl Scout. You could have even assumed that I LOVE mint by all of those recipes, but the truth is that this is my culinary equililant of Exposure Therapy.

The devolution of mint in my life happened in Morocco. I was traveling though Middle Atlas a few year ago with my sister, being carted from one town to another in the back of what was surely the car of a Moroccan drug dealer (or at least drug dropper-offer-guy, *actual term). I can’t even really pinpoint which incident linked Mint with Morocco in my brain. Maybe it was the cave dweller in Middle Atlas who made me mint tea, or the three Moroccan rug makers who locked me in the back of the factory plying me with mint tea in an effort to convince me to spend $6000 on a rug, or maybe it was the mint vendors waving their wares at me in the walled maze that was the old City Medina.

To be honest, the experience wasn’t entirely bad. Terrifying and life changing, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to have gone to the other side of the world, even if it did involved running for my life through the late night streets of Fez. The rumor is that your sense of taste is more strongly linked to memories than images. Which makes sense. Because even when I see my photos from that trip, it doesn’t even come close to evoking the memories that come screaming back when I smell or taste fresh mint.

I want to like mint, it’s an incredible flavor. It’s fresh and bright, and makes me gag. But I’m working on it. Exposure therapy, one chocolate mint dessert at a time.

Months ago, when I found out about the Ken Schmidt / Iron Fist / Stone Mint Chocolate Imperial Stout I was excited that my self imposed mint affliction could extend into my love of craft beer.

This might do it. And with a bold and creamy taste, and a gentle, but not sweet, mint flavor, I have high hopes that I will someday be the cure to my mint aversion. I think I need to send Ken Schmidt a mint flavored thank you card.

 

Chocolate Mint Stout Lava Cake

Ingredients
  

  • 3.5 oz 100 g Dark Chocolate 70%
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter 10 tbs
  • 2/3 cup Chocolate Mint Stout or chocolate stout
  • 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
  • 3 eggs plus 3 additional yolks
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1 tsp espresso powder this will not make the dessert taste like coffee. Espresso intensifies chocolate
  • 2 tbs dark chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425.
  • Butter six soufflé dishes very well. The best way to do this is to soften butter (or use vegetable shortening or margarine) and a wadded up paper towel, smear a large amount inside each dish, making sure to get into the edges.
  • In a saucepan over medium heat, add the chocolate and butter. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add beer, and peppermint extract, stir to combine.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks and powdered sugar.
  • Pour chocolate mixture over egg mixture, stir to combine.
  • Sprinkle cocoa powder, espresso powder and flour over chocolate mixture, stir until just combined.
  • Divide equally between souffle dishes, making sure not to fill more than 2/3 full. Press about 4 to 5 chocolate chips into the very center of each cake (can be made one day ahead, cover and chill).
  • Bake at 425 until the outside is set, but the center is still liquid, about 9 minute no more than 13. (Note: Glass baking dishes cook much faster then ceramic dishes. Take these out of the oven when it looks as if they "need a few more minutes," you want a very runny center.)
  • Run a butter knife around the edge of the cake. Place a plate on top of each ramekin, turn upside down, lift ramekin to reveal cake. Serve immediately.

 

Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I spent the morning interviewing ex-cons.

For them, the employees of Homeboy Industries, it’s a second chance and fresh start. A non-profit that works with gang members, fresh out of jail, provides culinary training, GED prep, job placement, parenting skills and so much more. "It’s like a big family, but everyone believes in you." Said one guy, back for a second chance at his second chance.

But sitting at the front of the Homegirl Cafe, interviewing and photographing the employees, it felt like a second chance and fresh start for me too. I was hired to write an article about food. Paid to go there, talk to people and take photos. A rare opportunity it seems for me to bulldog my way into this food writing world that I’ve been fighting so hard to be  a part of. An article I hope to do justice to, undoubtably spending the better part of the next week working on.

So here we are. Me and them. My transformation so much less dramatic, so much less important to my survival. They inspire me. When I asked the man I met, the one who is back for his second time and only 3 days out of jail, how he is going to do things different this time around, he shrugs, "I’m just going to keep showing up. That’s all."

I think he’s on to something there.

Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 2/3 cups white sugar
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup bread flour
  • 2/3 cup cake flour
  • 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Makes 2 dozen

Instructions

  1. In a pot over medium high heat, add the butter. Stir until butter has melted. Continue to cook, swirling the pot continuously, until the butter has turned an amber brown color and remove from heat. This will take about 5 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and the sugar. Add the vanilla and the browned butter, stir until combined.
  3. In a separate bowl add the remaining ingredients and stir until well combined.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined, don’t over mix.
    Line two baking sheets with a Silpat or parchment paper.
  5. Form dough into balls a bit larger than a golf ball. Place on the baking sheets.
  6. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, and up to 24.
  7. Preheat oven to 350. Bake for about 18 minutes or until light golden brown. Keep an eye on your cookies at about the 12 minutes mark. Cookies that aren’t as chilled will cook much faster.

 

The Dirty Girl Scout: Chocolate Mint Beer Float

 

This isn’t a recipe. Not really, it’s more like assembly instructions for how to make a float that tastes like a Girl Scout Thin Mint, but with beer.

Boozy, chocolatey, minty.

But there really isn’t a recipe involved. Add more ice cream if that’s what you like. Add more beer, if that suits you.

I used my homemade Chocolate Mint Stout Ice Cream & a lot of Bison Chocolate Stout.

It tastes like beer. In case you were hoping for one of those overly sweet concoctions they sell at diners.

But, more or less, this is how you do it:

 

Step one:

Add a few scoops of chocolate mint ice cream to the bottom of a mug.

 

Grab some beer, chocolate stout is preferable.

Pour beer over ice cream.

 

Enjoy.