Fudgy Chocolate Stout Brownies (Super Bowl Dessert Idea!)

I usually don't think of desserts when I think about Super Bowl food, but when I saw this recipe for chocolate stout brownies in the Super Bowl section of Bon Appetit's latest magazine, I knew I had to make them. Beer goes well with football and brownies are always a crowd-pleaser, so combining them seemed like a fantastic idea. I even decided to go one step further and cut them into football shapes to make them extra special!

The original recipe called for any stout, but I used a chocolate stout because that just made sense to me. The brand I used was Young's Double Chocolate Stout, which is available at the LCBO here in Ontario, but I'm not sure about its availability elsewhere. There are lots of kinds of chocolate stouts out there, but if you can't find any, just use a regular stout like Guinness. You won't need a full bottle for the recipe, so choose a stout that you like so you can drink the leftovers!

I often hesitate to make brownies because I always seem to have a problem with underbaking them, but I've learned over the years that fudgy underbaked brownies are usually the best kind anyway! These brownies were definitely on the fudgy side, so if you're a cakey brownie fan, turn away now!

While I loved the soft, gooey texture of these, it unfortunately made my plan of cutting them into football shapes much harder than expected. After cutting out two football brownies, I gave up because it was getting too messy and difficult. The two I cut out did turn out quite cute though, especially after being decorated with a quick white icing.

With the rest of the pan, I just cut them into regular squares, which worked fine. You can go ahead and try to cut football shapes if you're more patient than I am, but squares will be a lot easier. Or you could do what I did and make two footballs as a center piece for your plate of brownies, then arrange the rest of the squares around them. Whatever shape you choose, just be sure to cut them small, because they're quite rich!

I haven't even told you how these taste yet, so in case you couldn't tell from the pictures, they were amazing! The flavour was so rich, dark, and complex, which I loved so much more than regular old brownies. You wouldn't know from eating one that they contain stout, but I definitely think the stout is what gives these their more "grown-up" feel. Everyone I gave them to loved them, especially Ryan, who hovered over me the whole time I was cutting them, quickly snatching up any piece that fell off!

I think these would be a great addition to your Super Bowl menu! And because I have so many other great Super Bowl recipes bookmarked that I haven't had time to make myself, I'll be back in a few days to do a roundup of other Super Bowl food that I think would be perfect for the big game, so stay tuned!

Chocolate Stout Brownies

Slightly adapted from Bon Appetit

Makes one 9x9 pan of brownies, or about 16-20 brownies

Ingredients:

1 cup chocolate stout

16 ounces semisweet chocolate, divided (I used two boxes of Baker’s semisweet chocolate, which contain 8oz each)

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1-1/2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons salt, divided

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 9 x 2" square non-stick baking pan with foil, leaving a 2" overhang that will allow you to lift the brownies out of the pan later. Spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.

Bring chocolate stout to a boil in a medium saucepan and let simmer until reduced to 1/2 cup. This may take around 10 minutes, but you can easily check by pouring the liquid into a glass measuring cup then transferring it back to the pot and continuing to simmer if it hasn’t reduced enough. When done, remove from heat and let cool. Divide into two 1/4 cup measurements - you will use half in the brownie batter and half in the glaze.

Chop 12 oz chocolate and 1 cup butter into pieces and combine in a medium metal bowl. Set the bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water and stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat.

Whisk sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually whisk in the melted chocolate mixture, then 1/4 cup of the reduced stout. Gently fold in flour and 1-1/4 teaspoon salt. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake brownies until surface begins to crack and a tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 40-50 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool at least 20 minutes.

Add remaining 4 oz chocolate to a medium bowl set over a small saucepan of simmering water, and stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat, add remaining 1/4 cup reduced stout, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk until well blended.

Pour warm glaze over brownies. Let stand at room temperature until glaze is set, at least 40 minutes. Using the foil overhang, lift the brownies out of the pan and cut into small squares (keep in mind that these are rich so you won’t want big pieces).

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

Before I tell you about this incredible pie, let me “introduce” my boyfriend Ryan. A lot of food bloggers have cute nicknames for their significant others. I’m not sure if this is to protect their identity, to help readers identify them easily, or just for fun. Either way, I thought I’d give Ryan a chance to choose a nickname for himself in case he had any qualms about me using his real name on this blog. He decided that he wanted to be called Tiger Claw. I decided to stick with Ryan.

The only thing you need to know about Ryan is that he is o.b.s.e.s.s.e.d. with peanut butter. He eats it on toast every single morning, but goes absolutely crazy for chocolate peanut butter desserts. I’m bringing this up for two reasons. First is to warn you that you might see a lot of peanut butter recipes on this blog. Gotta keep my #1 fan happy! Second is because it brings me to this recipe.

When I mentioned in passing that I’d seen a good looking peanut butter pie on another blog, Ryan was already sold. I knew there was no chance I would get out of making it once the idea was planted in his head. Fortunately, it sounded pretty easy and I didn’t have to buy many ingredients for it. Unfortunately, the recipe called for whipping cream, and I did not have access to an electric mixer at Ryan’s nor did I trust my puny arms to do it the old fashioned way.

So I had to make a couple changes to the recipe by using Cool Whip instead. I know a lot of people are against using this type of product (if you’ve ever looked at the list of ingredients in Cool Whip you’ll know why). I chose to push my knowledge of the ingredients out of my mind temporarily, and convinced myself that this had a lot less fat in it than whipping cream, so combined with my choice to use reduced fat cream cheese, I was doing myself a favour. Plus, it saved me time, and the results were still amazing!

If you are a peanut butter lover, or love a peanut butter lover, you have to make this pie. It’s creamy, rich, and because it stays in the freezer, it makes a perfect treat to cool you down in the summer heat. I added some nuts to the topping to give it a bit of crunch, but you could leave these off if you want and just drizzle chocolate on top instead. The oreo crust is a little hard to cut through with your fork after being in the freezer, but this is where you can use those muscles you saved earlier by not whipping the cream!

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

Adapted from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures, originally from Martha Stewart’s Pies & Tarts

Makes 1 9-inch pie

Ingredients:

Crust

1 3/4 cups oreo crumbs (about 22 cookies)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
pinch of salt

Filling

6 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups smooth peanut butter (not natural or chunky)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups (1 container) frozen whipped topping, thawed in the refrigerator

Topping

2 tablespoons peanuts, chopped
2 tablespoons pecans, chopped
2 tablespoons walnuts, chopped
2 ounces semisweet chocolate

Directions:

For the crust:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Crush the oreo cookies into fine crumbs using a food processor or blender. Add the melted butter and stir with a fork until all the crumbs are moistened (the mixture will be quite wet). Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Refrigerate about 15 minutes so the crust is firm, then bake until set, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the filling:

Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, icing sugar, and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the peanut butter and vanilla. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the cool whip in two batches.

Transfer the filling to the cooled crust and spread in an even layer. Freeze uncovered for at least 4 hours, or up to 1 day covered in plastic wrap.

*Note – You’ll likely have some leftover filling, but if you have any peanut butter lovers in the house, I’m sure it won’t be hard to get rid of!

For the topping:

Sprinkle the chopped nuts over the surface of the pie.

Put the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30 second bursts at 50% power, stirring between bursts, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Transfer to a ziplock bag and snip a tiny bit off the corner. Hold the bag over the pie and drizzle the melted chocolate in a zig zag pattern.

Remove the pie from the freezer about 10-15 minutes before you are ready to serve. If you have trouble cutting it, running your knife under warm water will help.

I'm currently at the airport waiting to board my flight up North for a week's vacation! I've scheduled for a delicious dinner recipe to be posted while I'm away, but unfortunately I couldn't find the time to get any other posts ready before I left. I promise I'll make up for it with lots of recipes when I get back!