Guinness Brownies

I've been lazy lately and not designing my own recipes. At the same time, if there is a recipe that is just amazing, why change it? I came across an amazing brownie recipe in my search for a St. Patrick's Day themed dessert. I really wanted something with Guinness. My first real experience with Guinness was in 2008 on a trip to Dublin, Ireland. I visited the Guinness factory with my sister and brother. I've never been able to replicate the taste of freshly brewed Guinness with any bottled or draft variety in the states.

Guinness in Dublin, Ireland

So, on my quest for a recipe I came across this amazing Guinness Brownie recipe. I have no tips to provide. The directions are fantastic! The only thing I did different than the picture posted was google for a image of a four leaf clover. I printed it out rather large, cut it out and placed it on my brownies. I then dusted my brownies with confectioners sugar and removed the cut out. It left a rather nice imprint of a four leaf clover on my brownies. They really are delicious. Even if you are not a fan of Guinness I highly recommend this recipe. You don't taste the Guinness at all even though you use a 1-1/4 c. of Guinness in the recipe. All the Guinness does is bring out the flavor of the chocolate, and I can't say it enough - they are amazing. 

I hope you have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day. 

Enjoy! 

Irish Lace Cookies

OK, so I know it's been quite a while since I last posted a recipe. With work, I'm finding that I don't have as much time as I'd like to be creative and bake. While I had the intention of designing a recipe myself to celebrate the upcoming St. Patrick's Day holiday, I decided to opt instead to search for a tried and true Irish cookie recipe. My idea, by the way, was to take this recipe here, and substitute the coffee creamer for Bailey's Irish Cream coffee creamer. I was then going to dip the cookies in white chocolate and sprinkle with green sprinkles - but alas, I wanted to make something a bit more traditional.

Plus, I used this cookie as an excuse to go to World Market - one of my all time favorite stores. I bought a jar of vanilla extract imported from Madagascar, and I had the intention of purchasing authentic oatmeal from Ireland for 8 dollars, until the realist in me went "no one is going to know the difference between oatmeal from here or from there" and I put it back. Although I did buy butter imported from Ireland, just to say that it did have something authentically Irish in it. :) All of the recipes for Irish lace cookies that I encountered had the same ingredients with different measurements. I opted for the one that used the most vanilla extract. So kudos to this: The Ultimate Irish Lace Cookie Recipe.

Tips: Really you only need to put a teaspoon on the cookie sheet b/c they do spread. Wait a minute or two before taking the cookies off of the sheet. And, if you do have a silpat, I highly recommend using that for this recipe too. I baked mine for only 10 minutes, I was able to put 6 cookies at a time on one sheet.

Enjoy!