Description
One-bowl brownies with a layer of slightly boozy Irish cream coffee buttercream and studded with chunks of chocolate for St. Patrick’s brownies for grownups. Serve these with strong coffee around a table with good friends.
Ingredients
Scale
Cooking spray, for the pan
Irish Cream Brownies Batter
- 1 stick butter (113 g)
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar (70 g)
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar (40 g)
- 3 and 1/2 Tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa, such as Droste or Hershey’s Special Dark (18 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 oz. chocolate bar, cut into chunks (or 2/3 cup of chocolate chips)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon whiskey or Irish cream liqueur or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (98 g)
Irish Cream Buttercream
- 1 cup powdered sugar (120 g)
- 4 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature (57 g)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 2 Tablespoons Irish cream liqueur (or 1 Tablespoon of liqueur + 1 Tablespoon of milk for less boozy flavor)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Spritz an 8×8 baking pan with cooking spray, and then line the bottom of the pan with two pieces of parchment that extend up the sides of the pan.
Make the batter
- Melt the butter with the sugars, salt, and baking powder, stirring to dissolve the sugar into the batter.
- Whisk in half of the chopped chocolate and the whiskey (or Irish cream), stirring until the chocolate melts.
- Add in the eggs and then whisk well until the eggs are incorporated well into the batter.
- Add in the flour, stirring just until the flour just disappears.
Bake the brownies
- Scrape the batter into the pan.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until until the center no longer jiggles and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Set aside the brownies to cool for 30 minutes. If you want to speed up this process, set the brownies in the freezer.
Make the frosting
- Beat the butter, powdered sugar, and espresso into a paste. You can do this with either a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Pour in the Irish cream and beat until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.
- Spread the frosting in a layer on the top of the cooled brownies. Sprinkle over the rest of the chocolate and some green sprinkles if you’d like.
Chill the brownies
- Chill the brownies in the fridge before cutting. The butter needs to firm up before you can get clean cuts. Once the frosting is firm to the touch, cut the brownies into 16 pieces.
- You can serve the brownies either chilled or at room temperature once you’ve cut them. Store them in the fridge in a covered container for up to 5 days. Once the buttercream is chilled, you can stack the brownies.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- + 30 minutes to chill the brownies:
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Bar cookies
- Method: Baking, Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
