Lately there’s been growing interest in pairing chocolate with beer — from tasting nights to craft breweries experimenting with chocolate-infused ales. That inspired me to combine the two ingredients into a single baked treat. To give it an extra savory edge, I added another favorite pairing: bacon.
For anyone wanting to impress (or win brownie points), here’s a bold, indulgent dessert: Beer and Bacon Brownies.
These fudgy brownies pair rich chocolate and beer with salty, smoky bacon for a balanced sweet-and-savory bite. If you can find a beer with chocolate or coffee notes, that’s a great choice, but any favorite beer will work. For this batch I used an IPA and Manuka-smoked shoulder bacon. Enjoy!
BEER AND BACON BROWNIE
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12 Slices
Ingredients
- 150g plain flour
- 30g cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 230g caster sugar
- 230g brown sugar
- 100g chocolate, melted
- 200g chocolate chips
- 115g butter
- 125ml beer, room temperature
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 300g bacon (about 5 slices), roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan off). Grease or line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.
- Dice the bacon and fry in a pan until crisp. Drain on paper towel and let cool to remove excess oil.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
- Melt 100g of chocolate using a double boiler: place a small heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water (making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water) and stir until smooth. In a separate small pan, heat the butter over medium heat, swirling it until it becomes golden and nutty.
- Pour the browned butter into the melted chocolate and whisk until glossy. Add the room-temperature beer and mix until combined.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs with both sugars using a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed until the mixture is silky and slightly thickened.
- Reduce the mixer speed and add the chocolate-butter-beer mixture along with the vanilla. Mix until incorporated.
- Fold in the dry ingredients, chocolate chips and cooled bacon pieces until just combined. Avoid overmixing to keep the brownies fudgy.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 60–65 minutes, or until the filling is mostly set but still slightly gooey in the center.
- When the brownies come out of the oven, you can place the tin in the refrigerator to halt further cooking and help them set.
- Allow the brownie to cool completely, ideally overnight, then slice into 12 pieces and serve.
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