{Recipe} Stout Brownies with Bacon

When my dear friends, Ryan and Dana, told me they were engaged to be married, I was excited. When they asked me to cater the desserts for their reception, I was beyond thrilled! It's always an honor to be included in a couple's special day, but when they are your friends, it is even more so. The challenge here? They don't really like cake. But they love brownies. And they want the brownies to look like a wedding cake. Simple enough, right? Right.

The wedding is on St. Patrick's Day, and the bride and groom are beer aficionados. So, why not stout beer brownies? And they suggested bacon be added to the mix, because, well, bacon makes everything better! (And if you don't agree, you probably haven't had really good dark, bittersweet chocolate with bacon - it's heavenly!)

So I set to work... and then I failed. Nope. These brownies were too dense, but not at all fudgy (read: bricks). Nope. These ones are too cakey. Nope. These ones are thick and rich, but they're gummy. So, I set about scouring the internet looking for ways to add more liquid to brownies without ending up with one of the above scenarios. I was overwhelmed with choices. And what did I do? I decided to just wing it. I modified my regular recipe, and the result was perfection. They had that crackly layer on top, the brownies on the edges of the pan were firm and had a little crunch to them, and the middle was perfectly gooey and fudgy. They were so good, I decided I shouldn't keep this to myself. So, without further ado...

Stout Brownies with Bacon 
1 cup stout beer (I like Firestone Walker's Velvet Merlin)*
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 T dark cocoa powder
1 t kosher salt
1 cup butter
10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (at least 60% cacao content, available from Mama Ganache)
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 T pure vanilla extract
6 strips of bacon, cooked until crispy and chopped (optional)

Pour the beer in a saucepan, and set over medium-high heat. Bring to boil and reduce by half. Allow to cool while you assemble the other ingredients.

Butter a 9x13 baking dish, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat conventional oven to 350°F or convection oven to 325°F.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt together into a small bowl and set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium bowl (in the microwave or over a double boiler), and add the chocolate. Stir with a rubber spatula until all the chocolate has melted. Set over double boiler to re-warm the mixture if all the chocolate does not melt. Stir in the sugar and brown sugar.

Gently whisk in the eggs and vanilla (mixture will thicken considerably).

Mix in the flour mixture, then add the reduced stout and whisk gently until just combined. Fold in the chopped bacon.

Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it (about 30 minutes).

Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan and slicing.

*Want a little extra punch? Replace a tablespoon or two of the reduced stout with some Irish whiskey. Or, if you're not a beer fan, or don't like to cook with alcohol, you can replace the reduced stout with 1/2 cup strong-brewed coffee.