Boozey Brownies

I'm, uh... a little late to be doing a St. Patrick's Day post. I know, I know. More than a little late. But I made these, they were tasty, and I'm going to share them. You can make them next year. Or if you're just feeling particularly alcoholic someday and need some chocolate.



Boyfriend Bird threw a little party on St. Patrick's day. He and his roommate grilled some burgers, and I made Sriracha Joes because I am incapable of not making food for parties these days. I promise one day I will share that recipe, because it is my favorite sloppy joe ever. I could eat them for forever. But I took no pictures of them, so that'll be for a later post.

St. Patrick's Day is possibly the only holiday that is acceptably celebrated by getting black-out drunk. I didn't celebrate it this way, but I definitely watched some people doing so. And that wasn't even at the party; I saw some very inebriated people at two in the afternoon. Four of us went into a local city for a festival we had heard of. I personally knew nothing about it; I was just told there was some Irish festival where a bunch of bars had stuff set up outside and live music. Booze and music? How could that be bad? This was the day after I got my tattoo, so I was super nervous about it being outside and ruined in the sun, and it was still red and extremely sore. But I had a green halter top, and I couldn't resist showing it off. I'm so simple-minded some days.

Sadly, the 'festival' was a huge letdown. We couldn't find anywhere to park, had to walk pretty far (although we did see a lot of cute dogs), and once we got there, we realized that there wasn't really anything outside other than lines to get into bars. There were plenty of people in green, though. So we went to the only semi-outdoor tent, where we could hear live music, but once they had verified we were of age, they told us there was a $20 cover.

We just laughed and left. We ended up eating cannoli and tiramisu from a local Italian bakery. It's technically a chain now as it has 4 locations in the city, but it's only in the city, so it still counts as local! My family used to go there every time we went to the city, so it'll always have a special place in my heart, and it was nice to get to share it with some friends who had never experienced it.

After our little trip, we went home and made these brownies, ate, and drank. And all was well. The brownies reminded me of the black bottom cake my mother used to make, only the chocolate was lighter. The taste of alcohol didn't come through for me, so if you're a fan of booze-taste, make sure you brush the whiskey on afterwards! I just dumped the whiskey in the Guinness batter as I was mixing it, because I didn't have anything to brush with and didn't want to be bothered.

Recipe from Confessions of a Cardamom Addict
(Makes 20 brownies, with 165 calories and $0.50 per serving)

3 ounces cream cheese

4 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons Bailey's

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup Guinness

2 tablespoons cocoa

3 ounces chocolate chips

3 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon canola oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup and 2 tablespoon flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon Jameson

1. Preheat oven to 350.
   
2. Mix together 2 tablespoons butter and cream cheese.
   
3. Add 1/4 cup sugar and Bailey's until fluffy and delicious.
   
4. Beat in 1 egg, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon flour. Set aside.
   
5. Bring Guinness to a simmer.
   
6. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder, then mix in chocolate chips to melt.
   
7. Stir in 2 tablespoons melted butter and oil.
   
8. Mix in other egg and egg yolk, then 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, and salt.
   
9. Sift in 2/3 cup and 1 tablespoon flour.
   
10. Mix until batter is smooth.
    
11. Mix batters together in brownie pan.
    
12. Bake for 30 minutes.
    
13. Brush the top with more whiskey if desired.
    

Today's lessons learned:

• Don't trust word of mouth.
  
• Cannoli are worth every calorie.