Portland Brewing BlackWatch Cream Porter...With Brownies

When a recent box of beer mail arrived on my doorstep containing Portland Brewing BlackWatch Cream Porter I enjoyed one bottle as soon as I could get it chilled. Porters are a style I tend to pass over in favor of stouts, which are typically more robust and more to my liking; BlackWatch however has the perfect amount of body and roast to make it a solid choice for a chilly night.

A few days later I decided it was time to restock the freezer with some cookies or brownies, for those times when my sweet tooth screams too loud to be ignored. In the process of figuring out which to make I realized there was still more porter in my fridge and I set out to find a brownie recipe that would utilize it. As it turned out all I could find were ones that called for a stout so I moved on to some tried and true brownie recipes. The closest one called for Bailey's Irish Cream but I was game. Turns out, with that substitution and a couple of others, I made a pretty tasty pan of brownies that went exceptionally well with BlackWatch.

So next time you have a hankering for brownies, I'd encourage you to give this (super easy) recipe a try. The hardest part will be waiting long enough for them to cool, or perhaps not eating the entire pan as you alternate bites of the moist, chocolately goodness with sips of the slightly dry BlackWatch.

BlackWatch Brownies
(adapted from  a Cooking Light recipe)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 Tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup Portland Brewing BlackWatch Cream Porter
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cooking spray
Coarse salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Stir to combine.

Place chocolate chips and butter in a sauce pan. Heat over low, stirring occasionally, until melted and combined. Stir in sugar and remove from heat. Add egg, porter and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Fold in the flour mixture, stirring until just moist.

Spread batter into a 9-inch square or 11 x 7-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Sprinkle with coarse salt and cool completely on a wire rack.