Boozy Irish Brownie Bites

Boozy Irish Brownie Bites?!! Now we’re talking! These rich, decadent little gems are chock full of Irish Whiskey and frosted with a white chocolate, Baileys and Whiskey Ganache! I’m telling you, there is no way you could go wrong here. And just a warning, these guys are indeed boozy. I took care to add those spirits after the ganache was removed from heat, so there is no “oh the alcohol cooked off” with these darling treats. It is all there. Another thing that is absolutely great about these little guys is their diminutive size. You can literally just grab one and pop the whole thing right into your mouth.

You know, just a small bite, a wee taste if you will, just in case you don’t really want to commit to eating a whole big honking brownie.

Now, I’m sure that sounds good in theory and I know there are folks out there that have that kind of “I’ll just take a taste” self-restraint. I’m not really one of them. I just end up eating a plate of these irresistible little devils over the span of the evening. But hey, no regrets. St. Patrick’s Day only comes once a year. You should definitely enjoy it!

 

• Servings: 32- 34 Brownie Bites or 16 Regular sized Brownies
• Difficulty: easy
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recipe slightly adapted from: Vintage Kitty

Ingredients:

For the brownies:

• 1 vanilla bean
• 9 Tablespoons salted butter
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Irish Whiskey
• 3/4 Cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour

For the Ganache:

• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 Tablespoon salted butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• pinch of salt
• 8 oz. white chocolate, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Baileys Irish Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Irish Whiskey

Directions:

For the Brownies:

Preheat oven to 325° F and line a 8″ square pan with parchment paper.

Slice the vanilla bean and scrape the seed outs.

Place the seeds and the pod in a medium sized dutch oven.

Add the butter and sugar to the pan and melt over medium heat, stirring frequently.

Once sugar has melted, remove vanilla bean pod.

Sift cocoa into the butter mixture and stir to combine.

Remove pan from heat and let mixture cool a minute or two. Add whiskey and stir to combine.

Add the flour and stir just until it is incorporated.

Pour brownie batter into prepared pan and bake for 20 -25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean.

Set brownies to cool on a metal rack.

For the Ganache:

While the brownies are cooling, combine sugar, butter, heavy cream and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently.

Let the mixture boil for 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat and slowly add the white chocolate, stirring until it is completely melted and smooth.

Slowly add the Baileys and Irish Whiskey, stirring until combined.

Pour the ganache over the warm brownies and spread with a spatula.

Allow ganache to harden over an hour or so.

If you wish to serve regular brownies, go ahead and slice them and enjoy. If you wish to make smaller brownie bites as I did here, use whatever shaped small cookie cutter to cut the brownies. I used a 1 1/2″ circle cutter.

Enjoy!

Boozy Irish Brownie Bites brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

 

Irish Whiskey Marmalade Cocktail

Irish Whiskey Marmalade Cocktail – how’s that for a fantastic St. Patrick’s Day offering. Now I know a bunch of folks are going to be guzzling big honking pints of Guinness or even more scary pints of that suspicious looking lager with a green hue. I don’t know about you, but as much as I like the taste of Guinness, I can’t manage more than one pint of the stuff. Not because I’m a light weight…give me some credit please! It’s because Guinness is so filling I feel as though I’ve eaten an entire loaf of bread. I’m ready to roll on home after one measly pint. Where’s the fun in that?!! So this Irish Whiskey Marmalade sounds pretty dang refreshing to me!

Jammy cocktails have been all the rage now for a couple of years. Adding a quality artisan jam to your favorite liquor is a really easy way to achieve a drink with wonderfully complex fruit flavors. The recipe for this particular tipple can be found in my friend Theresa’s debut cookbook: Fruit on the Table: Seasonal Recipes from the Green Apron Kitchen.

I told you all about her and her award winning artisan preserve company, The Green Apron, in my last blog about Irish Whiskey Marmalade Tarts. And yes, you guessed it….that batch of Irish Whiskey Marmalade that I made up for the tarts…I’m also using it in these cocktails. See, I told you The Green Apron jams were very versatile!  Theresa’s Blas na hEireann (Taste of Ireland) award winning Irish Whiskey Marmalade is a perfect choice for this libation.

As far as which Irish Whiskey you should use…well I think that is definitely a personal preference. There is always Jameson, though I have a few friends that swear by Black Bush. The husband is a fan of Red Breast. I’ll leave the choice up to you, but I should say you’ve gotta like Irish Whiskey to drink this creation. In fact, it could be called an Irish Whiskey Marmalade Whiskey Cocktail, come to think of it. Double Whiskey?!! Yup…perfect for St. Patrick’s Day!

• Servings: 1 cocktail
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

recipe from: Fruit on the Table: Seasonal Recipes from the Green Apron Kitchen by Theresa Storey

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons marmalade
• 2 – 3 dashes of Angostura bitters
• 60 ml (2 fl. oz.) Irish whiskey
• 1 Tablespoon simple syrup
• Ice cubes
• sparkling water

Directions:

Muddle the marmalade, bitters and whiskey together until the marmalade starts to dissolve. (I know I have a spoon of the jam sitting by the cocktails in the pictures above, so it looks like I’m just going to stir it into the cocktail when I’m ready to imbibe. However, you really should either muddle it with the whiskey and bitters or shake them in shaker ahead of time though, otherwise it is difficult to incorporate into the already mixed cocktail.)

Add the simple syrup. (To make simple syrup, mix equal amounts of water and sugar and heat until he sugar dissolves. Allow to cool completely and keep in the fridge. Use within a few weeks.)

Drink neat over ice or add sparkling water.

Sláinte!

Irish Whiskey Marmalade Cocktail brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Links to helpful kitchen tools and ingredients for Irish Whiskey Marmalade Cocktail:

Fruit on the Table: Seasonal Recipes from the Green Apron Kitchen by Theresa Storey

Angostura Orange bitters