Vanilla Beer Brownies

I have a confession. 

I've never baked brownies before that weren't from a packet.

SINNER

I know. BUT yesterday was the magical day when I found out what I've been missing all these years. 

With a little bit of help from Joe at Little Pod providing me with an absolute treat of all treats - award winning vanilla beer and madagascan vanilla shortbread! Vanilla beer to use in the baking, vanilla shortbread to use in my mouth whilst baking...

These brownies were...(big statement blooming)...out of this FREAKING WORLD.

Melt in the mouth, moist, packed full of chocolate with a smooth undercurrent of vanilla beer and a drizzle of milk choccie on top for good measure (and because I'm a piglet).

I must say, if you have a chance to try any Little Pod products then you're in for a treat, the shortbread was to die for. It ALMOST left me with no room for brownies. Almost. 

What you'll need // 

325g butter

200g dark chocolate

3 eggs

100g light brown sugar

100g granulated sugar

100ml vanilla beer (or normal beer & a few drops of vanilla extract)

75g all purpose flour (I only had self raising and mine nearly turned cakey!)

pinch of salt 

What to do //

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C fan. Line a 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 baking dish. 

Using a bain marie/double boiler, melt your chocolate and butter together and stir. 

Into a large bowl pour your chocolate mixture, sugars and vanilla beer and mix well. 

Whisk in the eggs firstly before adding your dry ingredients and stirring well until the mixture is as smooth as possible. 

Pour the mixture into your lined baking dish and bake for approximately 40 minutes, (5 ish mins longer if your dish is 8 x 8). Check the bake with a skewer to see if it comes out clean. 

Leave brownies to cool on a wire rack (if you can, it was so tempting at this point to face plant them) and drizzle melted chocolate on top when cooled. 

Then taunt your boyfriend by not allowing him a piece for a whole 12 hours because you needed to take pictures of them in the daylight :)

I strongly advise you bake a batch immediately and dunk them in a glass of milk. (This is precisely what I'm doing right now).

Enjoy your evenings! 

Betty x 

Ps, This is not a sponsored post, Little Pod just kindly sent me these products out of the kindness of their hearts. What dreamboats. 

For more Betty Stamp bakes and antics, find me on social media as @thebettystamp