Irish Cream Brownies

For the final boozy cookie of July, I made Irish Cream Brownies. Now Irish Cream smells so irresistible that it seems a shame to do anything but drink it straight, but I promise you that these are worth it. These start with an Irish Cream-infused saucepan brownie and end with a creamy Irish Cream frosting. What could be better? Not much I think.

This brownie recipe is from a cookbook of recipes from food manufacturers. Given the number of recipes in this book that contain Kahlua, Irish Cream, and vodka, I imagine that the distillers submitted them to be included. This book also contains Black Russian Brownies, which I didn’t have time to make this month, but I’ve made them before and they are quite unique as they contain a sizable amount of ground black pepper. There are a handful of cookie recipes that contain pepper, but it’s still an unusual baking ingredient.

The recipe here is the original recipe doubled. These are rich so you don’t want to cut them too big. If you don’t have somewhere to take them, you may want to cut this recipe in half and bake them in an 8” square pan. I’ve really enjoyed baking with a theme this month, and I’m thinking about doing it again. What do you think? Did you like the theme? What other themes of cookies would you like me to try? Let me know in your comments!

Irish Cream Brownies

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
½ cup Irish Cream liqueur
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons butter, softened
¼ cup Irish Cream liqueur
3 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with foil and grease the foil.

In a large saucepan over low heat melt the chocolate and butter, stirring constantly. Stir in the sugar. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until completely incorporated. Whisk in the Irish Cream. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and then add this to the chocolate mixture, whisking until completely combined. Spread in the prepared baking pan.

Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the center is set. Cool before frosting.

Make the frosting: in a large mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Stir in the Irish Cream. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Beat until smooth. If required, add more powdered sugar to get frosting to the desired consistency. Spread the frosting on the cooled bars. Refrigerate for one hour before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Favorite Brand Name Cookie Collection