Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hope you're all enjoying your day wearin' the green and quaffing a pint or two of your favorite lager or a dark, frothy Guinness.

I always seem to have a few pints here chez moi for the hubby and his pals, so when I saw this recipe below in an article on using Irish spirits with food in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Wednesday, I knew I'd have to try it.

Since it was Spring Break and I needed to keep up on my baking skills, I thought this would be a good challenge, and it was.

NOTE: I doubled this recipe and I used Ghirardhelli's 70% cacao baking bar (from Dierbergs or your favorite retailer) and a 9x13 pan (because I couldn't find my 9" square pans!)


Black And Tan Brownies

Yield: 16 brownies

For tan brownies:

1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg, beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

For black brownies:

4 ounces (4 squares) unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs, beaten

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup Guinness stout

To prepare tan brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch-square baking pan. In a medium bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With a wooden spoon, stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nuts. Batter will be thick. Spoon into prepared pan; spread evenly with a rubber spatula or with dampened fingers. Set aside.

To make black brownies: In a medium bowl, melt chocolate and butter over a saucepan of hot water or in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Stir in sugar, eggs, salt, flour and vanilla. Slowly stir in Guinness until smooth.

Pour black brownie batter over tan brownie batter. Bake until a skewer inserted in center comes out almost clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack, then cut into squares.

Per brownie: 378 calories; 16g fat (38 percent calories from fat); 8g saturated fat; 75mg cholesterol; 4.5g protein; 53.5g carbohydrate; 38.5g sugar; 2g fiber; 194mg sodium; 59mg calcium; 159mg potassium.