Black and Tan Brownies
It’s Secret Recipe Club time again. This group has been so much fun because it’s so low pressure and I get to meet new bloggers and try new recipes. My matchup this month is Itzy’s Kitchen.
Back when we were dating, Hubby would order a Black and Tan on a regular basis. He was the first person I had ever seen order one. I’m not a huge fan of the original black and tan (made with Bass and Guinness), but I do enjoy some of the variations, especially mixing Blue Moon and Guinness Some places call this a Black Moon or a Black and Blue. Although be careful when you order a Black and Blue. Some places will mix blueberry beer with Guinness. Weird!
When I saw the pictures on Itzy’s Kitchen the bars looked a little thin and I definitely enjoy thicker blondies/brownies. I decided to make the entire recipe but use a smaller pan. I definitely got a thicker bar, but the ratio of batter wasn’t 50:50 like I was expecting. I double checked the ingredients and I definitely put everything in, so it’s a mystery why the tan layer was so thin.
Even with the thin tan layer, these were delicious. The Guinness keeps the black layer very moist and the nuts in the tan layer provide a nice crunch.
Black and Tan Brownies
One of Hubby's favorite drinks in a brownie!
Yield: 24 brownies
Ingredients:
For the Tan Brownies
6 Tbsp butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
For the Black Brownies
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
4 Tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup Guinness Stout
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
Directions:
For the Tan Brownies
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x9 or 8x8 pan.
Cream the butter and brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix flour mixture and pecans into sugar mixture, beating until just combined.
Spread evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
For the Black Brownies
Melt chocolate and butter in large microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute. Stir after every 20 seconds until smooth.
Add sugar, stirring until well combined. Add the eggs, vanilla, and Guinness.
In a small bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture, stirring to combine.
Pour evenly over Tan Brownies.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack; cut into squares.
Recipe from Cooking Light as seen on Itzy's Kitchen
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Jen, I totally love your blog. You always ahve the BEST treats! I LOVE the picture with all the cookies resting on the m&ms. GREAT idea! 🙂
Looks beautiful as always!
perfect use of pink! So interesting about how the cookies reacted to the way you rolled them! Thanks for the heads up!
Your cookies look great and that’s a good tip about getting them to look their best too. My kids and all their friends love these cookies. I’ve made them a few times since I first posted them and they never last long.
thanks for the link!
~ Michelle
Those are beautiful and perfect for such a great cause
What an adorable picture! Also helps that they are for a great cause! 🙂
M&Ms are my favorite treat and I love that during this month everything is PINK! The cookies look fantastic.
I am bummed I missed your Power of Pink contest as I was utilizing October to raise awareness around breast cancer too! I made some cookies and have a post on my site: http://katskitchenplace.blogspot.com/2009/10/october-is-breast-cancer-awareness.html
I like the chocolate cookie base of your cookies! Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to checking back and seeing all what people make towards your challenge 🙂
A chocolate cookie topped with chocolate candies? What could be better? Perhaps a tall, ice cold glass of milk to go with them! They look divine. I’m wondering if you might skip the rolling and flattening by creating a wide log of dough (without M&Ms), slicing to the thickness desired, then pressing candies on top? Seems like the dough might be fairly easy to shape into a log. A quick pop into the fridge before slicing would help firm it up. Just a thought! I can’t wait to try them.
Best,
Casey
http://www.tastestopping.wordpress.com
P.S. Not sure if I’ve invited you before, but I’d love to publish any of your photos that FoodGawker and TasteSpotting decline! Thanks. 😀
I love the dark chocolate and pink M&M contrast. What fantastic cookies:)
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I just made your recipe for these cookies yesterday and took them to church. The kids went nuts and they’ve never turned out as pretty as they did this time. Thanks for the helpful tips because my m&m cookies have never turned out prettier! 9 minutes was also perfect timing as well.
Both pretty and I’m sure delicious! I love how you showed the comparison between batches to give better suggestions for prettier cookies. The final batch are definitely the prettiest of the bunch. I love that the pink pops w/the chocolate cookie.