Chocolate Stout Brownies with Walnut Crumble

Name: Chocolate Stout Brownies with Walnut Crumble
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: 14 ounces of a stout beer; 1 cup of all purpose flour; 1/2 cup of natural unsweetened cocoa powder; 1 teaspoon of baking powder; 1 teaspoon of baking soda; 1 teaspoon of salt; 3/4 cup of granulated sugar; 1/4 cup of brown sugar, packed; 3/4 cup of vegetable oil; 2 large eggs; 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract; 3/4 cup of brown sugar; 1/2 cup of walnuts, chopped; 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon; 1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour; 1/2 cup of butter, melted

March 22, 2025
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A good stout beer is full of chocolatey, coffee flavors with hints of caramel and bitterness and what these flavors do to a brownie is something that should not be missed…

Simmering the beer down a bit helps to intensify those flavors and bring beautiful moisture to this brownie batter, but the beer is not the only fabulous thing about this recipe. These brownies are full of a sweet and crunchy walnut crumble that push them straight over the top.

If you have been looking for a very special brownie recipe then you have just found it.

Let’s get started…

Begin by simmering 14 ounces of your favorite stout beer over medium heat until it has reduced to about 1/2 cup in volume. This should take about 15 minutes. Once the beer is simmering, reduce the heat to just enough that it will continue to simmer, but won’t bubble violently.

What is the best beer to use in brownies?

While Guinness is typically what you think of when you hear a stout mentioned, there are tons of delicious choices in this dark, creamy ale category. Samuel Smith makes a wonderful chocolate stout, Left Hand makes a great milk stout and Winter Grind makes a boldly flavored coffee stout. All of these stouts would work beautifully in brownie batter, but so would many other stouts and porters.

If you like drinking it, you will love it in these brownies… and even if you aren’t a huge fan of beer, I would love for you to give them a try, because I feel like you will be pleasantly surprised.

When the beer has reduced down to 1/2 cup, transfer it into a small bowl and set it aside for now, but because it does not need to be cooled before you add it into your batter, feel free to start prepping the batter while the beer is reducing. Multi-tasking will just make the brownies appear quicker…

To get the batter going, combine a cup of all purpose flour with 1/2 cup of dark dutch cocoa powder, a teaspoon of baking powder, a teaspoon of baking soda and a teaspoon of salt.

In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk 3/4 cup of granulated sugar, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 3/4 cup of vegetable oil, 2 large eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla extract until everything is fully combined.

Add your dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Add the reduced beer and mix until it is evenly distributed.

Transfer the brownie batter into a greased and parchment lined 9″ round or square cake pan or an 11″x7″ deep baking dish and set aside while we whip up a walnut crumble…

In a small bowl, combine 3/4 cup of brown sugar with 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour. Pour 1/2 cup of melted butter over this mixture and use a fork to work the butter in until large crumbs form.

Sprinkle those crumbs evenly over the brownie batter and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. They may be ready around 42 minutes, but they may take 48 minutes, it just depends on how hot your oven gets (every oven is so different!). As soon as the center feels fairly set and a toothpick will come out of the center with just a few crumbs, but no wet batter on it… you are good to pull them out.

Although this situation started off resembling a crumb cake, that walnut crumble will work its way down into the brownies as the batter puffs up all around it. This is what it should look like when it is done baking…

Transfer the baking dish onto a cooling rack or cutting board and let the brownies cool for a good while in the warm baking dish. This will help all of that molten chocolate firm up a bit before you transfer them out of the dish.

Now if perfectly crisp brownie slices do nothing for you and you are having a hard time resisting that freshly baked brownie smell then dig in while they are still warm! I won’t judge…

Would you take a look at these brownies? They are right in between fudge brownies and cake brownies, because they are definitely moist and decadent, but they aren’t quite as heavy as fudge brownies tend to be.

A little fudgy… a little cakey… just perfect in my opinion…

And that crunchy walnut crumble is so fantastic. The walnuts and sugar add great texture and that little pop of added sweetness balances the subtle bitterness of the stout brownie batter.

Whether you love brownies, beer or walnuts (or all 3!), you are going to love these chocolate stout brownies with that walnut crumble…

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