Chocolate Porter Fudge Cookies

I am a huge craft beer fan. My love affair started about 6 years ago. Before that, I was a Gin girl. Give me a bottle of Bombay Sapphire for my birthday and we would be best friends forever. That is until that one fateful party bus night for my friends bachelorette party, where we consumed a little too much good cheer and can no longer handle the taste let alone the smell of the stuff. We may also not be allowed on that party bus again either. But I digress…(sorry Mom!)

There are many definitions of what constitutes “craft beer”.  To put it simply, craft beer is created by a brewery that is local, traditional and most importantly – independent. The industry is growing, with new craft breweries opening every day around the world. When I was in Arizona a couple weeks ago, I was astonished by the amount of craft beer in the aisles. At one point I almost fell to my knees from the glorious site – true story.  In Canada, we have several amazing breweries. However our liquor laws are ancient here in Manitoba, and the amount of craft beer brought into our stores is few and far between. I was so happy with the selection in Arizona that I had to pay an additional $50 to the airline I was flying on because my suitcase was too heavy from the bottles I was bringing back. Totally worth it. In hindsight, I should have brought back more since I had to pay.

You would think that my love of cooking/baking and craft beer would come together more often on this blog. The sad thing is, I don’t cook or bake with beer a lot. That is up until recently when I discovered one of my all-time favourite food blogs – The Beeroness. Jackie Dodd is the creative genius behind this blog and all things beer and food related. I have a serious girl crush on her. Jackie recently came out with the most amazing cookbook that now sits on my shelf. These cookies are from her cookbook. I have to say, they are probably one of the best cookies I have ever tasted. If you love a dense, fudgy chocolate cookie, you will fall in love with these.  Not to mention, they are also very simple to make. I used a chocolate porter beer from a Canadian craft brewery located in Victoria, British Columbia – Phillips Brewery. The beer is delicious on its own, and I thought the sweet chocolate hints in the beer would pair wonderfully with this cookie recipe. I was correct. Don’t worry – if you aren’t a beer fan, you can’t taste the beer in it at all. At least my friend couldn’t, and she hates beer and loved these cookies. I know, I’m friends with people who hate beer. Good thing she cooks for me every now and then or else our friendship would be in serious jeopardy.

You will need:

8 oz. dark chocolate (I used 72%), chopped
1/3 cup Stout or Porter beer (I used Phillips Longboat Chocolate Porter), room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperate
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
2/3 cup bread flour
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. espresso powder
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt (I used flour de sel)

Using a double boiler method, melt your dark chocolate, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat.

Next, stir in your delicious beer to your melted chocolate.

Don’t forget to save a couple sips of beer for yourself. After all, you deserve it.

Add in your vanilla.

Mix with a  wooden spoon until completely combined.

Let sit until it cools to room temperature.

Using a stand mixer or a hand held electric mixer, beat your butter and sugar in high until well creamed.

Add your eggs in one at at a time.

Mix on high until the mixture is very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes or so.

Your mixture should look like so.

Add your melted chocolate and beat until completely combined.

In a separate bowl, sift your bread flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, kosher salt and cornstarch together.

With a wooden spoon, stir your dry ingredients with your wet mixture until just combined.

Ensure you do not over mix as you don’t want your dough to be too tough.

Finally, add in your chocolate chips.

Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. This is very important as this dough is quite sticky and it’s easier to scoop when chilled.

I got somewhat distracted with Downton Abbey and let mine chill for about 2 hours.

Scoop out about 1-1/2 tablespoons of the dough onto a lined baking sheet.

I find an ice cream scoop works best.

Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

Bake in a 375 degree fahrenheit oven for 12 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies set but the middle remains chewy.

You do not want to over bake these cookies as you want them to be fudgy on the inside and not dry.

Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes.

Place cookies on a cooling rack for approximately 20 minutes.

Pour yourself a glass of your favourite beer and enjoy a plateful of these amazing cookies.

They are so incredibly rich and chocolatey.

My friend actually described them as “truffle-like”.

So. Freakin. Good.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: The Craft Beer Cookbook by Jacquelyn Dodd (aka: The Beeroness)