Toffee-Topped Raspberry Beer Brownies {Spiked! Recipe Challenge}

Confession: I’m a total foodie.

 

You already knew that, didn’t you?

 

Ok, try this one…

 

Confession: I don’t like beer.

 

I’ve never had much of a taste for beer – in fact, I’m not a fan of anything that tastes too much like alcohol.  But, I really wanted to break out of my comfort zone and try the Spiked! Recipe Challenge for beer.

 

The first thing that came to mind was fish and chips, but that seemed too easy, so I went searching (on Pinterest, of course!) and found a few unique recipes, and a couple of new ‘must-read’ blogs. 

 

If you’re a foodie, or a beer-lover, or – BOTH – you must visit The Beeroness!  And then you must hop over to see Sugar Plum Blog where I found a recipe for Belgian Raspberry Brownies with Truffle Ganache.

 

Oh my.  So rich.  So very rich.  I set out to make a variation of these brownies.  I started by making them exactly as instructed.  For the beer, I chose Sea Dog Raspberry Wheat Ale.  This is a local beer that I picked up while in Maine, though I’ve seen it in stores here in NH as well. 

 

 

Mr. Juggling Act took a swig and proclaimed it ‘not bad.’  It’s got a wonderful sweet wheat aroma that I really enjoy.  (For me, the turn off for beer has always been the smell first, and the taste second). While this one isn’t going to make me a beer drinker, I might on occasion have a sip or two (when concocting these brownies, of course!) 

 

So back to the brownies – I made them just as instructed on Sugar Plum Blog, and using the Seadogs Raspberry Wheat Ale.  They were dense and rich (I said that already, huh?), and the raspberry and beer flavors came across beautifully. 

 

A recipe like this is really out of the norm for me. I don’t often have the luxury of time to tweak a dish again and again, nor do I have the time (or space) for a recipe with several steps like this one requires.

 

I decided to experiment with the flavors a little – changing the amounts on the sugars, substituting semi-sweet chocolate for unsweetened, and added the toffee and chocolate chips to the top instead of the ganache.  I opted for a slightly smaller pan and bake them a bit longer to get a thicker brownie.  They were good, but still not quite what I was hoping for… I was starting to get discouraged and wondered if maybe I really wasn’t up for the challenge.

 

I decided to give it one more try.  I cut the butter by half, added applesauce and oil. Bingo.  The brownies emerged from the oven smelling like a dream, but even better – they were exactly what I had hoped….

 
Fudgy, but not gooey… check!