Not much to say here except these are utterly delicious! And oh so simple to make, bordering on child’s play!! No whisking, no melting chocolate over simmering water hoping the bowl doesn’t touch the water, no butter at room temperature, just throw it in a saucepan, stir and pour the batter into a tin and bake! Voila! The hardest part is waiting for them to go completely cold so you can top with the cream cheese.

I remembered I had this recipe written up in one of my many notebooks ( it took me longer to find it than mix them up!) and it seemed St Patrick’s Day was the perfect time to bake them. These are definitely not just a once a year treat! They are very sweet, but then I find most brownies overly sweet, so not for the faint hearted, but if you have a sweet tooth – perfect! They would be a delight after a dinner party cut into small squares and served with coffee.

Once they have the cream cheese topping they will keep in the fridge for two days, without the topping they will be ok in a container for four days, so get ahead will work, then top them when you need them.

You will need : A saucepan and an 8inch square brownie tin, greased and lined.

• 225g dark chocolate 70% solids ( chopped) I use hotel chocolat drops
• 75g unsalted butter
• 200ml Guinness 
• 300g light brown soft sugar
• 3 medium eggs
• 100g plain flour

For the topping:

• 300g full fat cream cheese
• 100g icing sugar 

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 – 160 fan – gas 4

Melt the chocolate, butter and Guinness in a medium saucepan over a low heat until everything has melted and is smooth. Take off the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Stir in the sugar and add the eggs one at a time, mix through then add the flour. Stir to combine. Then pour the mixture into the prepared brownie tin.

Bake for approx 25/30 mins or until set. Leave to cool completely in the tin ( go off and get some jobs done! ) 

To make the topping, beat the cream cheese with a wooden spoon, add the icing sugar, mix until smooth. Once the brownies have cooled remove them from the tin and spread over the cream cheese topping using a spatula.

Remember once you add the topping keep them in the fridge for up to two days. 

Enjoy ~ yum! x