12 Projects of Christmas: Guinness Cupcakes

This was definitely not a project I was planning to make, but it falls under the gift category so I decided to post it.  Plus, it had rave reviews from JP, so I thought it would be great to share!

My "brother" JP is proudly Irish, and LOVES anything to do with his heritage, especially the beers.  His favorite beer?  Guinness.  Now personally, I think Guinness is awful---it's thick and dry and the flavor is terrible.  But JP loves it so much, so as soon as I saw this recipe I knew I had to make these for him.  I tweaked the recipe a little to make it work for his taste, and I have to say these did turn out really good!  Even for not liking Guinness, the flavor that it adds to the chocolate cupcake is wonderful!

So here we go:

Grab your ingredients!

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup Guinness stout
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream  
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 pinch table salt
3 tablespoons Bailey's (we used the coffee flavor)
1 tablespoon milk

In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the butter, Guinness, cocoa powder, and brown sugar until the butter has melted and it's all smooth.  Make sure to whisk often because you don't want it to boil or burn.  The bubbles you see in the picture is actually the foam from the beer--the foam will cook down, don't worry.  Once it's all smooth, let it cool until it's room temp or a little warmer.

Now, in a bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together.

Add the Guinness mix to the bowl and mix until well combined.  Add the eggs and sour cream, and mix again.

Pour into your cupcake pan (make sure to use liners or grease the tin very well!) Bake at 325 degrees for 24 minutes, then let cool completely before frosting!

Here's the frosting recipe (ingredients are listed above)

Make sure you start with butter that's softened to room temp or else this will be very hard!  Cream the butter with a hand/stand mixer, then add the powdered sugar about 1/4 cup at a time (maybe even a little less than that--you be the judge) until you've added 2 cups total.  Add the milk and Bailey's, mix, and then continue to add the powdered sugar until the frosting is the consistency you want.  If you add too much powdered sugar, go ahead and add a little more milk.  Be careful adding too much Bailey's, because the frosting is very sweet so too much Bailey's can make it a little overpowering. 

So I gotta say, even though I don't like Guinness, these cupcakes are addictive and delicious!  I sprinkled with a little sanding sugar for decoration (not that JP actually cares about how they look, just how they taste! lol)

These would make a great gift for a guy in the family, or as a fun twist on Holiday treats at the family gathering ;)

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xoxo, Melissa