These Guinness chocolate cookies are rich, fudgy, and packed with deep chocolate flavor, enhanced by a reduced Guinness syrup that adds subtle caramel notes. The cookie dough combines cocoa powder, butter, and chocolate chips for a soft center with chewy edges, while the Guinness intensifies the chocolate without making the cookies taste like beer. Chilled before baking and baked until just set, they deliver a bakery-style texture that's perfect for chocolate lovers or a fun St. Patrick's Day treat.
This recipe is a tried and true favorite every March since 2014, when I first posted it! I recently tweaked the recipe from two whole eggs to one whole egg plus one egg yolk. This results in a chewier cookie, if you prefer cakier cookies use two whole eggs.
DAMMMMMMMN these cookies are for chocolate lovers! So if you don't love chocolate get the HECK OUT! I'm only joking 😉 but go check out these cookies or something. But at least make these for St. Patricks Day! Along with this Baileys Tres Leches Cake.
Anyways back to these Guinness Chocolate Cookies. Well, first of all, they have Guinness in them. So, of course, they win right off the bat, cookies, and booze! And for those of you who have never baked with Guinness before it doesn't make the baked good taste like Guinness it just really intensifies the chocolate flavor. It's like the real deal for chocolate lovers. AKA me! Don't miss my Guinness Chocolate Layer Cake too.
Featured Review
"Great cookies! Finished them all in about 3 days. Not by myself, though if I'm being honest with myself I probably could"
Patrick
Let's Whip Up These Boozy Cookies
For these cookies you will need:
- Guinness Mixture
- Guinness & Brown Sugar
Simmered until reduced creates a concentrated beer caramel that adds depth and chew to the cookies.
- Guinness & Brown Sugar
- Cookie Dough
- Unsalted Butter, Light Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar
Creamed together to build chewy texture, layered sweetness, and the perfect spread. - Egg & Egg Yolk
Provide structure and softness-adding the yolk boosts richness. - Pure Vanilla Extract
Enhances the chocolate complexity and rounds out flavors. - All-Purpose Flour, Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder, Baking Soda & Salt
That combo ensures structure, depth, and flavor balance-Dutch cocoa in particular gives smoother chocolate. - Dark & Milk Chocolate Chips
Melt into gooey pockets for chocolate bursts within every bite.
- Unsalted Butter, Light Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar
Baking is a science and to really achieve the best results I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale. This OXO Kitchen Scale is the one I use and is also the number one recommended kitchen scale by Cook's Illustrated. Think about it -what one person scoops into a "cup" is completely different from what someone else scoops!
For ingredient quantities please reference the recipe card below. On the recipe card there is a button for US or M (Metric) measurements.
Beer Meets Chocolate: Let's Bake!
I have a feeling these cookies would be fantastic with a scoop of ice cream, not speaking from experience or anything. On that note, I might need to make these again for Paddy's...
Check out this post on my Cookie Baking Tips
★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!
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PrintRecipe Card
Fudgy Guinness Chocolate Cookies
These Guinness chocolate cookies are rich, fudgy, and packed with deep chocolate flavor, enhanced by a reduced Guinness syrup that adds subtle caramel notes. The cookie dough combines cocoa powder, butter, and chocolate chips for a soft center with chewy edges, while the Guinness intensifies the chocolate without making the cookies taste like beer. Chilled before baking and baked until just set, they deliver a bakery-style texture that's perfect for chocolate lovers or a fun St. Patrick's Day treat.
- Total Time: 2 Hours 39 Minutes
- Yield: 32-34 Cookies 1x
Ingredients
Guinness Mixture
- 1-11.2oz bottle of Guinness
- 66 grams (⅓ Cup) Brown Sugar
Cookie Dough
- 8oz (1 cup) Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature
- 200 grams (1 cup) Light Brown Sugar
- 100 grams (½ cup) Granulated Sugar
- 1 Large Egg + 1 Large Egg Yolk, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 250 grams (2 Cups) All-Purpose Flour
- 100 grams (1 Cup) Cup Cocoa Powder, sifted
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 200 grams (1 ¼ Cup) Dark Chocolate Chips or Chocolate Chunks
- 200 grams (1 ¼ Cup) Milk Chocolate Chips or Chocolate Chunks
Instructions
Guinness Mixture
- In a large saucepan over medium heat cook the Guinness and brown sugar together for 15-20 minutes (please note depending on the size of your saucepan the cooking time may reduce or increase). The mixture will reduce to ⅓ cup. Set aside to cool, I place mine in the freezer to speed things up.
Cookie Dough
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment or a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer beat the butter for 2 minutes, add sugars, and beat for another 2 minutes. Add the whole egg and mix to combine then add the egg yolk and vanilla mix for 2 minutes until fully incorporated. Mix in Guinness mixture.
- In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Slowly add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, until just combined. Fold in chocolate and scoop balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet that is wrapped tightly to chill for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. I like to use this medium cookie scoop for evenly sized cookies, it's 1 ½ tablespoons of dough.
- Preheat to 350F/180C and line a baking sheet with Silpat liner or using parchment paper. Place chilled cookie dough balls on a prepared baking sheet two inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes, the dough will be just set but take it out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Store leftovers in an air-tight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
*Total Time includes Chill Time
- Prep Time: 30 Minutes
- Cook Time: 9 Minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Irish
Jennifer says
Is this cookie batter suppose to be so wet? Will chilling the batter over night help the batter solidify?
Elizabeth says
The cookie batter is not super wet when I make it. But it is some what wet so yes, chill it. Definitely helps for thick, chewy cookies! Lmk if I can help with anything else 🙂
Jennifer says
The batter is almost like a very thick mousse, it holds together ok, but perhaps this batter will just make for some very moist and soft cookies. I'm going to let it chill overnight and then bake some of the batter tomorrow. Either way the results will be yummi and my friends will eat them all! 🙂
aarushi says
Does the guinness mixture reduce by 1/3 cup or to 1/3 cup?
Elizabeth says
To 1/3 🙂
Rachel says
So I’m literally in the middle of making this I used the right size Guinness and cooked it for 20 minutes and it reduced to 1 cup. Not 1/3 cup. Should I use the entire cup or only 1/3 of it? Did I do something wrong? Help!
Elizabeth says
Hi Rachel I would use 1/3 of the liquid- any more will ruin the dough making it too liquid and you won’t end up with cookies. Any more questions let me know- you can Dm me on Instagram too!
Gayle S. says
Followed recipe; after cooking Guiness and sugar mixture 15-20 minutes (even added a couple more minutes) I still had more than 1/3 cup. Should mixture be cooked at a slightly higher heat (I followed a different recipe prior to this and my 'syrupy' mixture turned into hard candy). Was the reduction supposed to thicken some?
Elizabeth says
The mixture does not turn syrupy its just less volume, it's reduced but not all the way to a syrup or a thicker texture. Hope this helps. Let me know how they turn out! XO
Ralph says
So tasty. merry o‘Christmas
Diane Schmidt says
Awesome flavor. Dough freezes great those "need a chocolate cookie fix"
Elizabeth Waterson says
I am so happy you enjoyed them, Diane!! I always need a chocolate fix lol!! XX Liz
koopa100 says
First time baking and I picked this recipe as a gift for a friend. Went down an absolute treat; so chocolatey and sweet. Loved by everyone who tried it!
Elizabeth Waterson says
Thank you so much for the lovely review! I am so pleased everyone enjoyed the cookies!! XX Liz
Chris M says
Was looking for a stout cookie recipe and came across this one. Substituted a different brew and the result was amazing! Got some excellent feedback on the cookies and will definitely be making these again!
Elizabeth Waterson says
Thank you so much for the lovely review Chris! So pleased you enjoyed the recipe. Take care XX Liz
Jen says
So your medium heat must be very high...there is no way this can reduce that much over 20 minutes.
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Jen, I am sorry it took longer for you. It would also be affected by the size of the saucepan you are using, a very small saucepan would take much longer than a larger saucepan, thank you for pointing that out I am going to update the recipe card now. I hope you were still able to make and enjoy the cookies. Take care. XX Liz
Katie says
These cookies are amazing! I made a slight modification to turn them into pudding cookies - I added a 3.9 oz package of Hershey’s dark chocolate pudding mix, omitted the white sugar, and cut the cocoa powder to 1/2 cup (since the pudding mix has sugar and cocoa), and they turned out so chocolatey and soft.
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Katie, thanks so much for coming back to star rate and review the recipe, I truly appreciate it! The pudding mix sounds like a great addition, I will have to try that soon! Hope you have a great week! XX Liz
Patrick says
Great cookies! Finished them all in about 3 days. Not by myself, though if I'm being honest with myself I probably could
Vicki B says
O M G! I just moved the last tray to the cooling rack. These cookies should be called DEATH BY CHOCOLATE!!! They are so rich and intense. I usually prefer chewy cookies, but given the chocolate chips, I was not surprised at how soft they are in the middle. I LOVE THEM!
I did notice that mine did not flatten down as much as in the photos shown. I ended up with 41 cookies so I think my scoop is a little smaller but as rich as they are, the size is perfect.
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Vicki, thank you so much for coming back to review the recipe! They are totally death by chocoalte!! So glad you liked them. If your cookies don't spread as much you can bang the tray on the counter right after baking to encourage them to spread a little more. Take care. xX Liz
Anonymous says
Christina says
So I just made these and I think that there might be a little bit too much butter but I am no professional I just felt like they were a little too greasy in my opinion. They also flattened out more than I would like. I even put my dough balls in the fridge overnight. They are delicious and I even added some Lucky Charms to some of them for some extra St Patty's Day flare