Guinness Chocolate Cookies are a perfect combination, these cookies are the perfect treat for your St. Patricks Party! Guinness is cooked down to create a concentrated flavor helping make a delicious Guinness Chocolate cookie!

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!
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!
So there is cocoa powder, dark chocolate chips, and milk chocolate chunks AND reduced Guinness so the chocolateness is ridiculous. You chill this dough but hey I almost like dough that you chill better because who doesn't just love taking dough straight out of the fridge to bake?
Let's get to the recipe.
Ingredients
For these cookies you will need:
- Guinness. The star of the show! Guinness is a great compliment to chocolate. You will reduce the Guinness down with a bit of sugar into a Guinness syrup!
- Unsalted Butter. Your butter needs to be softened to room temperature so it can properly cream with the sugars.
- Light Brown Sugar. Brown sugar has a higher moisture content thanks to the molasses in it. This helps create a chewier cookie!
- Granulated Sugar. The granulated sugar helps the cookies spread when baking so using a combo of both sugars is best!
- Large Eggs. You'll need one whole egg plus one additional egg yolk. They should be at room temperature but you can place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes before cracking them to speed up the process.
- Pure Vanilla Extract. Vanilla pairs beautifully with chocolate! Use the real stuff!
- All-Purpose Flour. Make sure you measure your flour properly, too little or too much can drastically alter the texture of your cookies.
- Dutch Process Cocoa Powder. Dutch cocoa powder has had the acidity removed so you get a smoother, chocolate
- Baking Soda. This chemical leavening agent will help the cookies rise when they bake. The brown sugar and beer provide the acid to activate it.
- Salt. Don't skip this ingredient, it helps the flavor
- Chocolate. Milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate or dark chocolate. I love having a combination.
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.
Instructions
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.
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 in the whole egg and mix to combine.
Add the egg yolk and vanilla mix for 2 minutes until fully incorporated.
Mix in Guinness mixture, make sure it has cooled down- you want it cool, NOT WARM. If it is warm it will melt some of that structure you have built up by creaming the sugar, butter and whipping the eggs in.
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 tightly wrapped to keep the dough from drying. Chill the cookie dough 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, if using. 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.
If you want perfectly shaped cookies use a larger cookie cutter or the bottom of a large mug to swirl around the cookies while they're hot to encourage them back into a perfect circle.
Store leftovers in an air-tight container for up to 5 days.
Check out this post on my Cookie Baking Tips
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...
Fancy some more boozy recipes?
- Guinness Gingerbread Cake Recipe
- Guinness Chocolate Brownies Baileys Cream Cheese Frosting
- Baileys Mint Truffles
- Baileys Tres Leches Cake
- Boozy Chocolate Tart
★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!
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PrintRecipe Card
Guinness Chocolate Cookies
These chocolate Guinness cookies are a perfect combination, a perfect treat for your St. Patrick's Day Party! Guinness is cooked down to create a concentrated flavor helping make a delicious Guinness Chocolate cookie!
- 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
Keywords: stout chocolate cookies, guinness stout cookies, boozy cookies
As of March 8, 2022 the recipe post has been updated. Orginally published on 2/10/2014.
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
I'M A CHOCOLATE LOVAH!! ME ME MEEEE! These cookies are enough to make me give up my St. Patrick's grinche-it-tude!
Elizabeth says
Haha how can you not love Paddy's?!?!!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
*sigh* It's just not for me. For one...I don't drink. so there's that. Then there's the fact that I hated the color green as a kid and got a looot of grief for not wearing it on st. patrick's daaay lol
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust says
I so need to try Guiness + chocolate. These cookies look seriously amazing!
Elizabeth says
Yes Dorothy you need to!
miss messy says
what a great st patricks day treat! 🙂 These look delicious
Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel says
I absolutely positively must smash my face into the Guinness cookie dough. I mean, seriously. You're a temptress. Top this shizzz with some ice cream, foo!
Shikha @ Shikha la mode says
Mmmm Guinness. I've used it for baking quick breads but never cookies. Chocolate and Guinness is such a good flavor combo!
dina says
they look delicious!
Elizabeth says
Thanks Dina!!
Gloria // Simply Gloria says
Elizabeth, I love the way you like to chill the dough before baking. Loving this whole creation with the Guinness... and you did it with cookies! You're just awesome!
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