Guinness Chocolate Cookies

Published: Mar 8, 2022 · by Elizabeth Waterson · This post may contain affiliate links, which may pay me a small commission for my referral at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting Confessions of a Baking Queen!

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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!

chocolate chip guinness cookies on a wire rack on top of a green linen on a white marble surface with a bottle of guinness in the background

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!

guinness poured into a metal pot on a white marble surface

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.

stack of guinness chocolate chip cookies broken in half on a white marble surface

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Ingredients
Instructions
Recipe Card
Recipe Ratings & Comments

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.

guinness chocolate cookie ingredients laid out on a marble surface

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).

brown sugar and guinness cooking in a metal pot on a white marble surface

The mixture will reduce to ⅓ cup. Set aside to cool, I place mine in the freezer to speed things up.

reduced guinness mixutre in a metal pot on a light marble surface with a green linen

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.

sugars and butter added to a metal mixing bowl on a light marble surface with a green linen

Add in the whole egg and mix to combine.

egg added to creamed butter and sugars in a metal bowl on a light marble surface with a green linen

Add the egg yolk and vanilla mix for 2 minutes until fully incorporated.

egg yolk and vanilla added to butter mixture in a mixing bowl on a light marble surface with a green linen

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.

reduced guinness liquid added to wet ingredients on a light marble surface with a green linen

In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

dry ingredients added to fine mesh sieve over a glass bowl on a light marble surface with a green linen

Slowly add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, until just combined.

dry ingredients added to wet ingredients in a metal bowl on a light marble surface with a green linen

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.

guinness chocolate cookie dough scooped into cookies and put on a rack and covered to chill on a white marble surface with a green linen

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.

guinness chocolate chip cookies before and after baking then a cookie ring put around it to make it more circular on a silpat lined baking sheet

Store leftovers in an air-tight container for up to 5 days.

stack of guinness cookies on a white surface with a bottle of guinness in the background

Check out this post on my Cookie Baking Tips

hand holding a double chocolate guinness cookie up to the camera

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?

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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Recipe Card