Recipe - Miniature Guinness Cupcakes

How perfect was it that I was invited to be a part of the Beer Month Bloggers as organized by fellow blogger NY Foodgasm AND I had recently put together a beer-based recipe? It was for St. Patty's Day of course because Guinness is goodness. I know there are many versions of Guinness cupcakes but I am telling you that this one was just very, very good. Also, they were nearly guilt free from being, well, mini! Try it out yourself and let me know what you think.

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 48 mini cupcakes)

• 1 cup Guinness beer (or favored stout)
• 1 cup butter, unsalted
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sour cream

      Optional: vanilla cream cheese frosting

• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 3 tbsp butter, unsalted at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract 

Step 2: Prepping the ingredients
You will be handling the wet and dry separately. For the part of the wet, heat together Guinness and butter until butter has melted. Add cocoa powder slowly until all has dissolved. Leave to cool. Preheat oven to 350°F. For dry ingredients, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Step 3: Mixing ingredients
Either line a mini cupcake pan with liners or oil. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs with sour cream before adding chocolate mix. Then add dry ingredients. Mix together well before pouring into cupcake pan(s).

Step 4: Finishing
Bake 12-14 minutes. You can check doneness with the toothpick technique - put a toothpick through the middle of one and pull out. If it's clean, it's done.


Optional step: Frosting
The cupcakes should be completely cool before you frost them. You can use whichever favored frosting recipe you have. For the above frosting recipe, beat cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Add powdered sugar a little at a time while mixing until all thoroughly mixed in. Then mix in vanilla extract. Pipe through piping bag. I sprinkled green crystals on top afterward.


Interested in seeing what else others are doing with beer this month for their recipes? Below are the participants:

• Alex of Alex Tries It Out
• Cathi of The Brooklyn Ragazza
• Camille of Croque-Camille
• Lauren of Hall Nesting
• Jessica of Jessiker Bakes
• Hostess Sophia of NY Foodgasm
• Jennifer of Pastry Chef Online

Photography by Duc Duong.