Root Beer Brownies

Root beer brownies??? Yeah. Don't knock it til you've tried it. It's actually a great combination.

I found the recipe at Baking Bites. Some full sugar Mug Root beer was left at my friend's house, and since they are all diabetic over there, I got sent home with a few cans. I'm not a big pop drinker, and Mrblocko is trying to cut down on his carbonated beverage consumption. I figured this would be a perfect excuse to test out the Root beer brownie recipe. Over at Baking Bites they used a fancy brand of root beer, but I think the Mug worked out well.

The recipe called for baking the brownies in a 9x9 pan, but mine was 8x8. When the brownies came out of the oven they had risen almost to the point of overflowing the pan. Yikes! As you can tell from the picture they settled a bit when they cooled. I don't know if they rose so much from the carbonation in the pop. The edges of the brownies had little tiny bubbles that resembled foam. It wasn't very attractive, but it didn't affect the taste. The edges tasted just as nummy as the middle.
I didn't even try the brownies the day they were made. The instructions said to let them sit overnight, and that they tasted best the day after they were made. The texture was best on this day. However, on the third day the root beer flavor became more prominent. It was a very light under tone that complimented, but didn't overpower the rich chocolaty taste.

The texture of the brownies were somewhere smack dab in the middle of being fudgy and cakey. I'm a fan of the fudgy variety and I thought they were wonderful. I think they are cakey enough to please a lover of cakey brownies as well. I think this would be a perfect brownie to make if you had fans of both brownie type in your house.

The recipe also stated that it made 25 pieces. Both Mrblocko and I thought this was a lot for an 8x8 pan, but these brownies were really rich. I think we wound up with around 20 pieces, give or take. 25 pieces is difficult to get out of a 8x8 pan, especially when part of the brownie sticks to the knife.
That's one downside/upside to these brownies. They really stuck to the knife when you cut them. This is bad if you are trying to make the brownies look nice and presentable, but really awesome if you are the one who has to clean the brownie globs off the knife. Chomp, chomp! I would assume if you used thread or dental floss to portion out the brownies, you'd get a nice clean cut. Where would the fun in that be though

Will I make these again? I'll let this comment made by Blockette answer that question:
Between mouthfuls Blockette said, "You know who would like these? Uncle Clownsuit. He really likes bars. We should send some to him." She took another bite and after a few chews she said, "Hmm, maybe we should just send him the crumbs."

Root Beer Brownies from Baking Bites
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
6-oz chopped bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate (1 cup)
3.5-oz chopped white chocolate (1/2 cup)
4 tbsp butter
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
8-oz root beer (no foam!)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 9" square baking pan with foil and lightly grease. In a small bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, melt chocolates and butter, stirring frequently til mix is smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar til well combined. Blend in cooled chocolate mix. Stir in 1/2 flour mix, followed by 1/2 root beer. Stir in rest of flour mix, remaining root beer and vanilla. Scrap down sides of bowl well and stir til just combined. Pour into prepared pan.Bake 26-30 min, til toothpick inserted into center of brownies comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Cool in pan on a wire rack. When brownies have cooled, wrap them up well and store them overnight before serving. Brownies are best the day after they are made.