I'm a cheater on recipes - I wasn't going to make them from scratch. So I got the Ghiradelli brownie mix out, followed the recipe exactly in quantities, but made two changes to bring the hoppiness into play. One, I substituted the newest Widmer Spiced IPA for water, and secondly, I infused the oil with hops pellets (I had 12.4% AA Nelson Sauvin on hand). The first batch I used WAY too much hops. Like WAYYYYYY too much. It was terrible.
The second batch, (a double batch) I used 1/3 the amount of pelletized hops - 1 tsp. And this time? Yum.
So:
Depending on your brownie mix, prepare as instructed, substituting out water for beer of your choice.
In the oil, measure out 1/2 tsp per batch of brownies - dump directly into the oil, and heat in the microwave for 30 - 45 seconds until warm. Stir the oil and hops around, then strain the oil through a fine mesh filter (I used our gold cone coffee filter).
Continue on - add the brownie mix, hops-infused oil, beer, eggs together and bake as instructed.
For the frosting, I used regular old Betty Crocker, then sprinkled the powdered hops on top.
Delish! They turn out with a lovely floral aroma from the hops - slightly chompy at the back, but really mild. To up the ante just a little bit, I ground up about 1 tsp pellets and sprinkled them on the top of the frosted brownies like you would powdered sugar. I like to use a fine mesh tea strainer spoon to do that. It works like a charm!
