Porter/Stout

Cherry Stout Beer Brownies

19.06.2019 1 Comment

Cherry Stout Beer Brownies

Don’t look at me like that. I know we agreed that brownies shouldn’t be bastardized by things like nuts or fruit, but this is different. Mostly because I wanted to do it and rules don’t apply when I feel like this, you know how it goes.

Just hear me out. When cherries come into season I need to put them on all the things. All. The. Things. Remember when I pickled cherries in beer? That was fun, I need to do that again. This brownie situation was like that because I had cherries and need to make something borderline ridiculous with them.

So, there I was with a nice little haul of Pacific Northwest Cherries, and then a beer showed up on my doorstep (that’s what happens when you have a weird job like this one, beer just shows up on your doorstep) and it’s a beer that’s made with cherries and cocoa, and it tastes like making out with your crush. 4 Seasons Imperial Stout from Mother Earth Brewing is an 11% monster that you shouldn’t consumer without a spotter and some carbs because it goes down far too easy for that much of a punch.

When you have an imperial stout made with cherries AND cocoa, you have to make brownies studded with cherries as a consumable echo to that beer. Also, it’s nice to have some carbs to share with your spotter, obviously.

Cherry Stout Beer Brownies

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Servings 9 brownies

Ingredients

½ cup (114g) melted butter
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (75g) stout beer
3 large eggs
6 weight ounce dark chocolate chips melted
1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon (6g) salt
¼ cup (25g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup (130g) halved and pitted dark sweet cherries (like Bing cherries)
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Add the melted butter and sugar to a mixing bowl, mix until well combined.
Stir in the beer and the eggs, mix until well combined.
Stir in the melted chocolate.
Sprinkle with flour, salt, and coco powder, mix until just combined.
Toss the cherries with cornstarch. Stir into the batter.
Pour into a pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick in the center returns with a few crumbs attached but it’s covered in batter.
Allow to cool and rest for one hour before removing from the pan and cutting into squares

Spicy Beer Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

17.05.2019 1 Comment

Spicy Beer Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Somedays the internet is just pug videos and Game of Thrones memes and other days it feels so full of trolls lurking just under the surface, waiting with their beady little eyes for the chance to pounce. On the bad days, I have to believe those of us who are willing to mama-bear the good people and come out in force against the trolls are much larger in quality and quantity than former.

Let’s just make that agreement, shall we? As we make our pulled pork and drink our beer that we’ll look out for each other. We’ll stick up for someone who’s being bullied online and push the trolls back into the caves from which they came.

There are days when I want to be the kind of person that will love the trolls so hard they will crack wide up and shed their skin like a snake and evolve into a self-aware human.

But other days I don’t have the strength. I just want to hand you my beer and wreck shop. I find the restraint and often channel that rage into cooking. So I rage cooked you some stuffed sweet potatoes and served them with this amazing hazy IPA from bells called Official Hazy IPA. It’s one of those beers that makes everything right in the world.

Stout Beer Barbecue Sauce

Beer Pickled Jalapeños

Spicy Beer Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

5 from 1 vote

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Servings 6 people

Ingredients

For the pulled pork:

1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
4 lb pork shoulder
6 cloves of garlic peeled
¼ cup olive oil
3 cups stout or smoked porter

For the potatoes:

6 medium sized garnet sweet potatoes
olive oil
kosher salt
6 tablespoons butter

For the toppings:

1 cup BBQ sauce for beer BBQ sauce, link above
¼ cup chopped cilantro
¼ cup pickled jalapenos for beer pickled jalapenos, link above

Instructions

Make the pulled pork:

In a small bowl stir together the salt, brown sugar onion powder, chili powder, cumin, pepper, smoked paprika and mustard powder together until combined, set aside.
Take out your pork and stab 6, 2-inch deep holes fairly evenly spaced through the meat. Push a clove of garlic into each hole until no longer visible.
Rub the entire surface of the meat with the spice mixture, using it all.
In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil until very hot. Sear all surfaces of the meat, even the sides, until browned. The entire process will probably take about 10-15 minutes. Pour the beer over the meat, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for about 3 hours, turning the meat over about every 30 minutes, until the meat is tender and falling apart.
Once the meat is tender remove from heat, use two forks to shred into pieces while still in the pot (or remove, shred and return to pot). Return to the pot to heat and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the meat from the pot, add to a servings bowl.
If planning on store the meat, reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid to add to the meat while storing.

Make the potatoes:

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Pierce the potatoes all over with a small knife.
Add the potatoes to a wire rack over a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt.
Bake for 40 minutes or until fork tender ( the time will depend on the size of your potatoes, larger ones can take up to 30 minutes longer).

Top the potatoes:

Slit the potatoes lengthwise. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the center of each, sprinkle with salt. Mash the butter and salt into the sweet potato with a fork.
Add desire amount of pulled pork to each potato, top with cilantro, barbeque sauce, and jalapenos.

Mini Chorizo Stout Breakfast Tarts (with vegetarian option)

10.05.2019 No Comments

Mini Chorizo Stout Breakfast Tarts (with vegetarian option)

It happens to all of us, right? One day we’re young and cool and the next day we’re deciding which grocery store to go to based on home much we like the carts. PLANNING on having people over for breakfast is another one of those things.

One day, the only time you make breakfast for your friends is when you’re all hungover and they’re still at your place because they were too drunk to drive home the night before (that was a good call), and the next day you’re planning a menu for people who will wake up sober and then drive to your house for brunch.

Look at how much we’ve grown up, I’m proud of us.

This breakfast is actually quite perfect for either scenario. You can make the puff pastry in ten minutes (or, buy it from the store and keep it in your freezer for just such an occasion), chorizo or soyrizo is pretty much something you should always have, and of course, you already have eggs.

So, you’re all set. Ready to bake a grown-up breakfast in just 20 minutes, even if all of your guests are hungover and you’re the only responsible one. It’s not like that has never happened before.

10-Minute Pale Ale Puff Pastry Recipe

Mini Chorizo Stout Breakfast Tarts (with vegetarian option)

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Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry, store bought or homemade (Pale Ale Puff Pastry Recipe link above)
1 (9oz) package pork chorizo (for a vegetarian I use Trader Joe’s Soyrizo)
¼ cup stout or porter beer
¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
9 egg yolks
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Roll the dough into a rectangle about ¼ inch thick. Cut into 9 equal sized squares. Score a border about ½ inch from the edge (do not cut all the way through) prick the center with a fork. Evenly space on a baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper. Chill while you prepare the filling.
Remove the chorizo from the casing, add to a pan over medium-high heat. Add the beer.
Stir until chorizo is cooked through and thickened.
Spoon about 2 tablespoons into the center of each of the tarts, avoiding the border.
Sprinkle with cheeses.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the pastry has puffed and is just starting to brown but is not yet golden brown.
Add one yolk to the center of each tart, making a well in the chorizo with the back of a spoon if necessary.
Bake for 5 additional minutes or until the pastry has browned and the yolk is warmed but still runny.
Add to serving plates, sprinkle with chives.

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer and Peanut Butter Bread

08.05.2019 No Comments

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer and Peanut Butter Bread

I like that we do this. We make a loaf cake, slice it, serve it with coffee and call it bread. But we both know it’s cake. We call it bread, nod along as we both agree to call it that, and happily devour it with our morning latte as if we didn’t just eat frosting-less cake for breakfast. We like to try to trick ourselves, and we are both ok with this.

But THIS not-cake-its-bread-promise is also full of protein because of the peanut butter. So it’s kinda not as bad for you, which makes it good in my book. It’s also perfect for an afternoon snack with a beer, which you totally deserve for having such a good-for-you breakfast.

It also makes a really easy bake-and-take offering if you have to go somewhere to eat food in a social setting. It’s like a peanut butter cup and beer but in bread form. You can’t go wrong, it’s a crowd pleaser. Just like your ability to convince people to eat cake for breakfast, everyone likes that about you.

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer and Peanut Butter Bread

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Ingredients

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup (100g) sugar
2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
½ cup (120g) chocolate chips
¾ cup (180g) half and half
¾ cup (6oz) stout or porter beer
½ cup (128g) creamy peanut butter, slightly heated

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl stir together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and flour.
Add the remaining ingredients, stir until combined.
Spray an 8x4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray, add the batter in an even layer.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and springs back when lightly touched.

Balsamic Stout Mushroom Sandwich with Chipotle Guac and Caramelized Leeks + MY NEW BOOK

28.03.2019 6 Comments

Balsamic Stout Mushroom Sandwich with Chipotle Guac and Caramelized Leeks

It’s (almost) here. After more than 2 years in the making, it’s finally coming together. The cookbook that started with a vague idea and morphed into Lush: A Season-by-Season Celebration of Craft Beer and Produce is coming to life. It’s up for pre-order on Amazon, and even though I have to wait a few more months before I get a physical copy in my grubby paws, I’m SO thrilled to see the cover come to life, see the design of the inside page, and have it available to order!

It’s a book full of the amazing craft beer I love, the seasonal produce I can’t get enough of, and the recipes I can’t wait to share with you. It’s by far my favorite thing I’ve ever done in my professional life.

You have been amazing through this process. From the first post when I was just starting to write Lush, to the encouragement you give me daily on Instagram.

So, thank you, this book is for you, for coming on this journey with me. I’m so excited to see what’s next.

Balsamic Stout Mushroom Sandwich with Chipotle Guac and Caramelized Leeks

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Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

For the mushrooms:

12 ounces stout beer
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon pepper
4 large Portobello mushrooms stems removed

For the leeks:

2 large leeks
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons stout beer

For the guacamole:

2 large avocados
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 chipotle pepper in adobo minced
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

For the sandwiches:

4 Kaiser rolls or burger buns split and toasted
2 large tomatoes sliced

Instructions

In a large Ziplock bag add the beer, balsamic, salt, garlic powder, and pepper.
Add the mushrooms, sealing the bag to remove as much air as possible.
Allow to marinate at room temperature for one hour or in the fridge overnight.
Remove mushrooms from marinade.
While the mushrooms marinate, make the leeks. Cut the root off and slice lengthwise to expose the inner layers where dirt hides. Wash well under cool water making sure to remove the grit between the leaves. Thinly slice the leeks, discarding the dark green portion.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, salt and sugar, cooking until the leeks have softened and are starting to brown. Add the beer. Cook until the leeks have turned a dark golden and the beer is gone. Make sure to cook over medium to medium-low heat, if the heat is too high the leeks will burn before they caramelize.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add the mushrooms, cooking on each side until seared and softened, about 3 minutes per side (mushrooms can also be cooked on a hot grill with oiled grates).
Add the flesh of the avocados, cilantro, chipotle peppers, salt, and lime juice to a bowl. Mash with a vegetable masher until well combined.
Add the mushrooms to the buns, top with guacamole and tomatoes. Serve immediately.

Kung Pao Porter Chicken

19.02.2019 2 Comments

Kung Pao Porter Chicken

We ALL have that food. The food that you hated as a kid, assuming that you hated all such foods, and then you grew up and realized that you didn’t hate it all all. You had just been force-fed some horrendous version of said food, and once you had a well-made version you realized the error of your ways. Or the error of your primary-caregiver-who-fed-you ways.

For me, it’s Chinese food. Growing up I only had that horrible stuff that pretended to be chow mein, sloshed out of a large tin can, encased in an unidentifiable gelatinous substance. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I envy you. This "meal" was always served with previously frozen egg rolls that were mostly filled with mushy cabbage. I know, sounds fabulous, right? I was convinced that I must just hate Chinese food. Until I realized that I actually love it, and crave it on a regular basis, I just hate crappy supermarket version of food that should never be served in a can.

I was 18, freshly living on my own (when "on my own" meant three roommates and a crappy apartment), and a friend brought it over in a white plastic bag, with those adorable take-out containers. What? Nope. No. I can’t. I just…but it smelled so good! Not like the roughage and slime I’d been previously served. I figured I’d try it, I could always apologize for gagging and offer up some dessert.

It was fantastic. And by that, I mean, fairly average Chinese take out that had spent zero time in a tin can. I was astonished and vowed to pretty much try anything offered to me from then on. Which probably led to my eating roasted ants in Bogota. Or maybe I just have questionable judgment and a penchant for danger. Either way, I’m all in when it comes to Chinese food and pretty much anything you can serve out of those little white take-out containers.

Kung Pao Porter Chicken

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

For the chicken:

1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons porter beer
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, cubed
1 teaspoon salt

For the sauce

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1/4 cup porter beer
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil (or sesame chili oil)
¼ teaspoon ginger grater with a microplane

For the stir fry:

1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil (or sesame chili oil)
1/4 cup chopped dried red chilies
1 large red bell pepper, diced (stem and seeds removed)
¼ cup thickly sliced green onions
2 large clove garlic, thinly sliced
½ cup shelled, roasted peanuts
rice for serving

Instructions

1. Whisk together the cornstarch, soy sauce, and beer in a small bowl.
2. Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with salt, add to the marinade, toss to coat.
3. Whisk together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.
4. Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the dried chilies, cooking until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the bell peppers, stirring frequently until softened. Stir in the garlic.
5. Add the chicken and marinade, cooking for about 2 minutes.
6. Pour in the sauce, reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cook until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in the peanuts.
7. Add to a serving bowl, top with green onions.
8. serve over rice

Stout Braised Short Ribs over Creamy Pale Ale Polenta

30.01.2019 7 Comments

Stout Braised Short Ribs over Creamy Pale Ale Polenta

I accidentally found my new favorite get-away town on Monday. A four-hour drive to interview a brewery owner for an article I’m writing turned into an overnight stay in a Northern Oregon. A little town that I’m convinced haphazardly, and purely by accident, wound its way into being excessively charming. As if one day the residents of this little river town, this former not-more-than-a-train-stop location woke up, looked at the row of shops and cafes adjacent to the water, the glorious views of the surrounding mountains, the outstanding breweries, and said, "well, look at that! We’re adorable."

I’d HEARD of Hood River, Oregon. I’d even stopped in once on a road trip because I NEEDED to visit Pfriem. But I’d never been there long enough to look around, long enough to really see it.

Then, I was there. A Monday night, alone except for this beast, and my gypsy soul decided to stay the night. Chatting with locals for a while, drinking the beer, and realizing why I moved to Seattle in the first place. You just stumble into these little towns that make you feel like you’re a lifetime away from the place you started.

Then I realized that it’s been almost 5 years since I moved here, packed my little car and my bulldog and headed north. I realized how lucky I am to live here, to have the people in my life that currently occupy space in my surroundings, and how even when your life feels like it’s accidentally happening to you, even when things feel haphazard, you can one day wake up and realize how great they really are.

Stout Braised Short Ribs over Creamy Pale Ale Polenta

5 from 1 vote

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Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

For the Short Ribs

Kosher salt
3 lbs beef short ribs
¼ cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large carrots diced
2 ribs celery diced
1 cup diced white onion
12 ounces stout beer
1 cup beef broth
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig rosemary

For the polenta

4 tablespoons butter
1 cup pale ale
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup dry polenta
3/4 cup fresh grated parmesan reggiano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Make the ribs:

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F.
2. Generously sprinkle salt on all sides of the ribs.
3. Add the cornstarch to a wide bowl, toss the ribs in the cornstarch until well coated.
4. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the ribs on all sides, remove from the pan, set aside.
5. Add the carrots, celery and onions, cook until browned and starting to caramelized, about 15 minutes.
6. Pour in the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan. Stir in the broth.
7. Add the ribs into the pot, add the thyme and rosemary, add the lid onto the pot.
8. Place the pot in the oven, cooking until the ribs are very tender and easily pull away from the bone, 3 to 4 hours.
9. Remove the ribs. Strain the sauce into a pot, removing the solids and any large pieces of fat, discard the fat.
10. Separate the fat from the sauce, either spoon it off (it’s lighter color and will sit on top), or if making in advance, add to the fridge and allow to cool, peel the fat layer off the top and discard.
11. Add the broth and ribs to a serving platter (add the carrots and celery to the serving platter, if desired).

Make the polenta:

1. In a pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the beer and milk, bring to a simmer.
2. Whisk in the polenta. Simmer until polenta is tender and thickened, whisking occasionally, about 25 minutes.
3. Stir in the parmesan, salt and pepper

Stout Osso Buco Sliders with Gremolata Sour Cream

02.01.2019 3 Comments

Stout Osso Buco Sliders with Gremolata Sour Cream

We’ve made it. Made the turn into the New Year and survived to tell the tale. January is about breathing, stepping back, reflecting and fireplaces. Stouts are also a January thing, even when you’ve resolved to be healthy so you can run faster and jump higher.

One won’t hurt. Maybe just buy one for the fridge to look at and remind yourself of the reward you have coming once your goal has been met. Don’t forget about Football, it’s another January thing. An even-if-you-don’t-like-sports thing, because it’s a how we get out of the house and see other humans in the depths of winter thing.

Maybe, if you’re not ready to jump into football appetizer like food yet, just pin it for later. A mental prep for February (just as dark as January but graciously shorter) when we will break our diets to eat all the things and watch the Big Game with other people who will mostly be rooting against one team or another. This is important, we need things to look forward to right now as we’ve rounded the corner out of all the look-forward-to things portion of the year and we’re not sure what to do with ourselves.

Just make some Osso Buco Sliders, they’re tiny. How much damage can one really do?

Stout Osso Buco Sliders with Gremolata Sour Cream

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Servings 12 sliders

Ingredients

4 slices thick cut bacon
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup flour
3 lbs beef shanks 4 to 5
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 ½ cups carrots peeled and sliced (about 2 large)
2 ribs celery chopped
1 cup white onions chopped
1 cup porter or stout beer
3 tablespoon tomato paste
3 cups broth
¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley chopped
½ teaspoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon orange zest
2 large cloves garlic grated with a zester or microplane
1 ½ cups sour cream
12 slider buns

Instructions

In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until most of the fat has rendered and the bacon starts to crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, set aside. Leave about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the pan, discard the rest.
Salt and pepper the beef shanks liberally.
Add flour to a bowl. One at a time dredge shanks in the flour until well coated.
Return the Dutch oven to heat, allow the bacon fat to get hot but not smoking.
Sear the shanks in bacon fat until browned on both sides. Remove shanks from pot.
Add olive oil to pot along with carrots, celery and onion. Cook until softened, about 8 minutes.
Add the beer, scraping to deglaze the bottom. Stir in the tomato paste.
Return shanks and bacon to the pot. Pour in broth until shanks are ¾ of the way covered.
Allow liquid to simmer but not boil for 3 ½ hours or until meat is tender and falling off the bone. While shanks are cooking, turn over every 30 to 45 minutes. Add additional broth to maintain a liquid level that is about ¾ of the way up the side of the shanks.
Once tender, remove the meat and bones. Discard the bones and any large pieces of fat. Pull the meat into small pieces using two forks, return to the pot, stir to combine with the sauce.
Spoon the meat mixture into slider buns.
Combine the parsley, lemon zest, orange zest, garlic and sour cream in a small bowl.
Top the meat with a spoonful of sour cream mixture before putting the top of the bun on the slider. Serve immediately.

Chewy Gingerbread People with Chocolate Stout Pants

20.12.2018 1 Comment

Gingerbread People with Chocolate Stout Pants

Leave it to me to booze up a holiday classic. I do that sort of thing this time of year. I also have very specific ideas about gingerbread and cookie making in general I want to tell you about. I can be opinionated about small things far more than big things, but cookies need rules.

First, soft and chewy will always be preferable to crispy and hard. You can keep your mouth scraping sugar cardboard, I’ll take mine soft and chewy because I don’t hate myself.

Also, while I find intricately decorated royal icing covered masterpieces impressive and beautiful, I don’t want any part in making them. My rule is: it must take more time to eat them than it takes to decorate them, or you’re spending too much time on the wrong part of enjoying the cookie. Keep it simple.

Also, when it comes to gingerbread, the ginger shouldn’t be the loudest of the flavors. I firmly believe that the cinnamon, molasses, and ginger should all have equal voices. Which is why I should change the name to Gingolassamon cookies but that’s just too much to explain. And you can disagree with me and make your own cookie rules, you do you.

Also, cookies shouldn’t have a gender because that makes me think of putting genitals into the mouths of people whom I’ve baked cookies for and that makes me uncomfortable. I don’t want to be responsible for making that sort of choice for another person. Therefore, my gingolassamon cookies aren’t men, they’re genderless people. With pants.

Chewy Gingerbread People with Chocolate Stout Pants

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Servings 12 large, or 24 small

Ingredients

For the cookies:

3 ¼ cups 390g all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cup 250g dark brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup 172g unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup 180g molasses (not blackstrap)
2 tablespoons stout beer

For the Chocolate Pants:

10 oz bittersweet chocolate
¼ cup stout beer

Instructions

Add the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir to combine.
Add the softened butter, molasses and beer, stir on low speed until combined.
Transfer to a long sheet of plastic wrap, form into a flat disk, wrap tightly.
Refrigerate for 2 hours and up to 2 days.
Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface until just under ½ inch in thickness.
Cut out gingerbread people, add to 2 baking sheets that have been covered with parchment paper.
Freeze for 20 minutes (this will help prevent spreading).
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, pull the parchment paper off the sheets and onto a flat surface. Allow to cool.
In the top of a double boiler set over lightly simmering water, add the chocolate and beer. Stir constantly until most of the chocolate has been melted. Remove from heat and continue to stir until all the chocolate has melted.
Using a spatula or butter knife, spread chocolate onto the cookies. Decorate as desired.
Allow to cool until chocolate has set before serving.

Notes

Blackstrap molasses is what happens when you boil cane juice three times, removing nearly all the sugar resulting in a black, bitter sludge. Dark, light or unsulphured are all fairly interchangeable and pleasantly sweet. Make sure never to use Blackstrap when a recipe calls for molasses unless it’s specifically called for.

Pressure Cooker Stout Pho (AKA-The best and easiest way to feed a group)

19.12.2018 2 Comments

Pressure Cooker Stout Pho (AKA-The best and easiest way to feed a group)

I have a confession. You won’t be surprised, it’s very typical of who I am. The last THREE times I’ve had people over for dinner, this is what I made. All three times. And then I acted like it was creative and inspired when I really just wanted to eat this again.

Luckily, these three groups of people don’t know each other and won’t be able to compare notes and realize that I’m not as creative as I pretend to be. I also have a large pot of this in my freezer, just in case I need to feed more people at the last minute. Or in case I just want to feed my own face at the last minute.

The thing about this Pressure Cooker Stout Pho, is that it’s the easiest way to get that broth, and we all know that Pho is all about the broth, once you have that handled, the rest is quick. You can even make it in a huge batch, then freeze it for when you know you’ll have to pull this off in less than 30 minutes, it’s completely doable. And you’ll look like a rock star, even if you do it three times in a row.

Just serve it with good beer and no one will say a word.

Pressure Cooker Stout Pho (AKA-The best and easiest way to feed a group)

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Ingredients

For the broth:

2 pounds marrow or knuckle beef bones
2 tablespoon olive oil divided
1 pound oxtails
1 cup stout beer
1 knob of unpeeled ginger about 4 inches long
1 large yellow onion peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoons soy sauce
1 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
8 cups water
2 teaspoons salt

For serving:

1 pound flank steak
1 teaspoon salt
1 lbs rice noodles 1 lime cut into wedges
4 Thai peppers thinly sliced
1 bunch fresh cilantro chopped
1 bunch fresh Thai basil chopped
1 bunch fresh mint chopped
2 cups bean sprouts
Sriracha sauce
Sesame chili oil

Instructions

Add the beef bones to a stock pot, cover with salted water. Bring to a boil for ten minutes, discard the water, rinse the bones, set aside (this is the only way to get rid of the scum that happens when making beef broth).
Turn the Instant pot or Multi-Cooker to sauté (this can also be done in a pan on the stove top), add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once hot, add the oxtails, cooking until browned on all sides.
While the oxtails cook, char the ginger. Slice the ginger lengthwise into 4 strips, add to a baking sheet along with the quartered onions.
Using a kitchen torch, char ginger and onions on all sides until blackened. You can also add the baking sheet to an oven with a pre-heated broiler, broiling until blackened, turning the ginger and onion pieces to make sure they char on all sides.
Once the oxtails have cooked, add the beer, stirring to deglaze the bottom of the pot.
Add the charred onions and ginger, beef bones, the fish sauce, soy sauce, anise, coriander, cinnamon, water and 2 teaspoons salt.
Add the lid tightly to the pressure cooker. Set the pressure cooker to cook for 60 minutes. Once the cooking has finished, vent to release pressure then remove the lid. Drain, removing the solids and saving the broth (broth freezes well, it can be made in advance and frozen for up to a month).
While the broth cooks, make the steak and noodles.
Dry the steak well on all sides with paper towels. Sprinkle liberally with salt. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Add the remaining olive oil to a cast iron skillet or other oven-safe pan over high heat until just before smoking. Add the steak, cooking for 2 minutes on each side. Add pan to the oven, cooking in the oven for 6 minutes. Remove the steak, add to a cutting board, allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice very thinly, add to a serving plate.
Cook the rice noodles in boiling salted water until al dente, drain and add to a large bowl. Toss with oil to prevent sticking (store noodles separate from the broth to prevent over cooking).
Serve broth along side the steak, herbs, sprouts, limes, peppers and sauces, allowing all guests to build their own bowls.

Easy Chocolate Beer Pretzel Truffles

04.12.2018 5 Comments

Easy Chocolate Beer Pretzel Truffles, 4 ingredients, and just a few steps!

I have a problem, the sort that will probably be solved with beer-infused chocolate, as most minor problems usually are. My problem (one of many, I’m sure you already know) is that I almost always assume that people—upon first meeting me—don’t like me. For one reason or another, this is what I default to: "I don’t think she likes me. Sure, she’s being nice, but that’s just because she’s a nice person." This does not, however, stop me from being chattier than said new person would probably like.

I know, it’s ridiculously insecure and eye-rolly. I know this. But it’s my default mode, thinking I have to earn it, like most things I have in my life. Then I do things like make chocolate truffles and bacon cupcakes and give them away hoping to earn peoples likes. Also: don’t do that. I don’t recommend it. But I’m far better at giving advice than I am at taking it. I’m an excellent advice giver, just ask. I’ll kick some wisdom at you.

I don’t take the advice, I just give it away. Unless that advice is about what beer to cook with or how to infuse chocolate with booze, those nuggets of wisdom I keep close. Also, if you want advice about what beer to pair with your dinner, or what city to visit on a whim, I’m your girl. How to navigate the intricacies of unknown humans? Maybe ask someone else. I’ll just be over here with these truffles trying to make friends with the new UPS guys.

Easy Chocolate Beer Pretzel Truffles

Print Recipe

Servings 24 truffles

Ingredients

8 weight oz dark chocolate 60%
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup stout beer
1 cup crushed pretzels

Instructions

Add the chocolate, heavy cream and beer to the top of a double boiler set over gently simmering water.
Stir until just before all of the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat, continue to stir until the chocolate has melted.
Allow the chocolate to cool until set (add to the refrigerator to speed up setting).
Add the pretzels to a shallow bowl.
Once the chocolate has set use a melon baller to pull out a ball about the size of a large marble. Roll in your hands until even and round.
Add the chocolate ball to the pretzels, roll until well coated. Add to a sheet of wax paper. Repeat for the remaining chocolate.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Bourbon County Beer Marshmallows

27.11.2018 3 Comments

Bourbon County Beer Marshmallows

When you count the seasons by what’s available in the bottle shops, you see the months pass in a different way. Right now we’re just leaving Fresh Hop Season and moving into Barrel Aged Beer season, one of the best beer seasons of the year.

It’s also the time of year when beer releases hit a fevered pitch and people wait in line for hours hoping to score a bottle or two of a beer that’s been aging in a wooden barrel that formerly housed liquor. It’s worth it, even if just for the bragging rights and the perfect cellarable beer. Beers that you always want two of, one for now and one to save for later. Stored properly they can be even better years later.

Bourbon County is the Godfather of the bourbon barrel aged beer. Goose Island is widely credited as being the first people to take a discarded bourbon barrel, load it up with stout, store it for nearly a year and then drink it just to see what would happen. This, more than anything, is a commentary on the heart of true brewer. Curious, courageously experimental, and unafraid to think outside the bottle.

It was a move that would have cultural repercussions beyond their wildest dreams. Starting a movement so strong and widely adopted it caused spent liquor barrels to go from a nuisance that distilleries had to deal with to a sought-after commodity that caused a shortage.

The face of beer is undeniably altered for the better because of the curiosity that caused Greg Hall to fill 6 bourbon barrels with stout in the early 1990s. In the name of that experimentation and curiosity, I decided that I’d like to figure out what would happen if you put a beer — one that had spent time cohabitating in a wooden barrel with the remnants of bourbon — into a marshmallow. Turns out, it’s pretty fantastic.

Bourbon County Beer Marshmallows

Print Recipe

Servings 24 marshmallows

Ingredients

Powdered sugar
3 envelopes unflavored gelatin such as Knox
½ cup beer of choice flat and cold*
½ cup water or beer
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Grease a 9x13 baking pan, sprinkle with powdered sugar until well coated, set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add ½ cup cold, flat beer. Sprinkle with gelatin. Allow to stand while the sugar is being prepared.
In a large saucepan (mixture will bubble up) over medium heat, add the water, 2 cups sugar and corn syrup. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Raise heat to high and allow to boil until the mixture reads 240F on a candy thermometer (about 6-8 minutes).
Once the temperature has been reached, turn off heat.
Turn the mixer on low and slowly pour the hot sugar mixture into the gelatin. Once all the sugar has been added turn the mixer on high until light and fluffy and tripled in volume, this can take up to 10 minutes.
While the mixer is running, prepare the egg whites. Add the egg whites to a bowl with the salt. Beat on high with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, beat until stiff peaks return.
Gently fold the egg whites and vanilla extract into the stand mixer ingredients until just combined.
Pour the marshmallows into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Allow to set at room temperature until set, about 2 hours. Remove from pan, cut into squares. Toss with additional powdered sugar to prevent from sticking together.

Notes

*Open the beer at least two hours before you plan to make the marshmallows, and up to several days in advance. Pour ½ cup into an open container. Loosely cover and refrigerate. Enjoy the reaming beer, since you HAD to open the beer it’s your job to finish the rest.

Darth Vader Stout Beer Fudge

16.11.2018 8 Comments

Darth Vader Stout Beer Fudge

This is ridiculous. I know what you’re thinking: why can’t you just make fudge like a normal person? But I found this silicon Darth Vader mold from that time I made Star Wars cupcakes and you can’t honestly think that I could just put it away and forget about it? Of course not.

And since we’re just entering Barrel-Aged-Beer-Season, as well as Fudge-Making -Season, it just makes sense. If you don’t have a Darth Vader silicon mold (but really, why not? You totally should) you can use any silicone mold. Because fudge is great, but it’s not as fun as Dark Side Fudge, right?

Plus, there’s beer in there. And since Barrel Aged beers come in large bottles and I’m only asking you to pour out 1/4 cup for the homies, I mean for the fudge, then you get to drink the rest. Have I talked you into this yet? Do I need to hone my Jedi Mind Trick skills? How about you make some fudge and we can talk about it.

Darth Vader Stout Beer Fudge

Print Recipe

Servings 12 -14 peices

Ingredients

16 wt oz dark chocolate 60% cocoa content
1/3 cup 102g sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
¼ tsp .5g vanilla extract
¼ cup 2oz barrel aged beer
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Add the chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, beer and salt to the top of a double boiler (or a metal bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water).
Stir over medium-low heat (make sure the water does not boil) until most of the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat, continue to stir until all the chocolate has melted.
Pour into silicone molds, chill until set.

Ridiculously Good Stout Vegan Brownies (with no weird ingredients)

16.10.2018 11 Comments

Ridiculously Good Stout Vegan Brownies (with no weird ingredients), just some things you probably already have in your pantry. And these brownies are legit!

It’s not so much that flax-eggs are weird. Or guar gum. Or agar agar. It’s not the "weirdness" of the ingredients I kept seeing in vegan brownie recipes, but rather the fact that I don’t own them. And outside of an online shopping trip, I have no idea where to procure such things in my neighborhood. I’m more of a vegan food enthusiast rather than an actual vegan.

What I really needed was a brownie recipe using just what I had in my pantry, because there is a good chance you’ll also have the same things in your pantry. They also needed to be actual brownies, not shiny-top cake squares (an issue with some recipes that don’t include eggs and butter).

I have a few rules and requirements when it comes to brownies: the absolute necessity of the crunchy top, they need to be chewy, and only psychopaths put nuts in a brownie. I like a fudgy, dense, chocolatey, chewy, crispy top brownie.

I tested the recipe over and over, making minor tweaks to fix the things I didn’t love, until it came out exactly the way I like my vegan food: shockingly vegan. As in, "serve it to meat-eaters and astound them". Or "Bring them to a dinner party and people ask for the recipe because they have no idea what it does not contain."

It’s also a great recipe for those of us who always want to bake right before we realize that we are out of everything and don’t want to go to the store.

Want to check and see if your beer is vegan? Branivore can help.

Ridiculously Good Stout Vegan Brownies (with no weird ingredients)

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup 200g sugar
¼ cup 56g coconut oil (not melted)
2 tablespoons 30mL vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup 74g stout beer
½ cup 60g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ¼ cup 150g bread flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons espresso powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F
Add the sugar and coconut oil to a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium until well combined. Slowly add the oil and vanilla, beating on high until the mixture resembles frosting.
Add the baking soda and vinegar, beat again until well combined.
Stir in the beer.
In a mixing bowl stir together the cocoa powder, flour, cornstarch, salt, and espresso powder.
Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined, mixture will be thick.
Add in an even layer to a greased 8x8 pan, press flat.
Bake for 22 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker Carnitas Sliders with Chipotle Sour Cream

13.10.2018 10 Comments

This post was sponsored by Crock-Pot. Partnerships with The Beeroness and outside companies are rare and only occur when the company’s products are ones I use and enjoy myself. All ideas and opinions are my  own.

I’m still sort of in shock. If you’re a long time carnitas lover, you’ll know what I’m talking about. The best part of this delicious slow-cooked meat dish is the lovely caramelization you get on some of the end bits. It’s really not the same without that.

What shocks me is that I was able to get the perfect seared caramelization in a Crock-Pot! If you’d have told me that was possible, I might have fought you, bet you several pitchers of good beer that it wasn’t possible. And now here I am. I’d owe you quite a few beers, and I’d have gladly paid up, these carnitas were the best I’ve made and that sear is perfect! (Yes, it’s SUPER nerdy that I’m THIS excited about it. But I can’t even try to care, I’m so excited!)

The new Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker is a game changer. It has eight different functions that encompass all the functions you would achieve from using multiple different kitchen appliances from slow cooking to pressure cooking and sautéing to searing. The Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker is also available in NEW 4-Quart and 8-Quart Models.

I was a bit skeptical that the brown/sauté setting would work as well as a stovetop pot. It’s a good thing I didn’t have a bet going, it was perfect. Also, SO much easier. I didn’t have to use anything but the Multi-Cooker. I’m usually someone who digs the traditional Dutch ovens for such endeavors, but these carnitas came out so well, I’ll never go back.

So, if you want to win yourself a couple beers, just bet someone that you can’t make a Crock-Pot sear. Or pressure cook. You’ll never have to buy beer again.

Crock-PotExpress Crock Carnitas Sliders with Chipotle Sour Cream

Print Recipe

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

4.5 lbs pork shoulder cut into cubes
1 tablespoon salt plus ½ teaspoon divided
12 ounces stout beer
6 ounces tomato paste
Juice from 1 large lime
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon cayenne powder
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped chipotle peppers in adobo
24 slider buns
chopped cilantro

Instructions

Sprinkle the pork on all sides with 1 tablespoon salt.
In a small bowl stir together the beer, tomato paste, lime juice, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cayenne, and smoked paprika.
Add the pork and the sauce to a Crock-Pot Express Crock Multi-Cooker, add the lid (make sure the lid to the Multi-Cooker is locked but the steam value is open to “release” mode). Cook on high for 6 hours, or low for 8 hours.
Remove the inner bowl of the Crock-Pot, pouring off the liquid (leave a small amount, about 2 tablespoons, the amount doesn’t need to be exact), place the bowl back in the Crockpot.
Turn the multi-cooker to the “brown/sauté” setting on high. Shred the pork, in the cooker with two forks while the pot heats up in sauté mode. Press meat firmly down with a wooden spoon into a firm even layer.
Cook for 5-8 minutes, stir and press again into a firm even layer.
Once the remaining liquid is gone and there are pieces of meat that have been nicely caramelized, remove from the pot and add to a serving bowl, toss with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt.
Stir together the sour cream and chipotle peppers.
Add the carnitas to the slider buns, top with sour cream and sprinkle with cilantro.

Notes

*If you plan to make the meat in advance, save about ½ cup of the cooking liquid and add the storage container. It will help to keep the meat moist once you reheat.

Sweet Potato Stout Shepard’s Pie (Meatless)

09.10.2018 No Comments

Sweet Potato Stout Shepard’s Pie (Meatless). Vegan, full of warm deliciousness, and freezer friendly.

Some days just making it to dinner feels like an accomplishment. After rage-cleaning your house because you spent too much time reading the news. After seriously considering faking an illness to stay in bed. After realizing that the hint of gray that’s peeking through the windows at noon is all the sun you’re gonna get today, and maybe for quite a while longer.

Baking helps, I promise. You get to feel like you did something, made something, provided something. You get to lose yourself in the task of it and force those other rage-inducing thoughts to the back of the shelf for a bit.

You also get to eat, and that’s always a win.

Today I decided to beer-ify a childhood favorite, that just seemed to be appropriate. I decided to make it vegan, because if I have beer, sweet potatoes, and caramelized leeks I don’t need much else. Also, it makes me feel healthy and that makes me less likely to want to stay in bed all day tomorrow.

This also freezes well, so that you can make a double batch and maybe bring it to someone who may need a little warm, beerified comfort. Because we’re all in this together.

Sweet Potato Stout Shepard’s Pie (Meatless)

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

For the topping:

3 lbs sweet potatoes
¼ cup almond milk or sour cream of choice
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder

For the filling:

2 tablespoon olive oil
2 large leeks sliced (white and light green parts only
1 large carrot diced
1 rib celery diced
1 lbs 16 oz sliced mushrooms
2 teaspoons sage leaf minced
1 teaspoon rosemary minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons flour
½ cup stout beer
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup vegetable broth

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425°F.
Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into chunks, add to a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook until fork tender, drain and return to pot.
Add the almond milk, salt, and garlic powder. Mash until well combined.
Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add the leeks, carrots and celery, cooking until softened.
Add the mushrooms, cook until darkened and softened.
Stir in the sage, rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Sprinkle with flour, stir until the flour has been moistened. Pour in the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan.
Stir in the corn and vegetable broth. Simmer until thickened.
Pour into am 8x8 pan. Spread the sweet potatoes over the top of the pan.
Bake until filling is bubbly, about 15 minutes.
Serve warm.

Chocolate Stout Brownie Waffles

05.10.2018 3 Comments

Chocolate Stout Brownie Waffles, beer for breakfast!

This is a PSA. In the light of everything else that will fly at you from your computer this week, all the sad-terrible-no-good-very-bad-news that will be inflicted on you, I’ve got some good news. Waffles aren’t just for breakfast. Breakfast has just been hoarding them.

Breakfast can be a selfish jerk sometimes, claiming coffee, doughnuts, pancakes and pajamas as it’s own. That’s not true, don’t listen. Of course, we love breakfast, it’s our adorable little brother of meals. But it’s about time we stand up for dinner and put on some pajamas at 6 pm and make some waffles.

You can also drink a coffee stout instead of just regular coffee with those Brownie Waffles and taunt breakfast with it. You and dinner will be very happy this weekend.

Chocolate Stout Brownie Waffles

Print Recipe

Servings 8 waffles

Ingredients

3 eggs separated
150 ml 5 oz stout beer
360 ml 12 0z milk
½ cup 114g butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups 360g all-purpose flour
1/3 cup 40g cocoa powder
3 tablespoon 27g cornstarch
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup 200g sugar, plus 2 tablespoon for egg whites

Instructions

Set out three mixing bowls.
Add the egg whites to one bowl, yolks to another.
Add the beer, milk, melted butter, and vanilla to the yolks, beat until well combined, light and fluffy.
In the third bowl (make sure this is the largest bowl, all ingredients will end up in this bowl) stir together the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1 cup sugar.
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, beat in the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the yolk mixture, stir until well combined.
Gently fold in the egg whites. Cook in your waffle iron according to manufactures specifications (make sure to use cooking spray or melted butter if indicated).

Salted Caramel Stout Apple Bars

28.09.2018 2 Comments

Salted Caramel Stout Apple Bars

I’ve been chasing the light around my new house for the past three months. I haven’t found it, not in any real way. It’s an occupational hazard, really.

Every time I move, I have to find it. I have to find that place in my house where I can set up shop and shoot what I need to photograph. I’m not an artificial light girl, possibly because I can’t really wrap my brain around the nuances of that medium. So I chase the sunlight, hoping each new spot, new time of day, new month of the year, will be when I find it.

I’ve lived in 5 houses since I started this journey with the very strange objective of getting paid for cooking with beer and taking pictures of it. I’ve always found the spot—where the light is just right—in every house that has served as my work-from-home office. The kitchen, the garage, behind the couch in my living room, the bedroom. You never really know where it’ll be.

Every house I move into, I have an idea of where I WANT to shoot, where I want to set up and settle in and start photographing. But the light, just like the rest of this world, doesn’t really bend to your whims the way you want it to.

Today, on round three of testing this recipe, I settled into a new location. Maybe because I shot this photograph there and decided I loved it. Maybe because it was easier to sit down in this spot and polish off a few of these before I cleaned up. Either way, I might just stay a while and see if the light will cooperate if I keep baking things covered in salted caramel frosting.

Salted Caramel Stout Apple Bars

Print Recipe

Servings 12 servings

Ingredients

For the cake:

½ cup 114g butter, softened
1 cup 220g light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup stout beer
1 ½ 180g cups AP flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 medium tart apple i.e. Granny Smith, peeled and small diced (about 1 cup)

For the frosting:

¼ cup 57g softened butter
1 cup 220g packed light brown sugar
¼ cup 60mL heavy cream
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups 180g confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt plus ¼ teaspoon, divided

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Add the butter and brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on high until light and fluffy. Add the egg, oil and vanilla extract, beating until it resembles frosting.
Stir in the beer (it will curdle).
Sprinkle with flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and apples. Stir until just combined. Pour into an 8x8 baking dish that has been greased and floured.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the top has puffed and springs back when lightly touched.
Add the powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a mixing bowl, and use an electric hand mixer).
Melt the butter in a pot over high heat. Add the brown sugar, cream and vanilla, stir until just combined. Boil over high heat for two minutes.
Pour the caramel over the powdered sugar, beat until well combined. Pour the frosting over the apple bars in an even layer, sprinkle with remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, allow to cool. Cut into squares.