Porter/Stout

Honey Porter Glazed Chicken Skewers

12.07.2013 87 Comments

I have two very distinct sides to my personality, dueling forces that pull me in opposing directions with near cartoon ideation. Although Devil and Angel would be easier to deal with, mine are more Old Lady and Free Spirited Gypsy.

As much as I would like to tell you that Gypsy wins the battles, it’s Old Lady that tends to run the show.

A few years ago Gypsy got ahold of the controls and decided to buy a motorcycle. Paying penance to Old Lady, I signed up for a Motorcycle Riders Training Course. It was a three-day crash course (pun intended) in how to ride a motorcycle without killing yourself.

I also allowed the Old Lady side of me to buy the safest helmet and motorcycle jacket with armor I could find.

The first day of class I was equal parts nervous and intimidated, as I noticed I was the only novice in the group and one of the youngest. Most were crotch rocket guys wanting to "blast the Crest" as soon as possible. The only other girl was a woman who wanted to learn to ride so she could bike cross-country with her partner for their 20 year anniversary.

No one talked to me. Really, no one talked. We were all a bit insular trying to figure out how to learn not to kill ourselves, drowning in the Dead People Smeared On The Road stories told by the ex-bike-cop who taught the class.

On the final day of class we met early in the morning in a parking lot in Long Beach just as it started to rain. A little drizzle that scares the crap out of most of Los Angeles. We were given the opportunity to come back on a non-rainy day but collectively decided, with a series of sideways glances and nods, that we would all stay and ride like Bad Ass SoCal People in the very light drizzle.

The final segment of the day was an obstacle course through the gigantic empty parking lot. Trying to make sure I was at least in the top half of the pack, time-wise, I set out a bit faster than I should have.

As I rounded the first curve, set over a large white arrow painted on the pavement of the parking lot, my bike slipped out from under me and began to skid along the wet ground as I tumbled in the opposite direction.

Ex-bike-cop was visibly relieved to see that I was fine and address the issue with the group by saying, "I think now is a really good time to tell everyone that paint on the pavement gets really slippery when it rains."

To which I responded, "No, ten minutes ago would have been a really good time to say that. At this point, it’s pretty obvious."

Sometimes, when you are so immeshed in an activity, you don’t think to state what’s really obvious to you, like ex-bike-cop and the paint. For me, it’s this chicken. Maybe you’ve noticed that I tend to lean away from that popular Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast that we all grew up with. Mostly because it’s so often dry and flavorless.

If you favor that cut, try the boneless skinless chicken thigh fillets, so much more flavor and they can take some serious heat before they dry out. Chicken thighs are a bit of secret ingredient when it comes to chicken dishes, making your favorite chicken breast recipe taste at least 30 percent better if you use the thighs instead. They do take a bit longer to cook, but it’s completely worth it.

And that was the only time I ever dumped a bike. At least so far.

Honey Porter Glazed Chicken Skewers

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic grated with a microplane (or minced)
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup porter or stout beer
1 tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp Dijon mustard
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ tsp pepper
1 tbs olive oil
¼ cup chopped shallots about 1 medium shallot
6 boneless skinless chicken thigh fillets cut into cubes
oil for the grill
Chopped cilantro for garnish optional

Instructions

In a small bowl whisk together the garlic, honey, porter, red pepper flakes, mustard, soy sauce and pepper. Add the chicken cubes, refrigerate for 1 hour and up to overnight.
Remove the chicken from marinade (reserve the marinade) thread the chicken through wooden skewers.
In a pot over medium high heat, add the olive oil and shallots. Sautee until shallots have softened, about 5 minutes. Add marinade and boil, stirring frequently, until reduced and thickened, about 8 minutes.

Grill directions:

Preheat grill to medium high.
Brush the grill lightly with oil.
Brush the chicken with the glaze, place on the grill. Brush with glaze and turn every 2-4 minutes until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Sprinkle with chopped cilantro prior to serving.

Oven directions:

Preheat the oven to 400. Place chicken on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil. Brush liberally with glaze. Roast at 400 for 30-40 minutes, brushing with glaze every 8-10 minutes until cooked through.
Sprinkle with chopped cilantro prior to serving.

Join me: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Chocolate Stout and Dulce de Leche Ice Box Pie

09.07.2013 23 Comments

There are a few buzz words that seem to grab peoples attention and promote a recipe to Social Media Sharing Gangbusters status. These words include: Skinny, Quick, Easy, No Bake, Only 3 Ingredients, You’ll Never Guess The Secret Ingredient! None of these phrases are the type to attract my attention on their own.

I like a recipe that takes time, uses fat and sugar, and I’m not scared of a long list of ingredients or complicated directions.

Sometimes, however, I do invent a recipe that inadvertently falls into one of those Gangbusters categories that people seem to like. This, for example, takes 15 minutes and zero baking. It also tastes amazing in a way that seems to contradict the short amount of time it took to make.

You can buy Dulce de Leche, or make it from scratch (here is a really great post on How to Make Dulce de Leche from a blogger I have a girl-crush on). It’s simple to make from scratch, but if that doesn’t fit your time schedule, or intimidates you, it’s fairly easy to find in markets.

I found myself in ownership of a batch of Dulce de Leche after spending a 100 degree day knee deep in Holiday Cheer while making and shooting Christmas Cocktails for the Holiday Issue of a print magazine. Nothing screams July like Brandied Hot Chocolate with Candy Cane Whipped Cream or Dulce de Leche Eggnog. Although I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity, I can’t say that I really wanted to consume hot buttered rum or mulled wine on triple digit summer day.

Ice box pie was in order.

Chocolate Stout and Dulce de Leche Ice Box Pie

Print Recipe

Prep Time 15

Total Time 15

Ingredients

For the Crust:

12 graham cracker rectangles
2 tbs brown sugar
4 tbs melted butter

For the Chocolate Stout Layer:

1/3 cup stout
1 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips 8 wt ounces
1 ½ cups heavy cream
¼ cup powdered sugar

For the Dulce de Leche Layer:

1 cup heavy cream
3 tbs powdered sugar
½ cup Dulce de Leche
Additional Dulce de Leche for serving if desired.

Instructions

In a food processor add the graham crackers and brown sugar, process until reduced to fine crumbs.
While the food processor is running, add the melted butter, process until combined.
Add crust to a 9 inch spring form pan. Using a heavy, flat bottom glass, press very well into the sides and bottom of the pan (starting with the sides), make sure to press very well until the crust is very compacted into the sides and bottom of the pan.
Add the chocolate chips to a small bowl. Heat the stout until very hot (about 170 degrees), pour stout over the chocolate chips, stir until well combined and creamy. Allow to cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 ½ cups heavy cream and ¼ cup powdered sugar, beat on high until soft peaks form. While the mixer is running, slowly drizzle the cooled chocolate mixture into the mixer. Once it has all been added, turn off the mixer and gently stir until all of the cream and chocolate has been combined an no white streaks or dark chocolate streaks remain. Pour into the crust. Place in the freezer while you work on the Dulce de Leche layer.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 cup heavy cream and 3 tablespoons powdered sugar. Beat on high until soft peaks form. While the mixer is running, slowly drizzle the Dulce de Leche into the mixer. Once it has all been added, turn off the mixer and gently stir until all of the Dulce de Leche and whipped cream have been combined.
Add the Dulce de Leche cream on top of the chocolate layer, smooth into an even layer.
Freeze until set, about 1 hour. Remove from freezer 10 minute prior to serving and allow to warm slightly before cutting. To remove from pan, run a sharp knife under very hot water, then run the knife between the crust and the side of the spring form pan to release.
Heat remaining Dulce de Leche and drizzle over slices prior to serving.

Join me: Facebook, Twitter

Chocolate Stout Cherry Pie

14.06.2013 39 Comments

This is a baking PSA, a result of an ongoing panic attack I’ve been having since I turned my book into the publisher. I’ve been convinced that most people who attempt to make my Chocolate Stout Cake with Raspberry Chocolate Ganche won’t know there is a difference between weight ounces and fluid ounces, confuse the two and end up with a failure. These things keep me up at night. Because if you make a recipe of mine and it fails, I feel awful, even if the recipe isn’t to blame. Even if you are totaly to blame for the failure, I still feel terrible.

Weight ounces and fluid ounces are not the same thing. In fact, for the most part, they have nothing to do with one another.

Weight ounces measure weight, fluid ounces measure volume. One does not equal the other.

Take a bag of chocolate chips, for example. It will probably list on the package: 12 weight ounces (often abbreviated as just "wt oz"). Pour those chocolate chips into a measuring cups and you’re bound to see it reach about 2 cups, or 16 fluid ounces.

12 weight ounces of chocolate equals about 16 fluid ounces.

Cheese is the same. 8 weight ounces of shredded cheese is about 16 fluid ounces.

Flour is even worse. Most bakers weigh their flour rather than measure it in cups (although most recipes will say cups) but if you see a baker call for ounces of flour, she probably means weight, not volume. Have I lost you yet?

Generally, 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) of flour is only 4 weight ounces.

Most of the time, the difference is easy to distinguish, and lucky for us, beer is equal when it comes to fluid ounces and weight ounce. 8 fluid ounces of beer equals 8 weight ounces (one less thing to worry about!)

The biggest worry in the cooking and baking world are generally cheese and chocolate. Mostly because they are sold in weight ounces, but recipes vary when it comes to what they call for. Recipes should call for those items in weight ounces, but if you aren’t familiar, and just load up your measuring cup with shredded cheese or chocolate chips and think you’re looking for fluid ounces, you’ll most likely have a recipe disaster on your hands.

The take away:

When you see a recipe calling for ounces: figure out what type of ounces or your recipe may not work.

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest, I feel better. Although I still want to kick the crap out of the a-hole who decided to use the same word for both.

And take moment to check out those glorious cherries in the middle of that pie.

Chocolate Stout Cherry Pie

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 pie crust
2 3.5 ounce bars 60% chocolate (total 7 weight ounces)
3 tbs unsalted butter cut into cubes.
2 tbs light corn syrup
1/3 cup stout
3 tbs heavy cream
2 1/2 cups pitted dark sweet cherries such as Bing, about 16 wt ounces pitted

For the Whipped Cream

2 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs stout optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
Rough out pie dough, transfer to a 9-inch pie pan, trim off excess. Prick several holes in the bottom.
Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until a light golden brown. Allow to cool.
Break the chocolate into chunks and add to the top of a double boiler over gently simmering water along with the butter, corn syrup and stout. Stir frequently until the chocolate has melted. Add the cream and stir until completely incorporated. Add the cherries, stir until all of the cherries are well coated. Pour into the crust. Refrigerate until set, about 4 hours and up to 24.
Once the pie has cooled make the whipped cream. Add the heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract (and stout, if using) to a stand mixer. Beat on high until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes.

Notes

Note about chocolate: you can use up to 70%, but the higher the percentage (which indicates the amount of cocoa in the bar) the more bitter the chocolate, therefore the more bitter the pie. If you use a really low cocoa content, like a 30%, the pie may have a harder time setting up because of the lower cocoa content, and higher milk content. I would stay between 55% and 70%.

Join me: Facebook, Twitter

Flourless Chocolate Stout Cake with Orange Mascarpone Frosting

14.05.2013 23 Comments

I’m on my way to New York right now to cook on The Today Show. I’d like to say that I’m cool enough to not think this is a big deal, but I’m not. I’m thrilled, and also a little nervous (significant nervousness is scheduled for the late 9am hour on Wednesday morning).

Before I left on my journey across the country I wanted to leave you with this cake. It’s really easy, really rich and insanely good. A perfect cake to pair with a stout or even one of those black IPA’s I’ve become so found of.

Flourless Chocolate Stout Cake with Orange Mascarpone Frosting

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For The Cake

½ cup butter chopped
7 weight ounces 60% chocolate chopped
1/3 cup stout
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
3 whole eggs plus 2 yolks
¾ cup cocoa powder
2 tbs cornstarch

For the Frosting

3 tbs butter softened
8 ounces mascarpone
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp finely grated orange zest

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375.
In the top of a double boiler over a simmering water add the chocolate and the butter. Stir until the butter is almost melted, turn off heat and continue to stir until butter is melted. Remove the top of the double boiler and place on a clean kitchen towel. Stir in the beer. Whisk in the sugar. Check to make sure the chocolate is room temperature or below, then whisk in the eggs and the yolks. Sprinkle the cocoa powder and the cornstarch over the chocolate, gently stir until combined.
Place a round of parchment paper inside a 10 inch spring form pan, rub the inside of the pan and the parchment paper with butter.
Pour the batter inside the prepared pan, smooth out into an even layer.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top looks dry and the top is slightly springy, don’t over bake of cake will be dry. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 10-20 minutes. Transfer to a cake pan, refrigerate until cool, about 2 hours.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and the mascarpone, beat until well combined. Add the powdered sugar and zest, mix until well combined. Frost the cake with the mascarpone frosting, chill until ready to serve. (Don’t be afraid to make this a day ahead of time, it’s better the next day).

Mirin Stout Glazed Roast Chicken with Maple Sweet Potatoes topped with Caramelized Shallots and Balsamic Glaze

26.04.2013 20 Comments

When I first got into food blogging I had this idea that I would just take pictures of my dinner and post the recipe online. Somewhere between installing Google Analytics and starting an LLC, I realized that I was cooking in order to develop content rather than just posting what I was eating.

I guess that’s inevitable when I started to earn an income and see my website as a small business. I also realized that although I often stray from who I am as a cook in order to cultivate blog hits, I love cooking, I love food and I got in this business because of those things. When the recipes you love get ignored and the ones you don’t have strong feelings about go viral, it’s hard not to just continue to post those Pandering to the Masses recipes that go viral, but I know that I am the most happy when I cook the food I want to cook and hope that you love it, too.

I loved the way this came out, even though I know it wont go viral. It’s how I like to eat, and how I like to spend my time in the kitchen, hope you don’t mind too much.

Mirin Stout Glazed Roast Chicken with Maple Sweet Potatoes topped with Caramelized Shallots and Balsamic Glaze

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Brine:

2 cups water
3 tbs kosher salt
12 ounces brown ale
2 cups ice
4 chicken leg quarters or 1 whole roasting chicken, cut into quarters

For the Glaze:

1 cup stout
2/3 cup mirin
¼ cup soy sauce
½ tsp chili powder
1 tbs cornstarch
3 tbs honey

For the Sweet Potatoes:

2 large shallots sliced (2/3 cup)
2 tbs butter plus 4 tbs divided
1 tbs oil
3 large sweet potatoes peeled and sliced
2 tbs real maple syrup
2 tbs heavy cream
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ salt
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3 tbs balsamic gaze

Instructions

In a pot over medium high heat, add the water and the salt. Stir until salt has dissolved, remove from heat, add the beer and ice. Stir until ice has dissolved and brine is at room temperature or below.
Add the chicken quarters to a large bowl. Pour the brine over the chicken, cover loosely with plastic wrap, refrigerate for 3 hours and up to 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 425F.
Add the stout, mirin, soy, chili powder, cornstarch and honey, whisk to combine. Add sauce pan to high heat, allow to boil until slightly reduced and thickened, about 5 minutes.
Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil, place a wire rack over the foil lined baking sheet.
Remove chicken from brine, discard the brine. Rinse the chicken well and pat dry. Place chicken on the wire rack.
Brush liberally with the glaze.
Roast at 425F for 45 to 55 minutes, brush with glaze every 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven when the internal temperature reaches 175F.
While the chicken is cooking make the sweet potatoes. In a saucepan, melt the butter with the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook over medium-low heat until caramelized, about 20 minutes.
Boil the potatoes in a pot of lightly salted water until fork tender, about 12-15 minutes. Drain, return sweet potatoes to the dry pot. Add 4 tbs butter, cream, maple syrup, salt, and nutmeg, mash with a potato masher until well combined and potatoes are well mashed, transfer to a serving dish. Top with caramelized shallots, chopped pecans and drizzle with balsamic glaze.

Notes

Balsamic glaze can be bought at the store, often by the balsamic vinegar, or you can make it by reducing 1 cup balsamic and 1 tbs white sugar or honey in a saucepan until reduced and thickened.

Chocolate Stout Cheesecake Fudgesicle

19.04.2013 52 Comments

Chocolate stout cheesecake Fudgesicle

Would you judge me if I tell you that I’m not a huge fan of ice cream? Clearly, I like it just fine I have several ice cream recipes on this blog, but it’s never my first choice.

Of course, I’ll eat it, although I do tend to prefer it in the winter (probably more of that inherent rebellion I told you about earlier), but there are just so many other desserts I’d rather run five miles to work off. Like, cheesecake. Or doughnuts. Or cheesecake doughnuts.

I love cheesecake. So this cheesecake version of ice cream, in pre-portioned sizes (this addresses my serious portion control issues) is just about the most perfect way to consume a frozen dessert.

And because the recipe only calls for 1/3 cup, you are going to have some stout left over that you’re going to have to figure out what to do with.

I apologize for the dilemma this creates.

Chocolate Stout Cheesecake Fudgesicle

Print Recipe

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese softened
¼ cup sour cream
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbs whole milk
1/3 cup stout
½ cup dark chocolate chips
6 standard sized graham crackers
2 tbs melted butter

Instructions

In a bowl (or a food processor) mix together the cream cheese, sour cream and powdered sugar until well combined.
Add the milk and stout, stir to combine.
Add the chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl, microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted. Pour the chocolate into the cream cheese mixture, stir until combined.
Pour mixture into popsicle molds, leaving about 1 inch of the top empty for the crust (if you don’t have popsicle molds, use small paper cups and popsicle sticks) tap the molds gently on the counter to remove air bubbles.
In a food processor add the graham crackers, process until only crumbs remain.
While food processor is running, add the melted butter in a slow stream until the mixture resembles wet sand.
Divide the crust evenly between the popsicles, press down gently to compact. Insert popsicle sticks, freeze for at least 6 hours and up to 3 days.

Join me: Facebook, Twitter

Beerscotti: Chocolate Beer Biscotti, Made with Beer for Beer

03.04.2013 22 Comments

Something about this just isn’t right, it’s a cookie made to dunk in your beer. Who does that? Maybe I’m trying to start a beer cookie revolution that ends with crumbs at the bottom of your pint glass. Maybe I just liked the alliteration, or maybe this just ends up working. You’ll have to judge for yourself.

For this I wanted a big beer, with lots of roasted chocolate malt. Drakes Drakonic Imperial Stout works great, it’s a malty beast, as they say, and has those dry cocoa notes that work with the cocoa nibs and hazelnuts in the Beerscotti. It’s a sippin' stout, made for lingering and conversation, it’s not a beer that wants to be ignored.

But who can ignore the guy dunking a cookie in his beer? Not me.

Chocolate Beer Biscotti

Print Recipe

Ingredients

¾ cup white sugar
4 tbs butter
2 large eggs plus 1 yolk
¼ cup stout beer
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract
2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp espresso powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup hazelnuts
1/3 cup coca nibs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the sugar and butter. Beat on medium high speed until well creamed.
Add the eggs and yolk, mix until mixture is pale and fluffy.
Add the stout, vanilla and almond, mix until well combined.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, corn starch, espresso powder and salt.
Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the butter mixture, mix on low until just incorporated. Stir in the hazelnuts and cocoa nibs.
Scoop half of the dough onto a baking sheet that has been covered with a Silpat or parchment paper that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
Shape into a log that is about 8 inches long and 2 inches wide. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool for about 5 minutes. Cut diagonally into ¾ inch slices. Return to the baking sheet, cut side up.
Bake until slightly crispy, about ten minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.
Biscotti can be made up to three days ahead of time and taste the best 24 hours after baking. Store in an air tight container.

Chocolate Stout Muffin Bread

22.03.2013 44 Comments

Let’s talk about chocolate stouts for a minute.

If you aren’t aquatinted with these Dark Knights, you might be under the impression that your beer will be like a tall glass of malty chocolate milk. For the most part, that isn’t the case. While I was at Hanger 24, those awesome guys let me taste some of the grains they use in their Chocolate Porter.

(By the way, neither of those hands are mine, I’m taking the photo)

It tastes, even pre-brew, more along the lines of unadulterated raw cocoa rather than a giant slice of cake. For me, this is great news. The flavors of cocoa (before the butter, cream and sugar are added) are dry and even bitter, making a great addition to the flavors of a stout. If you’re afraid of a beer flavored Yoo-Hoo, you’re in luck. For the most part, chocolate stouts grab those great dry flavors of that cocoa bean without that cloying sweetness of a dessert that you don’t really need in your pint glass.

Here are some of my favorite chocolate stouts and porters, please let me know if you have a favorite of your one:

Bison Chocolate Stout

Rogue Chocolate Stout

Hanger 24 Chocolate Porter

Ken Schmidt / Iron Fist / Stone Chocolate Mint Stout

Souther Tier Choklat (I have yet to get my hands on this on the West Coast, but it’s on my Must Drink list)

Chocolate Stout Muffin Bread

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup coca powder
1 cup white sugar
1 tbs baking powder
1 tbs cornstarch
2/3 cup chocolate chips
10 ounces stout
2 tbs vegetable oil
¼ cup melted butter divided in half

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
Add the flour, salt, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, cornstarch, and chocolate chips stir to combine.
Pour in the stout, oil and 2 tbs of the melted butter, stir until just combined, some lumps are expected.
Pour into a loaf pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Pour the remaining butter over the top.
Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs on it. Allow to cool before slicing.

Smoky Chocolate Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon

14.03.2013 19 Comments

Yesterday I was a guest on KCRW’s St. Patricks day episode of Good Food. The host was Evan Kleiman, a chef, author and Los Angeles food scene legend. She called my recipes, "smart," which if you are a home cook, sitting in front of an accomplished chef, is the best word you can hear.

We chatted about stouts, one of my favorite beer topics. Forget about pale lagers and green food dye, stouts are the life blood of St. Patrick’s day. In preparation for our stout conversation, I asked my Facebook readers what their favorite stouts are, and the response was amazing. My non-scientific poll concluded the most popular stouts among those who have clicked "like" on The Beeroness Facebook page are: Old Rasputin, Souther Tier Choklat, Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout and Founders Breakfast Stout. All of which would be amazing in this recipes, but I used Alaskan Brewing Smoked Porter. Just goes to show how many amazing dark craft beers there are in this nation. If you have a stout or porter that you love, let me know about it. I’m always up for a tall glass of dark beer.

Whatever you use, don’t forget to make it a chocolate bacon beer float.

Beer Candied Bacon

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar packed
3 tbs stout
pinch cayenne
12 thick cut strips of bacon

Instructions

Combine the brown sugar, stout and cayenne until thick and syrupy.
Lay bacon on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet.
Brush bacon with beer syrup on both sides.
Cook at 350 for ten minutes, flip and re-brush with beer syrup.
Cook for 8 to 10 more minutes or until the bacon is an amber color.
Remove from oven and allow to cool. Bacon will harden as it cools.

Beer Candied Bacon

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar packed
3 tbs stout
pinch cayenne
12 thick cut strips of bacon

Instructions

Combine the brown sugar, stout and cayenne until thick and syrupy.
Lay bacon on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet.
Brush bacon with beer syrup on both sides.
Cook at 350 for ten minutes, flip and re-brush with beer syrup.
Cook for 8 to 10 more minutes or until the bacon is an amber color.
Remove from oven and allow to cool. Bacon will harden as it cools.

Beer Candied Bacon Adapted from Oskar Blues via Tide and Thyme.

Beer Brined Corned Beef Sliders with Pickled Cabbage Slaw

05.03.2013 29 Comments

Beer Brined Corned Beer Sliders with Pickled Cabbage Slaw

I just turned my completed book into my publisher.

One hundred recipes, along with sixty-five photos, are now out of my hands. You’d think I’d be relieved, so did I, but I’m worried. I just let go of the summation of 90 percent of my waking hours from the past 4 months. It’s in someone else’s care, and that scares the crap out of me.

I have these momentary panics:

Did I make the pavlovas enough, do the directions make sense?

I say jackass in the book, will people hate that?!

Was I clear about how grateful I am for this, or will I come off as smug?!

I even worry about whether or not you’ll like it, as if I’m just an insecure school girl. I thought I would be relieved and elated, but I’m more anxious than I’ve been during this entire process. I want people to love it, to leave me glowing reviews on Amazon and tell their friends about how much they love it. I hope that happens, but for now, I’m still losing sleep.

For the time being, I have a St. Patricks Day recipe for you. I posted my veggie lovers St Patricks Day offering last week, but this one is about that corned beef we all associate with that Irish Holiday.

So if you will, drink a pint and say an Irish prayer for me and my forthcoming book.

Beer Brined Corned Beef Sliders with Pickled Cabbage Slaw

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Corned Beef

3.5 lb beef brisket
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
3 tablespoons curing salt this will make the meat pink
3 tbs whole allspice berries
1 tbs whole cloves
1 tbs ground ginger
2 tbs mustard seeds
2 tbs whole peppercorns
1 yellow onion quartered
2 cups water
3 12 ounces bottles of stout
8 cups ice

Pickled slaw:

2 cup red cabbage shredded
2 cup savoy cabbage shredded
½ red onion thinly sliced
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 tbs kosher salt
3 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp groung ginger
2 tbs whole dried allspice berries
2 tsp whole cloves
2 tsp black peppercorns
_
12 soft potato dinner rolls split to resemble hamburger buns

Instructions

In a large pot or Dutch oven, add brown sugar, 3 tbs curing salt, 1 cup kosher salt, 3 tbs allspice berries, 1 tbs cloves, ginger, mustard seeds, 2 tbs peppercorns, along with 2 cups of water.
Cook on high just until the salt and sugar dissolve, remove from heat. Add 2 bottles of stout (reserve the last bottle for cooking) and 8 cups of ice, stir until ice has melted and brine is cool.
Add the brisket, cover with lid and refrigerate for 3 days and up to 10.
Remove from brine and rinse well. Discard the brine and clean the Dutch oven well.
Place the brisket back in the cleaned pot, along with the onion, pour the remaining bottle of stout and then cover with cold water until the brisket is fully cover with one to two inches of water above the beef.
Bring to a low boil, cover and reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Simmer for 3 hours or until the meat if fork tender. Move to a carving board, thinly slice against the grain.
While the brisket cooks, make the pickled slaw. In a sauce pan over medium heat, add the lemon juice, vinegar, salt, sugar, ginger, allspice, cloves and peppercorns in a pot. Bring to simmer just until the salt and sugar dissolve, remove from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, add the cabbage and onion. Pour the cooled pickling liquid over the cabbage and onion, refrigerate for one hour.
Slightly warm the buns, fill with corned beef and slaw before serving.

Mushroom, Stout and Goat Cheese Pot Pie

01.03.2013 21 Comments

A bunch of years ago I was in Dublin, Ireland for the St. Patricks day celebrations. I had flown over from LA, with only two nights booked at the Brewery Hostel at the base of the Guinness brewery. The night of the festival I was without a room, all at once ecstatic to be in Dublin for the Merriment and panicked to be without a place to stay.

I had three options.

1. Through a friend of a friend twice removed, I was connected with an Irish man willing to take me in for the night.

2. I had met some lovely Australians who were working on renovating a flat in town, but it was completely empty of any furniture and the electricity and water were both shut off, but it was walls and a roof.

3. Wander the streets for the evening, falling in and out of pubs, until I pass out on the street with some of the more rowdy locals.

I hesitantly opted for option one. If you have ever been a young girl with a backpack and a guidebook in a foreign city, I don’t need to underscore the concerns I had with this set up. Lucky for me, this man was Irish to the core: friendly, hospitable and a perfect gentleman.

I spent most of the evening running around Dublin, from pub to pub, drinking the local beer (Guinness), probably offending the bartenders by tipping them (not a custom in Ireland, "Would you tip your doctor?!") and watching the locals swell with patriotic pride as fireworks burst over the River Liffey in the heart of Dublin.

All of this, the people who welcomed me in, the beer that warmed my soul, and the celebration that swirled around me, will always give me a deep love for Ireland and Her people.

Kiss the Irish, they deserve it.

Mushroom, Stout and Goat Cheese Pot Pie

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil plus additional as needed
4 large carrots chopped
2 large leek chopped (white and very light green potion only)
2 celery stalks chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 ½ lb assorted mushrooms i.e. portobello, crimini, shiitake
1 cup peas
1 cup broth vegetable or beef
12 ounces stout
¼ cup AP flour
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp black pepper
½ tsp salt
3 ounces goat cheese
1 sheet puff pastry thawed
2 tbs melted butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the carrots, leeks and celery, sauté until the carrots start to soften.
Add the mushrooms and cook until softened and darkened, about 5 minutes (add additional olive oil if the pan starts to dry).
Add the peas, broth and stout. Bring to a simmer. Sprinkle with flour, stir to combine. Stir in the oregano, pepper and salt. Cook until thickened, about 2 minutes, remove from heat.
Divide evenly between 6 oven safe (12 to 14 ounce) serving bowls, sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese.
Roll out puff pastry on a lightly floured surface, cut into 6 equal squares.
Top each bowl with one square, press into shape.
Brush with melted butter, slice 3 to 4 small slits in the top of each bowl.
Bake at 375 until puff pastry is golden brown.

Chocolate Stout Waffle Sundae with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce

20.02.2013 33 Comments

In my world, this is dessert.

But that being said, I ate it at 3 in the afternoon (mostly because I wanted to make it for you, and I refuse to photograph using artificial light, necessitating a mid-day desert for picture taking purposes).

Breakfast in my land, is savory. Although I occasionally indulge in sugar loaded calorie bomb in the morning hours only because for some reason it’s socially acceptable, but if we step back and look at it objectively, this is dessert.

Since I put beer in your breakfast on multiple occasions (Like this, and this and don’t forget about this), I would never judge you for eating this pre-noon. BUT, it’s dessert. And it needs to be served with a stout that’s almost warm. Maybe a sipin' stout that’s been aged in a bourbon barrel, or a smokey porter.

But it’s definitely dessert. Even if you eat it in the middle of the day.

Chocolate Stout Waffle Sundae with Chocolate Stout Fudge Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For The Sauce

3 tbs butter
½ cup stout
2 tbs corn syrup
1 cup dark chocolate chips

For the Waffles

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup milk
2/3 cup stout
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs divided
1/3 cup sugar
Ice Cream for serving

Instructions

Add the butter, 1/2 cup stout and corn syrup to a sauce pan. Cook over medium high heat until butter has melted and the mixture has just started to boil.
Turn off heat and stir in 1 cup chocolate chips until completely melted. Allow to cool slightly before using.
Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturers specifications.
In a large bowl add the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt, stir.
In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and milk. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted. Stir in the beer, vegetable oil, vanilla and only the yolks of the two eggs.
Add the whites to separate bowl, along with the sugar. Whip with a hand mixer until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the chocolate milk mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold into the egg whites until just incorporated.
Cook in waffle iron according to manufacturers specifications, using butter flavored cooking spray if indicated.
Plate waffles, top with desired amount of ice cream, drizzle with chocolate sauce. Serve with a malty stout.

Stout French Dip

13.02.2013 31 Comments

When you write, reading isn’t important, it’s essential. Unfortunately, my days are packed too full and reading has become a rare luxury. All due in no small part to the fact that I’m not only writing a cookbook (due to my publisher at the beginning of next month) I’ve also started writing for a print magazine as well as two other websites. Once I can, at least, check "cookbook" off my to-do list, I can get back to being a normal human and indulging in reading, and sleep, and all those sorts of activities that I’m currently ignoring.

I’m making a list, I thought I’d share. About a month ago, I posted on The Beeroness Facebook page asking for suggestions for beer books. Since you all are so amazing, the list has been growing.

Beer & Food:

The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food, Garrett Oliver
Beer, Food, and Flavor: A Guide to Tasting, Pairing, and the Culture of Craft Beer, Schuyler Schultz
The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance, Randy Clemens & Steve Wagner & Greg Koch
The Oxford Companion to Beer, Garrett Oliver

Beer Non-fiction:

America Walks into a Bar: A Spirited History of Taverns and Saloons, Speakeasies, Christine Sismondo
Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, Judith M. Bennett
Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits, Jason Wilson (beer & liquor)
The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World, Stephen Mansfield
Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America’s Kings of Beer, William Knoedelseder

For The Homebrewer:

The Naked Brewer: Fearless Homebrewing Tips, Tricks & Rule-breaking Recipes, Christina Perozzi & Hallie Beaune
For The Love of Hops: The Practical Guide to Aroma, Bitterness and the Culture of Hops, Stan Hieronymus
Brew Like a Monk: Trappist, Abbey, and Strong Belgian Ales, Stan Hieronymus
IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale, Mitch Steele

Stout French Dip

Print Recipe

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

1 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp cayenne
¼ tsp smoked paprika
3 lb chuck roast
2 tbs olive oil
12 ounces porter or stout
3 cups beef stock
4 French sandwich rolls

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, black pepper, salt, cayenne, and smoked paprika.
Pat the roast dry. Rub with spice mixture.
Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven, or other large oven safe pot, until hot but not smoking. Add the roast, sear on all sides. Pour beer and broth over the meat. Cover and roast in oven at 325 for 3 hours or until very tender. Move meat to a cutting board.
Place Dutch oven back on the stove. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 10 minutes.
Shred meat using two forks. Split rolls, fill with meat. Spoon a bit of sauce over the meat. Serve remaining broth in bowls with sandwiches for dipping.

Slow Cooker Stout Red Beans and Rice

28.01.2013 37 Comments

Can we still be friends if I tell you that I don’t really like slow cookers? I resisted getting one for years, and then, like the culinary lemming that I can often be, I caved and asked for one for Christmas.

As I kid, I hated them. I saw it only as that thing that ruined spare ribs that should rightfully be cooked on the grill. And now, all I see is how much people lose their minds over how great these slow cooking machines are. So far, I’m not impressed. Of the "dump and cook" recipes I’ve tried, the flavors just end up muddy and I’m left feeling completely left out of the cooking process like I wasn’t invited to the party.

That’s why this recipe calls for two parts, slow cooking the beans and then finishing the dish with a conventional cooking to add more layers of flavor.

Slow cooking the beans is really the best way to go, wether it be on your stove top, or in one of these slow cooking machines I have yet to fall in love with. Much better final result than with canned beans, and I’ll admit, the slow cooker does a great job of babysitting during the long process so you can go about your life.

If you have a fantastic slow cooker recipe, PLEASE let me know. I’d love to be let in on the secret to this that I’m clearly missing out on. Leave it in the comment section (a link is fine, if you’ve got one), because maybe there’s hope for me and this slow cooker after all.

Slow Cooker Stout Red Beans and Rice

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb small red beans or red kidney beans dry
24 ounces stout or porter
4 cups chicken broth
1 hickory smoked ham hock
1 red onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp sriracha
1 tbs olive oil
1 lb raw chicken bratwurst sliced
1 green pepper chopped
4 strips bacon sliced
salt and pepper to taste
Cooked rice for serving.

Instructions

Add red beans, porter, chicken broth, ham hock, onion, garlic and sriracha to a slow cooker. Cook on low for eight hours.
Once the beans are finished cooking, heat the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Cook the brats, green peppers and bacon until meat has been cooked through. Stir the brats, bacon and peppers with the beans, salt and pepper to taste. serve over rice.

Vegan Chipotle Stout Chili with IPA Cashew Cream

16.01.2013 35 Comments

If you’re new to the Craft Beer scene, it might surprise you how many vegetarian and vegans there are here.

While I am a meat eater (clearly, I put bacon in desserts), I did spend three years as a vegetarian. Mostly, this was a response to growing up on a farm and getting up close and personal to the butchering process as well as the jarring realization of knowing the first name of my dinner. It did, however, give me a profound respect for the food I eat and the farms that share that respect.

I still eat vegan quite often, and there are some dishes, like lasagna, that I just think are just better in vegetarian form.

My true and honest feeling about vegan cooking is that regardless of what your typical diet is if you can’t cook a vegan meal that you love, you just aren’t that good of a cook. Produce is amazing, you get to use all the grains, seeds and nuts that you want and by the way, for the most part beer is vegan.

I first heard about Cashew Cream from this guy, and the idea was intriguing, given that I would have a much easier time giving up meat than sour cream and goat cheese. I like the idea of having a creamy element when I want to go non-dairy. This cashew cream was a really beautiful creamy addition to a vegan chili, when sour cream isn’t an option. I wanted to balance the sweetness so I added some acid and some spices, but feel free to experiment. This would also be a great place to add a little chipotle.

Vegan Chipotle Stout Chili with IPA Cashew Cream

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For The Cashew Cream:

2 cups raw cashwes
1 to 1 ½ cups almond milk
Additional 1/3 cup almond milk
2 tbs IPA beer
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tsp white wine vinegar

For The Chili:

3 tbs olive oil
1 white onion chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 cup crimini mushrooms finley diced
2 cloves garlic minced
12 wt ounces Soyrizo
2 cup stout
2 cups veggie broth
¼ cup tomato paste
1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz can stewed diced tomatoes, with juice
1 or 2 large chipotle peppers in adoboe minced
½ cup quinoa
1/3 cup bulgur wheat
1 tsp cumin
¼ tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder

Garnishes:

½ cup Cilantro chopped
1 Avocado sliced
Tortilla Chips

Instructions

Add the cashews to a bowl, pour almond milk over cashews until covered. Let stand for 4 hours.
Drain cashews and add to a food processor with 1/3 cup almond milk, IPA, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and vinegar. Process until smooth, about 5 minutes, possibly longer. Add additional almond milk or beer for a thinner consistency.
In a pot over medium high heat, add the olive oil, onions, red peppers and mushrooms. Cook until onions and peppers have softened and the mushrooms have darkened.
Add the garlic and the soyrizo, stir, breaking up the soyrizo.
Add the stout, broth, tomato paste, black beans, kidney beans, tomatoes and chipotle, allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add the quinoa, bulgur, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and garlic powder, simmer until the quinoa has cooked, about 15 minutes. The longer chili simmers, the thicker it will be.
Plate on top of tortilla chips, if desired, top with cilantro, avocado, and cashew cream.

Stout Soaked Cherry Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust

08.01.2013 27 Comments

I need your help.

I’m somewhere around halfway done with this cookbook, and I need some feedback. I have about 50 recipes ready to go, but they have never been cooked outside of my kitchen.

I want to know if they work for you, if you like them (or didn’t), if the directions make sense. This part is important to me, it increases the chances that we can catch some of the flaws, some of the directions that may be misleading, or some factor I might have overlooked.

This book means so much to me, and the recipes working for as many people as possible is a high priority.

And I can’t do this on my own. If you are willing to make one (or more) of the Top Secret recipes I have in the works, keep it secret until the book goes to print, and give me your honest opinion, I need that.

If you’re at all interested, Please, check out my Book Page for more info. Please.

Stout Soaked Cherry Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust

Print Recipe

Ingredients

8 oz sweetened dried cherries about 1 ½ cups
2 cups stout
3 cups mini pretzels twists lightly crushed (about 1 ½ cups once processed)
2 tbs brown sugar
½ cup melted butter
24 ounces cream cheese
½ cup sour cream
pinch salt
2 tbs flour
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp vanilla

Instructions

Place dried cherries in a bowl or tall glass. Pour stout over cherries until fully submerged. Allow to sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours. Drain, reserving ¼ cup of the soaking liquid.
Preheat oven to 400.
In a food processor, add the pretzels and brown sugar, process until only crumbs remain, about 3 to 5 minutes. Slowly add the melted butter while the processor is running. Pour into the bottom of a 9 X 13 inch baking pan. Use the flat bottom of a heavy glass, measuring cup or mug to press the crust really well into a flat even layer.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the cream cheese, beat on high until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sour cream and beat until well combined. Add the salt, flour and sugar, mix until well incorporated. Add the eggs and vanilla, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Add ¼ of the stout used to soak the cherries, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in the cherries.
Pour cream cheese mixture over the crust, smooth out into an even layer.
Place in the oven and reduce oven temp to 350. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes or until the cheesecake has puffed slightly and center no longer jiggles when you shake the rack it sits on. Don’t over bake, it will firm up once it chills. Remove from oven (allow to stand at room temp until slightly cooled, about 10 minutes) refrigerate until chilled and set, at least 4 hours and up to 24. Cut into squares for serving

Stout Hot Chocolate with Stout Whipped Cream

28.12.2012 18 Comments

I was interviewed by a baking magazine a few weeks ago, because apparently I am the foremost expert on cooking with beer. This was the second interview I’ve done on the subject for a print magazine. One question always gets asked, so I figure some of you might have this same question:

"Does the alcohol cook off? Is it safe for kids?"

The short answer is: yes. The long answer, it depends.

Let me explain. No matter how much you cook beer, or any alcohol for that matter, some trace amounts remain. So trace, that their effects will never be felt, nor will the alcohol enter your blood stream. The USDA deems the consumption of cooked alcohol safe for all ages as well as pregnant women, you can see evidence of this when you are able to order steak in a red wine sauce or a rum raisin cake without being carded.

In order for the beer to be cooked enough to remove the alcohol it must be cooked at 170 (or above) for at least 10 minutes. This isn’t much. Everything that is baked will meet these requirements. Pan fried items generally will also meet the requirements, and although beer battered items aren’t cooked for ten minutes, the heat is so high and the amount of alcohol so small (about 1tbs per serving) the amount of alcohol actually left behind is minimal.

Because of this, I see no health concerns with the consumption of cooked beer. The only concerns that I do have are moral. I cook often, and have a diverse group of friends, among them are people who have moral conflicts with alcohol, such as Mormons and people in recovery. I would strongly suggest that if you are cooking for others, let people who may be morally opposed to consuming alcohol know what they are about to be served. Someone in AA might be triggered by the taste of beer, and some religions condemn the consumption of alcohol in all forms, even trace amounts.

Wow, not that thats out of the way, I have a Stout Hot Chocolate for you. And with your newly acquired beer cooking knowledge you have full control over how boozy you make it.

Head over to Rachel Cooks for the recipe.

Black and Tan Cookies: New York Deli Cookies Meet Beer Mixology

13.12.2012 15 Comments

Black and Tan cookies. This is the hybrid of that great New York Deli cookies, the Black & White, and the Grandfather of Beer Mixology, the Black & Tan.

Although the Black & Tan, a mixture of stout and pale ale, most often brings to mind a Bass/Guinness marriage, it actually dates back to the 1880’s when British pub owners tried to find a way to make the winter stout stash last without pissing of their customers. The trend caught on, and stout drinkers started to order the lighter mix during the summer months.

The idea of the Black & Tan is really similar to the idea of the Black and White cookie, two contrasting flavors, joining together to enhance the other. Plus, beer and cookies are just great.

Speaking of, whoever is first to open a pub/gourmet-bakery hybrid with a "Cookies and Beer" theme might find me as their brand new stalker.

For the Cookies:

2 sticks butter

2 cups Sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp lemon extract

2 eggs

½ cup heavy cream

½ cup pale ale

4 1/2 cups Flour

pinch of Salt

1 tbs cornstarch

1 tbs baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

For the Frosting:

4 ½ cups confectioners sugar, divided

¼ cup stout

1 ounce unsweetened bakers chocolate, chopped

¼ cup pale ale

½ tsp vanilla

Makes about 2 dozen

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add the butter and sugar and beat on high until well combined. Reduce speed to medium, add the eggs, lemon extract and vanilla extract, one at a time, and beat well between each addition, scraping the bottom occasionally.

Reduce speed to medium, add the heavy cream and the beer, mix until incorporated.

Stop the mixer, sprinkle the flour, salt, cornstarch, baking powder and baking soda on top of the butter mixer. Stir gently until just combined, scraping the bottom to insure the butter and flour are fully incorporated.

Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerated for 3 hours, and up to 36.

Scrape dough out of bowl onto a well floured surface. Pat into a rectangle, dust the top with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll dough into an even ½ to ¾ inch thickness. Using a large round biscuit cutter, cut out 24 to 30 cookies, place on a baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper. Place baking sheets in the refrigerator while oven preheats, about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325.

Bake cookies at 325 for 12 minutes or until cookies have puffed and no longer look wet. Do not brown cookies. Immediately slide the parchment off the baking sheet and onto a flat surface.

To make the frosting, put the stout and unsweetened chocolate in a pot over low/medium heat. Whisk until chocolate has melted. Add 2 cups confectioners sugar, whisk until combined. Add additional sugar to thicken, if needed. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

To make the white frosting, add the remaining 2 ½ cups confectioners sugar to a bowl, add the pale ale and the vanilla, whisk to combine. Add additional sugar if needed to thicken.

Frost all cookies with white icing on just half of the cookies. Frost the other half of all of the cookies with the chocolate frosting.