Irish Coffee Brownies

With St Patty's Day this weekend, that means I'm up to my brownie experiments again. I simply must have a brownie for every occasion, and for St Patrick's Day, the thought of Irish Coffee Brownies was particularly appealing.

I'm proud to say that this was one of the few brownie experiments I've done that turned out perfectly on my first try! I substituted Irish whiskey for vanilla extract (just enough to give the brownies a whiskey flavor without making them alcoholic), and I substituted coffee for a portion of the cocoa. The result was a perfect blend of all those flavors that make Irish coffee so tasty.

Irish Coffee Brownies
Brownie Batter 1/2 cup cocoa powder 1/4 cup instant coffee granules 1/2 cup hot coffee 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 3/4 cup sunflower oil 2 eggs 1 tbsp Irish whiskey 2 1/2 cups raw sugar 1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour 3/4 teaspoon salt	Cream Cheese Batter 8 -oz cream cheese, room temperature 1/3 cup raw sugar 1 egg 1 tsp Irish whiskey
Directions 1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving about a one-inch overhang on all sides. Grease with oil. 2. Whisk cocoa, instant coffee, and hot coffee together in large bowl until smooth. Whisk in melted butter and oil. Add eggs and whiskey and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. 3. In a separate bowl, mix together flour and salt. Add to liquid mixture and mix with rubber spatula until combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan. 4. To prepare cream cheese mixture, beat cream cheese, sugar, egg and whiskey in a medium bowl until smooth. Distribute the cream cheese mixture in dollops over batter in the pan. Swirl in with a knife or spatula. 5. Bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.
Yield: 24 brownies	Calories per serving: 240

Happy St. Patrick's Day!