Boozy Brownie Recipe

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This will become one of your go-to boozy brownie recipes… I promise. I love to bake and have a wide variety of favorites, but this simple recipe is the most-requested from my friends… by like a million-to-one. I haven’t published this recipe before, so if you’re one of my friends who gets the gift of brownies from me, stop reading. I don’t want you to know how sinfully easy this boozy brownie recipe is.

The key to the simplicity is starting with a boxed brownie mix. In the spirit of experimentation, I have literally tested them all. There is one clear winner, and it’s so far superior that I don’t want you to do a substitution. The Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix is the key to success. You can buy it on Amazon here or buy it from Costco here, so trust me when I say it will be worth the effort to get this exact one. Also, there are 3 types of chocolate chips in the Gharardelli Brownie Mix, but yes, you still need to add more.

When it comes to butter, there is no substitution. When you make my recipe, do not even think about using vegetable oil or margarine. I will literally crawl through the Internet and smack the fake butter out of your hands. You won’t eat these coconut rum brownies every day, so you need to make them the right way

When you bake the coconut rum brownies, some of the alcohol will bake out… but not all of it. This is an adults-only boozy brownie recipe. You’ve been warned, so feed them to your kids at your own risk.

There are three aspects of this recipe that make it easy to modify to suit your taste buds:

• The Booze: Use rum, vodka, whiskey, Amaretto or any other high-alcohol-content booze. Avoid liqueurs, such as Kahlua, Baileys or Creme de Menthe, as they have extra added sugar and will mess with the overall consistency.
• The Flavoring Extract: Coconut, vanilla, toffee, caramel, banana, and even peanut butter extracts are all fair game.
• The Add-ins: Flaked coconut, peanut butter chips, toffee bits, chopped peanut butter cups, crushed peppermint candy, and Jr. Mints are just some of the things you can add. Just be sure to keep the chocolate chips.

Once you understand the basics, you can swap out the alcohol, the flavoring, and the add-ins in the recipe below and come up with something perfect for a season or a special occasion. The recipe below is for coconut rum brownies, but look at the easy substitutions you can do to make this boozy brownie recipe your own. Instead of rum, coconut extract and flaked coconut, use the following in the same quantities:

• Amaretto, toffee extract, and toffee chips​
• Vodka, peppermint extract & crushed peppermint pieces
• Amaretto, almond extract & crushed almonds
• Kirsch, vanilla & chopped Marischino cherries
• Vodka, vanilla & peanut butter chips

​My final bit of boozy brownie recipe advice is about your pan. You can use the following and keep the baking time the same:

• 8″ round or square
• 9″ round or square
• Special rectangle brownie pan with dividers (I personally love this one)

If you use the special brownie pan with a divider (my recommendation), make sure and douse the divider with non-stick cooking spray, and line the pan with parchment paper. This will make your cleanup so much easier!

 

I love this with a port, specifically a Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) port. I think Vintage Ports are too special to pair with anything but a glass, and tawny ports have the wrong flavor profile. (They pair better with caramel than chocolate.) If you don’t want to spend the $30 or so for an LBV port, buy a ruby port. It will be almost as good. Then put your Do Not Disturb sign up and enjoy the evening.