Guinness Black Bottom Mint Cupcakes

I am obsessed with Guinness! A lot of people tell me that they don't like Guinness because its too dark and bitter, but it is really one of the only beers I enjoy. It's exceptionally delicious when you pair it with chocolate because it enhances the chocolate flavor. I was excited when I found this recipe since its similar to Betty Crocker's Dalmatian Cupcakes, which are my all-time favorite and the basis for any cream cheese cupcake I make. Plus, how can you go wrong when you add Guinness?

Here's what you need:

• 1 cup Guinness Beer
• 1 cup butter
• ¾ cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder)
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup sour cream 

• 1 8oz block cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons mint extract (I didn't have mint extract so I used 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract)
• ¾ cup mint chips (I used Andes) 

And the steps:

1. Combine beer and butter in a saucepan. Melt butter over medium heat. When butter has melted, whisk in cocoa powder. Remove from heat and let cool. (I did this in the microwave since that's so much easier and faster than doing it over the stove)
2. With a hand mixer, beat together cream cheese, sugar, egg, salt and extract. Stir in mint chips. Set aside. (I microwaved the cream cheese for 45 seconds.  If the cream cheese is not at room temperature, it won't sink when you bake it).
3. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
4. In a mixer, beat eggs and sour cream until blended. Slowly beat in the beer mixture, just until combined. Carefully stir in flour mixture and continue beating until well mixed.
5. Line cupcake pans and fill each cup 2/3 full with chocolate batter. Drop a tablespoon full of cream cheese mixture in the center of each cupcake. Bake in a pre heated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes 30 cupcakes.(Mine took about 3 more minutes to cook completely, but I made them too big because I only got 24 cupcakes...)

I totally forgot to take pictures of all of the steps because I was multi-tasking by making my dinner at the same time.  Here's a picture of the finished batter in the cupcake pan:

And with the cream cheese mixture:

After baking:

The final product:

 

The verdict: These cupcakes were fabulous, as I expected.  They were better than any other cream cheese cupcake I've ever made even.   The cake had a rich chocolate flavor that I fell in love with; thank you Guinness!  And the cream cheese filling was equally good.  My sister also loved them, so the were pretty much instantly gone.  I will definitely be making these again! 

P.S. These cupcakes are also great with cream cheese frosting.  For an easy cream cheese frosting, beat together 1 cup of softened butter and 1 cup of softened cream cheese.  Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 2 cups of powdered sugar, adding it one cup at a time.  Voila, delicious and fast frosting!

The Bottom Line: LOVED IT!!!