The Secret Boozy Ingredient For The Most Decadent Brownies Ever

Brownies are a well-loved dessert, whether they're made from a box mix or whipped up from scratch. Now, there are plenty of tips out there for making the perfect brownies, with each tip dedicated to helping you achieve the ideal flavor and texture. One such tip that you can implement if you're looking for a next-level adult brownie recipe is to try adding a special boozy ingredient — Irish cream.

Irish cream, if you didn't know, is a liqueur made of Irish whiskey and fresh Irish cream and is oh-so-sweet. Besides its silky-smooth milky flavor, it also has chocolate and vanilla notes to it, which pair perfectly with your brownies' flavor. As a result, adding this liqueur to your dessert can make your treat sweet, gooey, and extra decadent. Of course, if you want to add this classic sweet drink to your brownie recipe, there are a couple of things you'll need to know.

To make brownies with Irish cream, the easiest way to go about this is to use a packaged brownie mix (although you could try using a from-scratch recipe if you prefer). Then, you'll want to add between ¼ cup and 1 cup of the liqueur to your batter, depending on which recipe you're following. In general, the Irish cream will replace the water or milk indicated in the box mix instructions, although you may find homemade recipes that still call for these ingredients.

To give your brownies an even stronger Irish cream flavor, you can also make a frosting for them. For this, you'll essentially make a traditional American buttercream, but add several tablespoons of the liqueur to the mix. The result is a frosting that complements your brownies' new flavor.

While that's the general way to make Irish cream brownies, you can also get creative and try a few variations. For example, most recipes call for store-bought liqueur, such as Baileys, but you could also try using a homemade Irish cream for a truly DIY dessert.

Irish cream isn't the only liquor you can add to your brownies recipe. There are other boozy additions that you can mix in as well — all of them make for unique and extra-fancy desserts. For instance, going off the Irish theme, you could try adding Guinness to the treat. Or, if you prefer to stick to liqueurs, you can add Kahlua for a coffee-forward infusion.

Another trick you can try is to throw some Jack Daniel's into your brownies. Many bakers like to pair this particular type of brownie with caramel, too, just to take things a step further. If you love whiskey but want something different, you could also try making bourbon pecan brownies, another boozy twist on the classic chocolate dessert.

Besides these suggestions, you can always put on your creative cap and experiment with adding other types of liquor to the batter yourself. Whichever alcohol you decide to add to your brownies, know that you'll be stepping up your brownie game and treating yourself to an extra delicious grown-up sweet!