Get your Irish on to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (or any day) with these rich, divine, chocolaty, sweet, spicy, salty and Guinnessy cupcakes.

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Guinness (any beer will do, but Guinness is highly recommended)
• 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp. ground ginger
• 2 tsp. ground cinnaom
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 6 slices of bacon

Directions for Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 325F

Line muffin tin regular-size cupcake liners (recipe makes 24 cupcakes).

Turn stove top element on medium heat, and add beer and butter in a saucepan and whisk together until the butter is all melted.

Once butter is melted, remove from heat.

In a bowl, add: sour cream, eggs, and vanilla and whisk until smooth.

In a separate bowl, sift the cocoa and add sugar, cinnamon and ginger to the cocoa, then slowly whisk the cocoa/sugar mixture into the beer mixture in the saucepan, and keep whisking. (The mixture will look lumpy, and that’s okay).

In another bowl, sift flour and baking soda together and then add it to the saucepan mixture.

Mix it all together, until the mixture looks like an even chocolaty color.

Fill the cupcake liners (about three-quarters full with batter).

Bake for 27 – 30 minutes (until the center of cupcake comes out dry when tested with a toothpick).

While cupcakes are baking, cook 6 slices of bacon until crispy, then blot with paper towel, let cool and then crumble and set aside.

Once cupcakes are baked, let them cool for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Buttercream Ingredients:

• 1 cup un-salted butter, softened
• 3 tsp. vanilla
• 4 cups icing (confectionery) sugar
• 6 TBSP cream
• pinch of salt

Directions for Buttercream Icing:

Beat the butter until it’s light and creamy, you want a smooth, creamy consistency, then add the icing sugar, until it is all incorporated.

Add the cream and a pinch of salt, incorporate the cream into the mixture.

Add the vanilla then keep mixing until icing is fluffy and thoroughly combined.

Pipe each cupcake with icing, and sprinkle crumbled bacon on top.