Guinness chocolate Rolo cookies are pillowy soft with a little hint of Guinness and a whole lot of chocolate flavor. With a caramel filled Rolo stuffed in the center, these homemade cookies are a quick and easy treat.
For two seconds I thought this month was going slow, and then I snapped back to reality and realized that this weekend is already St. Patrick’s Day. And what better way to celebrate St. Patty’s than with a little Guinness? I’m not really a dark beer drinker, but it pairs perfectly with chocolate-y baked goods!
In my younger days {okay, like my early 20’s} I loved celebrating St. Patrick’s day. I always hoped for warm weather for bar hopping and drinking lots of green drinks. We’d stay out from early afternoon until the wee hours of the morning. I can no longer keep up with this type of fun, so instead I still hope for nice weather, early bar hopping, fewer green drinks and home at a decent hour.
I have a thing for sweets after drinking, and the other weekend my mom, husband and a friend of ours all went out for an early St. Patty’s celebration. By the time we got home {9 pm, in bed by 10!} I was totally craving one of these Guinness chocolate Rolo cookies.
I love the little hint of Guinness {totally kid friendly since the Guinness bakes out} these cookies have. When they’re paired with little jewels of chocolate caramel goodness, I just can’t get enough.
How to create a pillowy cookie
This batter is pretty simple. A traditional sugar cookie of butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Then comes the fun part, about a half bottle of Guinness. For those of you who like dark beer, now would be the time to drink the other half while you finish up your cookies.
Next up are your dry ingredients. Very traditional again: flour, leavener and cocoa powder, because chocolate people! I always suggest whisking your dry ingredients, which helps to aerate the flour and create a light pillowy cookie. Plus it helps to make sure the cocoa powder is well combined with the flour.
Mix it all together and you have a cookie batter!
Chocolate caramel mash-up
Now at this point you can either spoon the batter directly onto a cookie sheet, or you can refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. I’ve tested it both ways, and it works both ways, but I personally prefer the refrigeration method.
After refrigerating, the batter holds together better and can be rolled into balls. No need to smoosh the balls down before baking, your Rolo will take care of that job.
These soft chocolate cookies bake for only 8 minutes, so use that time to unwrap all of your Rolos. Why does that process seem to take so long?! Once they’re done, promptly press an unwrapped Rolo into the center. {Another reason why I like refrigerating, the balls look a lot prettier when the Rolo is pressed in the center}.
The Rolo will start to melt and become all gooey and caramel-y, and create the perfect chocolate caramel mash-up.
Bake up a batch of these cookies for St. Patty’s day, or any day you’d like to have a little Guinness. I’m sure you’ll love them any time of the year!
- ½ cup {1 stick} butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 egg
- ½ cup room temperature Guinness
- 2 cups flour
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 25 Rolos unwrapped
-
Preheat oven to 375° F and grease two large baking sheets with cooking spray.
-
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar and mix until light and fluffy.
-
Add the vanilla and egg mixing until combined. Mix in the Guinness.
-
In a separate medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. {whisking will help aerate the flour and make for a fluffier cookie}.
-
Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix until incorporated. Mix in the second half.
-
Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. Roll the dough into 25 balls and place on the prepared baking sheet.
-
Bake for 8 minutes, remove and quickly press an unwrapped Rolo into the center of each cookie.
-
Let cool on a baking rack.
