Butterscotch Beer Bars

One of my most popular St. Patrick’s Day recipes is for my Beer Brownies with Caramel Beer Frosting.  They are delicious!  So, this year, I decided to make Butterscotch Beer Bars in honor of the holiday and you know what?  They’re delicious too!  In a very unique way, the beer and the butterscotch just complement each other.  These bars are a little dense, very moist and full of flavor (the cream cheese frosting at the end is a nice touch too 😉 )!  Now, I call them bars but you could probably also get by with calling this a sheet cake too.  Either way, you’re going to love this spin on basically a blondie.  Enjoy!

This recipe makes one batch of bars in a 9×13 baking dish.

Shopping List
1 cup of butter
3/4 cup of butterscotch chips
4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
2 cups flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup beer (plus a tablespoon more for the frosting)
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease (I used Pam) a 9×13 baking dish.  Set aside.

In a microwavable bowl, melt your butter and butterscotch chips together stopping to stir every 30 seconds.  Once melted, set aside to cool slightly.

In a mixing bowl, beat your eggs with your sugar.  Next, beat in your melted butterscotch/butter mixture.  Then, beat in your flour followed by your salt.  Finally, beat in your beer.  (Try not to over-mix the batter.  Just beat until everything is incorporated.)  Pour this mixture down into your prepared baking dish and bake about 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Remove bars from oven and cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, beat your cream cheese, powdered sugar and tablespoon of beer with an electric mixer.  Add more powdered sugar if the frosting is too thin or more beer if it’s too thick.  (You can also substitute milk for beer in the frosting if you like.)  Once your frosting reaches the desired consistency, frost your cooled bars.  Cut into bars and serve.  When not enjoying, store in the fridge.  Again, they’re nice and dense and could be called cake too…either way, they’re so good!

Now, you can use whatever kind of beer you like, but in honor of St. Paddy’s Day, I used Samuel Adams’ Boston Lager.

Happy (almost) St. Paddy’s Day!