Seriously Easy Bailey’s Brownies

Happy Tuesday! I slept through my workout this morning since I’m still catching up from not sleeping well over the weekend. And then this afternoon, I had a wicked headache at work. I’m drinking enough water which is usually one culprit for me, so I’m not sure what is causing it. I had a wicked headache yesterday afternoon too. It’s weird. I’m starting to wonder if it’s all the sugary goodness I’m partaking in at work. There is so much candy, cookies, truffles, peanuts, etc. that I’ve been munching on. ‘Tis the season.

Tonight I hosted book club, even though I didn’t finish the book we read – The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling’s first adult novel. I’m about 80 pages in and really am not enjoying it.  I’ve heard it doesn’t get much better so I’m not sure I’ll plough through. I hate not finishing books but I also hate getting behind on the next book! For our holiday book club gathering, I made Bailey’s brownies. I posted about it on Instagram last night and a few people asked for the recipe. I don’t even know if you can call it a recipe but I’ll tell you how I did it.

I bought a brownie mix. A gluten-free version. (Bob’s Red Mill was on killer sale for $3; most GF mixes are $6-8. yikes!)

I mixed it with all the other ingredients the mix called for. In this case, it was an egg, melted butter (I used melted Earth Balance) and warm water. BUT! I subbed 1/4 cup of the water for 1/4 cup of Bailey’s. [BTW, the mini Bailey’s is exactly 1/4 cup, just in case you don’t want to buy a larger bottle and have leftover Bailey’s. (hahaha. Silly.)]

I mixed it all up until just combined and baked per the mix instructions. For this mix, it was 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  [Or just until a toothpick inserted came out clean – no longer or they’ll be dry. It was 21 minutes for me.] Perfectly moist, borderline too rich, just the way a brownie should be. With a hint of Bailey’s to make them special.

I don’t handle dairy well but the small amount of dairy that the Bailey’s added didn’t cause problems for me. And that’s lucky because I have other problems to worry about. Like how my dog refuses to look at the camera. She seriously closed her eyes. What dog does that??

Seriously Easy Bailey’s Brownies

• 1 brownie mix (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free)
• 1/4 c Bailey’s
• any ingredients the brownie mix calls for (in my case, butter, eggs and warm water – I used Earth Balance in place of butter)

1. Follow the instructions on the brownie mix, but replace 1/4 c. of the water it calls for with 1/4 c. of Bailey’s. Bake as usual.

Ta-da! Bailey’s Brownies.

Please tell me how you deal with all the holiday treats at the office. I don’t ever remember struggling this much in years past! I’m eating a loooot of junk. :/