Low Carb flourless chocolate brownies topped with a rich Irish Cream frosting. Make your own sugar-free Irish Cream!
I am not the sort of blogger that follows every trend and plans out her editorial calendar months in advance. With the exception of Christmas, I don’t pay much mind to the most of the real holidays, let alone the made-up food holidays. I do tend to post seasonally-appropriate things but that’s because I am a normal person whose cravings adjust themselves according to the temperatures. Notice I haven’t posted a salad recipe in a while? Yeah, because it’s been FREEZING here and all I want is soup, stew and other comfort foods. I write recipes and post according to my own weird whims, and as much as I try to take my readership into consideration, I don’t think that’s going to change any time soon. I try to give you what I think you’d like to see, but mostly I post in accordance to what I feel like making and eating. Thankfully, I have plenty of archived recipes and if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere and crave ice cream, there’s always my search function!
St. Paddy’s Day is coming and the internet is overrun with foods that are tinted green or contain Bailey’s or Irish Whiskey. Or Guinness. All very popular items this time of year and most bloggers have been posting such recipes for at least a few weeks. Well, I am slow on the uptake, I guess. More to the point, I can’t really get myself motivated to make holiday recipes weeks in advance of a particular holiday. And St. Patrick’s Day isn’t REALLY a holiday, now is it? I mean it’s not the sort of holiday you get off from work, right? It’s more an excuse to eat corned beef and cabbage, which I love, and if you feel like drinking green beer, go for it. I’ll pass on that one!
But a reader did put in a request for a sugar-free Irish Cream Liqueur a while ago and so with St Paddy’s day coming, I finally moved on it. Turns out it was ridiculously easy. Unlike my other low carb liqueur recipes, this is something you can make very quickly, no waiting weeks for it to maintain the right flavour. So you still have time to make it if you are looking for a low carb Irish tipple on the 17th. I don’t really like Bailey’s on its own, to be honest. But it’s a great way to flavour other baked goods and I settled on Irish Cream Brownies. That rich whiskey-flavoured liqueur goes REALLY nicely with chocolate, I will admit!
To get the recipe for the liqueur, you will have to check out my latest article on SheKnows. Then come back here and make these awesome brownies and kick up your heels on St. Patrick’s Day. You know you want to!
Sugar-Free Irish Cream Liqueur on SheKnows
- 12 tbsp butter
- 4 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 1/4 cup Sugar-Free Irish Cream Liqueur (recipe below)
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum to emulsify
- 6 tbsp butter softened
- 1 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 cup Sugar-Free Irish Cream Liqueur room temperature
- 1 ounce extra dark chocolate melted (optional)
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For the brownies, preheat oven to 325F and grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.
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Melt butter, chocolate and cocoa powder together in a medium saucepan, stirring until smooth.
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Stir in sweetener and vanilla extract. Let cool 5 minutes.
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Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until well combined, then whisk in sugar free Irish Cream.
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Sprinkle with xanthan gum and whisk vigorously to combine.
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Spread mixture in prepared pan. Bake 13 to 16 minutes, or until just barely set and middle is still not quite cooked (some readers have found they need to cook it longer - oven temperatures do vary). Watch them carefully as they can get quite dry if overdone. The edges will rise a little higher but should recede as they cool.
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Let cool in pan.
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For the frosting, beat butter and sweetener until smooth. Beat in sugar-free Irish Cream until well combined.
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Spread over cooled brownies.
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Drizzle with dark chocolate, if desired.
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener (or other sweetener to taste)
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp instant coffee
- 2 star anise pods optional
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 2/3 cup Irish Whiskey
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 tsp coconut extract
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In a medium saucepan, whisk together cream, sweetener, cocoa powder, instant coffee and star anise, if using. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat, cover and let steep 30 minutes.
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Remove anise pods and transfer mixture to a blender. Add half and half, whiskey, almond extract and coconut extract. Blend until smooth.
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Transfer to a glass bottle or jar and refrigerate. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Other Low Carb St. Patrick’s Day Recipes!
Chocolate Donuts with Irish Cream Glaze
Sandy says
These brownies look like something else from your blog I will try for sure.
thanks so much for all of the great recipes!
Jolene says
Oh, no, Carolyn! The link to the SF Irish Cream says the page can’t be found! However, these look very yummy (although I can’t say I have ever found a brownie I didn’t like!). 🙂
Jolene says
Oh, wait! The links in the recipe work! Will have to make a trip to the grocery store. Thank you, Carolyn!!
Carolyn says
It’s all fixed. I am having quite the morning!
Jessica says
I tried all three links, and they all lead to the same generic page, which doesn’t have the recipe on it. :-/
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
Love that you made your own sugar free irish creme!
Donna Hardin says
If I would want just brownies…what should we substitute for Irish Cream? (The 1/4 c liquid)
Carolyn says
Do 1/4 almond milk or half and half.
Donna Hardin says
You are brilliant! What a ‘duh’ moment! Ha. Tx
Terra says
First, I wanted you to know I added you to my Blogs I Love board on Pinterest. I have been following you since I started blogging, and I am excited to see new ideas for Diabetic friendly recipes to help me:-) Your bars look amazing! Beautiful, Hugs, Terra
Carolyn says
Aw, thanks, Terra! I feel like we’ve “known” each other for a long time in the foodie world. I am sorry to hear about your diagnosis, though. But ask me ANY questions you want. 🙂
Samantha Hill says
Sorry I sound so dumb here. What is half and half?
I’ve never heard the expression before
Great recipe. Thanks
TheChicklette says
We’ve had that problem before! 😀 It’s half cream, half milk. I think it’s an American thing.
Carolyn says
It’s a north American thing, certainly. And it’s homogenized so they don’t separate out from each other. It’s the best cream for coffee!
Tanya says
Would it be okay to use 1/4 tsp of Gar Gum instead of 1/4 tsp of Xanthan Gum? I apologize for I am not familiar enough to even know if they are same thing.
Carolyn says
Yes, I think that will work fine.
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
These brownies are fantastic Carolyn! My mouth is watering!
Jan Stamm says
I just made these, substituting no carb Torani Irish Cream syrup (splenda sweetened) for the home-made Bailey’s – turned out great! I also baked them as individual servings in 16 green gingham cupcake papers…quite festive for our early Irish dinner tomorrow night…:)
Carolyn says
I didn’t know Torani made an Irish cream sugar free version. That works!
Sarah G says
It’s actually a day of celebration of a great saint, despite what it has turned into over the years. So, thanks for the great way to remember his day…brownies! Yum! 🙂
Jeanette | Jeanette's Healthy Living says
Love how decadent these look! Can’t believe they’re low carb – you’ve done it again Carolyn!
Dina says
i’m all about low carb desserts and these look amazing!
Alisha says
I haven’t been able to find powdered Swerve apart from the internet, and last I checked, the site was sold out. I might just go buy a coffee grinder for these! I tried powdering in my blender for some fudge (might have been one of your recipes? not sure anymore), and it didn’t work well at all. As long as you didn’t try to chew the fudge and get the graininess… they were ok lol.
My question was – for the brownie base, did you use regular granulated swerve or powdered? I don’t want to run into the same problem as my fudge
Carolyn says
For the base, it’s regular Swerve. For the frosting, it’s powdered.
Lise says
And we can only get granulated here so I just use my coffee grinder to make it powdered. It is dedicated for grinding almonds etc.
Tora says
I hope this doesn’t sound dumb but your irish cream liqueur you called for 2/3 cup of irish whiskey. I just purchased a bottle that say 40% alcohol. I do not drink nor know much about alcohol but I was telling my roommate about what I am making and she said that 2/3 cup is way too much for the drink and can get you drunk. She say an ounce is 40% alcohol so I am putting 5 oz in your recipe…is this right? I am assuming that 40% means the serving size of the bottle which is 375ml, not per ounce. Not sure if my roommate is playing a trick on me or trying to get free alcohol but can you clarify this for me? The brand I got is Jameson. Thanks!
Carolyn says
Well, 2/3 cup of whiskey in the recipe isn’t ONE serving. It’s 16 servings! Which amounts to less than one ounce per serving. If the whole 2/3 cup was for a single serving, yes, I would be worried. But it’s for the WHOLE recipe.
Sherrie Lee Nelson says
Hi Carolyn,
I saw your earlier answer for substituting equivalent liquid only instead of the Irish Cream. I was curious – if I want the flavors of the Irish Cream without the alcohol, can I just leave out the Irish Whiskey? Do I need to add anything to still get the flavor? I know it would cook out of the brownie, but it wouldn’t cook out of the frosting.
Thank you for your help, I appreciate that you take the time to answer everyone’s questions. I did look through to see if you had already answered this question.
You’re the best!
Sherrie
Carolyn says
Sure, leave it out. I think it will taste good, although not exactly like Irish Cream!
Sally says
Making brownies, I cooked them for 18 minutes – took them out as the edges seem to have been setting. The center was still wet, but I took them out as I was concerned about them being too dry. The pan has cooled for about 35 minutes but center is still not set, very wet. Will it set up or should it have cooked more? I am putting it back in the oven, as it seems almost pudding like. Any idea?
Thanks
Sally says
I cooked the brownies another 8 minutes. They were still not set in the middle, but did set up nicely upon cooling. They came out very nice, not dry or overdone; very tasty and a recipe I will do again. Please let me know what others have found with the bake time and texture. Thanks.
Sally
Carolyn says
Made a note about it in the recipe…
Jan says
I brought these to St. Patrick’s Day party last night. All the guests are amazing and discerning cooks. They went wild for these bars. The portions were perfect as they pack a wollop for flavor and richness. My bars looked exactly like yours. I used granular Swerve in the brownies as you didn’t specify which type. It felt grainy but the finished product was not. I used the powdered Swerve for the frosting. It has a grainy appearance, not smooth but the chocolate poured over fixed that, no one noticed. It is the first time I worked with Swerve so I’ll search your site for tricks. These were genius and my guests could not believe there was no sugar in the recipe. They would have expected the product to be dry, not moist. I too cooked them a little longer. I first cooked them to 13 minutes, checked, 3 minutes more, checked, then 5 minutes I took them out. Your description was perfect, just set, raised edges. Thanks so much for these.
Kate Brandeis says
Just served these (and the sf Irish Cream liquor) to rave reviews! Another winner. I used Greek yogurt cream cheese in place of the butter for the frosting and cut down a bit on the Swerve. They looked like tiny, square pints of Guinness, complete with a frothy head! Thank you, as always for your wonderful ideas and impeccable directions!
charlotte says
These look good, but considering i’m only 13 i should probably omit the liquor :))))))))))))))))))))
Would you sub anything for it, or just omit it?
Carolyn says
Just omit and maybe get some irish cream flavouring for the frosting?
charlotte says
Thanks a lot. i might make the original recipe for my dad though. he would love these:)
Carol says
I would really like to try these brownies. The link to SheKnows for the sugar-free Irish Cream isn’t working. Is there another place to find the recipe for it? Thanks!
Carolyn says
I fixed it, they recently changed all the links but didn’t tell me.
Katie says
I loved these flowerless brownies! I ended up adding a bit of cream cheese to the frosting to cut the sweetness of the Bailey’s. Thanks so much!
Carolyn says
Glad you approve!
Myra says
I’m Myra from The Happy Health Freak. I am doing a round-up for St. Patrick’s Day recipes on my blog (www.thehappyhealthfreak.com) and I came across your website while searching for delicious recipes.
I would like your permission to feature this recipe in my round-up. I will use your photo with credit and link back to your page. I will not copy and paste any text from your post.
I am planning to post this next week, if you could please let me know I would greatly appreciate it!
Thank you,
Myra
Carolyn says
Sure, thanks for asking.
TheaMaria says
Hi Carolyn! I see the Irish cream recipe calls for half & half. I don’t keep that on hand… What could I substitute? Cashew milk? Or more dairy cream plus water? Thanks for your expertise, hon!