- Limited-edition bagels with a Guinness Chocolate Stout Cake schmear bring an Irish-inspired twist to breakfast for St. Patrick’s Day.
- PopUp Bagels teams up with Guinness Open Gate Brewery to offer a special tasting event in Chicago.
- The collaboration focuses on rich flavors like stout, chocolate and cream cheese to inspire homemade St. Patrick’s Day recipes.
- Home cooks can recreate similar spreads, dips and breads to build a full St. Patrick’s Day menu at home.
Every March, many people start looking for original St. Patrick’s Day recipes that go a little beyond the classic corned beef or green cupcakes. This year, an eye-catching collaboration between a popular bagel brand and a world-famous stout brewery is offering plenty of inspiration for anyone who wants to give their table an Irish-inspired twist with modern flavors.
Instead of focusing only on big, heavy meals, this trend brings St. Patrick’s Day to the breakfast and brunch table. The idea is simple but clever: freshly baked bagels paired with a Guinness-flavored schmear, turning a quick morning bite into something that feels seasonal, cozy and a bit indulgent without being over the top.
Irish-Inspired Breakfast: Bagels for St. Patrick’s Day
In many viral videos, people break into bagels that have a deeply browned, bubbly crust and an airy crumb, then dunk them into bold, creamy dips. That visual has naturally turned into recipe inspiration for St. Patrick’s Day, where more and more home cooks are looking to combine simple breads with standout spreads instead of cooking a huge feast.
One collaboration that fits this mood perfectly brings together PopUp Bagels and Guinness. The focus is on bagels served with a Guinness Chocolate Stout Cake schmear, a spread that borrows the flavor of a much-loved dessert from the brand and adapts it for breakfast. This kind of recipe idea shows how traditional Irish stout can easily move from the pint glass to the plate.
Even if you don’t live near a participating location, the concept itself is very adaptable: start with a well-toasted bagel or crusty roll, then build a spread using flavors typically found in stout-based desserts — think cocoa, coffee notes, vanilla and a gentle bitterness that keeps things from becoming too sweet.
For a St. Patrick’s Day brunch at home, you can arrange a small bar of toppings: plain bagels, whole wheat bagels and seeded versions, along with a variety of schmears. The Guinness-inspired one can be the star of the table, surrounded by more neutral options like classic cream cheese, butter or a tangy yogurt spread.
Guinness Chocolate Stout Cake Schmear: Turning Dessert into a Spread
The heart of this recipe idea is the Guinness Chocolate Stout Cake schmear, a creamy spread that echoes the flavors of a rich chocolate stout cake but in a format that works on bagels or toast. Instead of serving a full slice of cake for breakfast, you get a thin layer of those same flavors in a more balanced way.
To recreate something similar at home, you can start with a base of softened cream cheese or mascarpone. From there, add cocoa powder, a touch of powdered sugar, vanilla and just enough stout to bring in depth and aroma without making the mixture runny. The goal is to get a smooth, easily spreadable texture that holds its shape on the bagel.
Some home bakers like to fold in finely grated dark chocolate or chocolate chips for small pockets of extra richness. If you prefer a lighter version, a swirl of Greek yogurt can cut through the sweetness and introduce a tang that pairs well with the roasted notes of stout.
When serving this kind of schmear for St. Patrick’s Day, you can keep presentation simple. Arrange the spread in a bowl, top with a light dusting of cocoa or shaved chocolate and place it next to a board of warm bagels. The contrast between the crisp, toasted crust and the cool, creamy schmear is where the magic really happens.
St. Patrick’s Day Recipe Ideas Inspired by the Collaboration
While the collaboration focuses on bagels, its flavor profile opens the door to many other St. Patrick’s Day recipe ideas you can prepare at home. Once you have a chocolate-stout-style spread or sauce, it becomes easy to adjust quantities and play with different formats.
For instance, you can turn a thicker version of the schmear into a filling for Irish-inspired sandwich cookies. Use simple butter cookies or oat biscuits, and add a small layer of the stout-chocolate mix in the middle. The result is a bite-sized treat that fits nicely after a savory Irish stew or shepherd’s pie.
The same flavor idea can also work as a dessert dip. Serve a slightly looser sauce in a bowl, then offer fresh fruit, marshmallows or pieces of pound cake for dipping. The roasted, malty notes of stout balance sweet accompaniments and make the whole platter feel a bit more grown-up, which suits evening St. Patrick’s gatherings.
Another option is to drizzle a reduced, sweetened stout syrup over vanilla or Irish cream ice cream, then finish with crumbled chocolate cookies. This keeps the spirit of the Guinness Chocolate Stout Cake schmear but changes the temperature and texture for those who prefer a cold dessert.
Chicago’s Limited-Time Taste of St. Patrick’s Day
The collaboration between PopUp Bagels and Guinness has a specific setting: Chicago’s Guinness Open Gate Brewery in the West Loop. For local residents, it creates a small window of time to taste a breakfast item that usually doesn’t exist in the city.
On March 12 and 13, the brewery is offering PopUp Bagels with the limited-edition Guinness Chocolate Stout Cake schmear during morning hours, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Both days are open to the public, so there’s no members-only restriction or special ticket required just to try the bagel.
For Chicagoans who have seen PopUp Bagels trending online but don’t have a local shop, this pop-up is a chance to experience the signature crusty, bubbly bagel style in person. The collaboration also lines up with the wider city celebrations around St. Patrick’s Day, when many people are already out and about in the morning for parades or river-dyeing events.
Even if you can’t get there in time, the concept behind this event can easily serve as a template for your own St. Patrick’s Day menu at home: combine a beloved local bread, a stout-flavored spread and a relaxed, drop-in-style breakfast gathering.
Building a Full St. Patrick’s Day Menu Around Bagels
Once you have a standout schmear like the Guinness Chocolate Stout Cake version, it becomes easier to build a full St. Patrick’s Day menu around it. Think about balancing sweet and savory elements so that guests can mix and match according to their tastes.
On the savory side, you can offer cream cheese mixed with chopped chives and smoked salmon, a nod to classic bagel toppings that still feels appropriate for a festive brunch. Add thinly sliced red onion, capers and lemon wedges, and you’ve got a simple but complete station.
To keep an Irish thread running through the menu, consider serving mini potato pancakes or boxty alongside the bagels. Guests can top them with the same savory spreads, creating different textures while staying within the same flavor family.
For drinks, coffee and tea are obvious choices, but you can also prepare non-alcoholic stout-flavored drinks using malted barley syrups or roasted chicory for those who like the idea of stout but prefer to skip the alcohol. For others, a carefully poured stout or an Irish coffee can round out the experience.
All these elements together help transform a simple bagel into the centerpiece of a flexible, shareable St. Patrick’s Day spread. Whether your gathering is just a couple of people or a full house, everyone can build their own plate without needing a formal sit-down meal.
Bringing these ideas together, the PopUp Bagels and Guinness collaboration highlights how St. Patrick’s Day recipes can be both familiar and inventive. By borrowing flavors from stout-based desserts, turning them into everyday spreads and pairing them with straightforward items like bagels, it becomes easy to celebrate the holiday with food that feels special but still relaxed and approachable.
