Beer Bread: A Hearty Addition to Your Table

TippecanEATs

This recipe was adapted from several bread recipes when I was looking for alternatives to using yeast, which I didn’t have in my pantry. What did I have a lot of? Imitation beers from ALDI. Hey, don’t knock those knock-offs ‘til you try them. I would say that a mild light or blond beer would do best for a neutral bread, but you can use a dark stout, like a Guinness, for a  deeper, richer flavor or a sweet hard cider for a breakfast bread.

Effort: Low Time: <1.5 hr

Ingredients:

3 cups Bread Flour (All-Purpose definitely works in a pinch)

2 tbsp Sugar (granulated)

3 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

2 tbsp Cream (melted butter works in a pinch)

Can or Bottle of Beer (12 oz)

2 tbsp Butter (melted)

Optional Hard Cider Variation:

1 medium apple peeled and diced

¼ cup Sugar

1 tbs Oats

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 bottle of Hard Cider (instead of the beer)

Optional Herb & Cheese Variation:

1 tbs Italian Herb Blend OR 1 tsp Oregano + 1 tsp Basil + ½ tsp Parsley + ½ tsp Rosemary, chopped

¼ tsp Garlic Powder

2/3 cup Shredded Cheese (Mexican, Italian, or pizza blends would do nicely)

1 Little Bit More Shredded Cheese (for sprinkling on the top)

Bringing it together:

  1. Line a loaf pan with foil, shiny side towards the pan, as usual. Smooth out the wrinkles as much as you can and coat lightly with nonstick spray or butter.
  2. Preheat oven to 190°C (~375°F) and position rack in oven center.
  3. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a medium sized bowl. If you are making the Herb & Cheese variation, add the herb blend and garlic powder. If you are making the Hard Cider variation, add the cinnamon and make sure that you added the additional sugar.
  4. Mix ingredients with a spatula or spoon, and make a well for the cream and beer (the beer can be room temperature or chilled; I haven’t noticed a great difference).
  5. Pour in the cream and beer and mix/fold until a dough ball forms. If you are making the Hard Cider or Herb & Cheese variations, you should fold in the diced apples or shredded cheese as your dough begins to form.
  6. Plop the dough in the loaf pan and spread it towards the edges a little. It doesn’t have to be perfect but It looks better when it at least touches all four pan edges.
  7. If you are making the Hard Cider or Herb & Cheese variations sprinkle either your oats or your cheese on top accordingly.
  8. Drizzle the two tablespoons of melted butter as evenly as you can over the top of your loaf.
  9. Bake that puppy for 1 hour. Bring it out and let it cool for 10 minutes before trying to extract it from the foil (the longer you wait, the easier it will be). Slice and serve at will!