Beer Bread

Stupidly easy beer bread! 

During our St. Patrick’s Day festivities, I decided to step out on a limb and make bread. I’ve done pizza bread and biscuits and that sort of thing, but I’d only made a loaf of bread once. Yep. Once. And that was back in 2005. So it was definitely time for me to try something new and different. Because I don’t make loaf bread often, I decided to hold off on purchasing a loaf pan until I knew whether or not I’d use it again. And, well, this bread is so stupidly easy (and tasty) that I might be blowing 5 euros on a loaf pan in the very near future.

Self-rising flour+sugar+beer=dough

Beer Bread

minimally adapted from Gerald Norman via food.com

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (sifted) (If you are too lazy to sift, reduce to 2 ½ cups)

3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using self-rising flour)

1 teaspoon salt (omit if using self-rising flour)

1/4 cup sugar

1 (12 ounce) can or bottle beer (I used Guinness, but any beer will work)

1/4 cup butter, melted

Ready for the oven. 

Directions:

Prep Time: 3 minutes, Total Time: 1 hr

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients, whisking to ensure proper mixing and aeration. Slowly add the beer, creating as little foam as possible (there will be foam, and that’s fine, just try to minimize it).

Pour into a greased loaf pan. (Um, yeah, don’t forget to grease the pan)

Pour melted butter over mixture.

Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

NOTES from Gerald Norman:

This recipe makes a very hearty bread with a crunchy, buttery crust. If you prefer a softer crust (like a traditional bread) mix the butter into the batter instead of pouring it over the top.

Sifting flour for bread recipes is a must-do. Most people just scoop the 1 cup measure in the flour canister and level it off. That compacts the flour and will turn your bread into a "hard biscuit" as some have described. That's because they aren't sifting their flour! If you do not have a sifter, use a spoon to spoon the flour into the 1 cup measure. Try it once the "correct" way and you will see an amazing difference in the end product.

If you use a non-alcoholic liquid, add a packet of dry active yeast or 2 teaspoons of bread (machine) yeast so that you get a proper rise.

NOTES from me:

If you are feeling super lazy and don’t want to sift, reduce the amount of flour per my recommendation and give the flour a good whisking to get some air into it before adding the beer.

THOUGHTS:

Oh my, that was easy. And everyone liked it! My favorite part? The buttery crust. Oh yum.

I forgot to grease the dish so the bread stuck like glue, so the bread stayed in the dish. Don't worry, it was still delicious. While the bread had a very rustic look to it, it did not feel too dense. It was simply perfect for sopping up the liquid from the Guinness Stew!

VERDICT:

Make-again-please: 3 votes

Hey-you-actually-made-good-bread: 1 vote

Next-time-I’ll-remember-to-grease-the-pan-and-maybe-get-a-loaf-pan: 1 vote

I didn't quite cook it long enough and had to use a spoon to scoop it out, but no one complained!