Beer Bread
on Feb 01, 2021, Updated Dec 27, 2023
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This is a baby-steps-bread-making project, requiring no yeast, no rising, and only a few ingredients — and 5 minutes to get into the oven!
I went through a big yeast bread-making phase (my parents called me focaccia for a little while because I was on a tear) and then fell off the wagon. But I am determined to get back on, and this beer bread is the perfect start. This is a baby-step bread-making project, requiring no yeast, no rising, and only a few ingredients.
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Beer Bread: This is a baby-steps-bread-making project, requiring no yeast, no rising, and only a few ingredients – 5 minutes to get into the oven.
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What Beer Is Best for Beer Bread?
Cook’s choice! Any beer works. Just know that the flavor of the beer will infuse the bread, so if you are after a milder flavor, use a lager or ale, and if you want to go for a stout or an IPA, then your bread will have hints of those more pronounced flavors.
But beer bread doesn’t really taste strongly of beer; the flavors are subtle, and you’ll just note a bit of richness, maltiness, and a kind of yeastiness (without any added yeast!) that non-beer quick breads don’t have.
Make sure your beer is at room temperature before beginning the recipe. You can even use a non-alcoholic beer, though, in the baking, most of the alcohol burns off, so you shouldn’t worry. You can’t get drunk from beer bread!
No Yeast Beer Bread
The beer provides some of the leavening and the moisture, and of course the baking powder also gives a lift to the batter as it bakes. The texture of the bread is moist and pleasantly coarse and rustic. Use a serrated bread knife to slice it, if you have one, for the cleanest slices without squishing the loaf.
If you happen to have self-rising flour in the house you can use that instead of all-purpose, and skip the baking powder and salt. That turns this recipe from a 6-ingredient recipe into a 4 — and it takes all of 5 minutes to get into the oven.
Once the bread is fairly cool, you can slice it and eat it right away, or you can cool it completely. It’s good served plain with soups and stews, and then a day or two later, you’ll want to toast thick slices and top them with a nice slather of butter and a sprinkle of sea salt. A perfect breakfast, or snack, or companion to a cuppa tea.
How to Make Beer Bread
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave, then stir in the honey. Add the butter-honey mixture to the dry ingredients.
- Pour in the beer.
- Stir until well combined. The dough will be kind of shaggy.
- Transfer to the prepared loaf pan. Spread it out pretty evenly.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, until a wooden skewer of a knife inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
- Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn the bread out of the pan and cool until just barely warm or to room temperature. Slice and serve.
How to Store Beer Bread
This bread will keep tightly wrapped in plastic for a couple of days, but again, after 1 day, it’s best sliced and toasted. You can also freeze it; wrap it in a couple of layers of plastic wrap as soon as it cools and freeze right away. You can also do this with a portion of the loaf.
You can use sugar in place of the honey if that’s what you have around. I also tried it with hot honey in place of regular honey, and I thought it delicious.
What’s Good with Beer Bread
- Simple Vegetable Soup
- Escarole and Spinach Soup
- Minestrone
- Instant Pot Vegetable Chili
- Instant Pot Mediterranean Lamb Stew
More Easy Bread Recipes
- Molasses Cornbread
- Popovers
- Bacon, Fresh Corn, and Oregano Cornbread
- Easy Cornbread
- Cheddar Cornbread
- Pepper Jack and Green Chili Corn Muffins
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Beer Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
- 2 tablespoons honey (see Note)
- 1 (12-ounce) can or bottle of beer (at room temperature)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Butter a 9×5 inch loaf pan, or spray with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave, then stir in the honey. Add the butter-honey mixture to the dry ingredients, then pour in the beer. Stir until well combined; the dough will be kind of shaggy.
- Transfer to the prepared loaf pan, and spread it out pretty evenly. Bake for about 45 minutes, until a wooden skewer of a knife inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
- Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn the bread out of the pan and cool until just barely warm or to room temperature.
