When you think of putting beer and food together, what comes to mind? Perhaps chocolate cake with a sweet and decadent stout? How about an IPA with Thai food to elevate the spiciness? If you’re into cooking, you might say beer-battered cod, beer-braised brats, or even beer-can chicken. All of which are seriously delicious.
But how many of you thought of baking with beer? Yes, it’s a thing! Beer’s versatility knows no bounds it seems, as there are many recipes out there for crafting your favorite baked goods with your favorite brew. Today, I’d like to introduce you to one of the easiest recipes I’ve ever seen: beer bread. It requires very few tools and ingredients, and can be quite delicious if I do say so myself. Perhaps the most magical part of beer bread is that it takes on the character of the beer you’re using. The more flavorful the beer, the more it will come through in the finished product. That’s why I used Heavy Squeeze for this first run. It’s light, but flavorful, and adds a subtle touch of lemon.
Are you ready to get baking? Well grab yourself 2 cans of beer (one for baking, one for drinking), and let’s do this.
Heavy Squeeze Beer Bread
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (384g)
- 2 tsp baking powder (9.58g)
- 1/2 tsp salt (2.95g)
- 2 tbsp sugar (25g)
- 1/4 cup butter melted and cooled (half stick)(57g) – I used Country Crock plant butter to make it non-dairy.
- 12oz. beer (one standard can/bottle) – I used Heavy Squeeze, but you can try out any beer you like!
Optional:
If you’re looking for a major punch of lemon, consider using some lemon zest and/or extract to give it an extra lift. Or if you’d like to take things a step further, you can add some dry fruit to the mix!
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a 9×5 loaf pan (I used butter, but you can use cooking spray or parchment paper if desired).
- In a large bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, salt, sugar.
- Make space in the middle of the bowl and pour in the butter and beer. Mix together until combined (no dry residue).
- Pour the entire mixture into your loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes. All ovens are different, so use the trusty old toothpick trick (poke it in and make sure it comes out clean) to see if your loaf is done. Mine took about 50 minutes.
- Let the loaf cool for around 5 minutes and then turn that puppy out on to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Slice off a piece of that bread and give it a taste. If you’re like me, you know you can’t wait!
Recipe adapted for Alter beer from this post over on Bluprint