honey beer bread
November 19th, 2009
Every time we throw a party, it seems that leftover beer is always left as a little thank-you gift in our kitchen. Which would be a delightful little surprise — except that (as I’ve mentioned before), my roomie and I are not beer-drinkers. I’ve just never gotten into the taste+carbonation, and she’s an uber-serious runner and pretty much always sticks to water. So day after day this month, we’ve walked by this nice little 6-pack from a favorite local brewery, wondering what will become of it.
And then one day, we were both in the kitchen talking about what we were planning to cook the next day, and the answer was the same (surprise!) — beer bread! :) Ah, the fun of living with another baker. So sure enough, our house has been filled with the unbelievable smell of freshly-baked bread this month. Maybe not what our friends intended…but I’m all for it!
We all ended up loving this recipe as well. The buttery, honey-wheat goodness is absolutely delicious — especially fresh from the oven. And the batter literally takes less than 5 minutes to prepare. What could be more simple??
So to all of you beer-drinkers and/or beer-bakers out there, I say….bring on the bread!!! :)
Honey Beer Bread Recipe
(Adapted from Ezra Pound Cake)
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 Tbsp. honey or agave nectar
- 1 bottle (12 ounces) beer
- 4 Tbsp. (half stick) butter, melted (**You can double this if you’d like**)
Method:
(Makes 1 loaf)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9″ x 5″ x 3″ inch loaf pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer and honey into the dry ingredients until just mixed. (I recommend popping your honey in the microwave for a few seconds beforehand to make it easier to stir in!)
Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan. Then spoon the batter into the pan, and pour the rest of the butter on top of the batter. (Use a pastry brush to spread it around if you’d like.)
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until top is golden brown and a toothpick/knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve immediately.
Ali’s Tip:
If you’re a big fan of beer-cheese bread, add a cup or so of cheddar (or your favorite cheese) into the batter to give it the queso-kick. :)
Yummy….I’m as well a non beer drinker- what is it about that yellow colored, bitter tasting thing that people love so much? On the other hand beer bread I love! Thanks for the recipe!
And this is only a couple calories per slice right? =) I am gonna make this tonight… THANK YOU!!!
Haha…ummm…SURE! Maybe a couple of a couple of a couple… ;)
MMMM….Beer bread is one of my favorites!
This bread just came out of the oven, and it smelled so good I didn’t even wait for it to cool to try a piece. It is SOOO GOOD!! This will be my new go-to beer bread recipe!
I just made this and it was excellent! I used Sam Adam’s Blackberry Wit beer and it has a nice sweet flavor with a bit of the berry undertones. Thanks for the great recipe!!
Ooooh that looks so good!
Oh my goodness — the blackberry sounds delicious!! I’ll totally have to try that sometime! :)
Fun!!! So glad you liked it, Amanda! :)
This sounds amazing! I’m just curious, though–do you think it matters if I bake it in a metal pan or a glass one? I have no experience with bread-making… I’ve heard that glass tends to result in a drier final product, but I haven’t been able to try it for myself.
Hey Allison!
Good question! I’m pretty sure that for baking bread it won’t matter. I’ve used both metal and glass pans before in baking bread, and have never had a problem with either one. (Although if one ever has more fruits or acidic ingredients, I go with glass. :-)) Hope that helps!
~A
I saw your picture on foodgawker, and this is now on my list of things to make this weekend! Beautiful pictures, and I can’t wait to taste it :)
Which Boulevard beer did you use? I’m in STL and so it is readily available here. Also wondering because some beers I am sure bake better than others.
Hey Natalie! Love that you’re in Boulevard territory! :) I used the Oktoberfest beer this time, and it was great. I’m sure most of theirs would be great though!
I don’t usually comment on blogs but had to on yours. You have a very unique writing style. A lot of people don’t have that touch, they just drone on and on in the most boring way. But not you – thanks! I can’t wait to try out some of the recipes you have here (after a trip to the market to get the ingredients). Cooking is my favorite hobby. I don’t have time to read it all right now, I found this site when looking for something else on Google, but I’ve bookmarked your home page and will check back soon to see the latest articles. Click here if you’d like to check out my site. Thanks again!
I just saw this on foodgawker and am making it right now. My brother left some Guinness and I wasn’t sure what to do with it. We’ll see how it comes out!
I made this Saturday night, and it was delicious! Perfect hot out of the oven. My husband and I both loved the crispy, buttery crust. :) I posted about it on my blog as well :) Thanks for a great recipe!
Made this tonight to accompany a Potato Leek Soup. I used a Rickard’s White wheat beer (similar to Hoegaarden) and it was so good! Who knew making bread was so easy? Can’t wait to see what other beers will bring for flavor to this recipe as I plan on making it again!
Bread with beer and honey sounds so good!
I just pulled two loaves of this out of the oven (with some muenster cheese grated in). They look and smell heavenly!
Oh my goodness – I’m kind of addicted to muenster. Will totally have to try that sometime! :)
I made this tonight and it was a huge hit! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Hi Ali, I made this yesterday morning and LOVED it. It’s so great how short a time it takes from start to finish. I left my sleeping husband in bed to make it because I was lying there thinking about it! We had it for breakfast and devoured most of in one sitting. I posted a photo on my blog today :)
I made some of this as an Easter treat today. Yummy yummy yummy! Thanks for sharing this recipe. :-)
Bread is the best… good stuff!
I just made this, it’s so delicious! Thanks for sharing :)
I saw this on food gawker and it looks absolutely yummy! One question though, what kind of beer is best to use? Dark beer? light beer?
Hi Vanessa!
I’ve used all kinds of beers with this before, and all have worked well! Someone else may have a better answer, but I’d say go with whatever taste you prefer!
~A
Just made this with pumpkin ale! Cannot WAIT for it to come out of the oven!
I Have to Say, Ive Used this Recipe for about 6 months…..and I LOVE IT !!!… I Found the Honey Brown Lager to be the Best Beer for the Bread…..Thank You for this Awesome Recipe….:)
Great recipe! Whipped it up after work today and I’m munching it as I type. I gave the top half of the butter another squeeze of honey before topping the batter with it. A keeper for sure!
I made this with gluten free flour, cheddar and gluten free beer – it worked perfectly!
I love beer bread, but I used one of those nonstick pans (looks like what you used…) and I didn’t like how the crust was too hard. Any tips?
This is by far the best beer bread recipe I have ever tried and I have litterally thried hundreds.
My husband found this recipe on pinterest and we’re definitely going to try it. Glad we found you. We’re going to try this one day this week… “:o)
Thank you for a great recipe!! This was the best beer bread I’ve made yet! I used a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, and next time I’m going to throw some walnuts in.
I’m super excited about trying this!! I love that this is so easy! I’ve baked beer bread before using the prepackaged, but glad I always have these ingredients on hand. Cheaper and more fun! :)
Made this last night after finding it on Pinterest! So delicious and easy. I followed the recipe exactly and used Starr Hill Love beer. Awesome with a really crispy buttery crust. Looked just like the pictures. Definitely making this again!
I just made this and it was awesome!!! My dad loved it!! :) The honey gives it that extra little kick of flavor! very yummy! Definitely one for the books!!
I made this and it did not turn out very well. It was dry and the beer flavor was not so great. I used natural light (that was probably the mistake!) and I also used self rising flour. But, I took out the baking powder that is called for so I thought that would even it out. Not so much! Didn’t really like the flavor. Maybe another beer? I dunno!
I made this last night using my husband’s homebrew and it was fantastic! Thank you so much for the recipe!
I found your recipe on pinterest and just made it tonight. I used whole wheat flour instead of white and added 1 c. of cheddar to the batter (I also doubled the butter :P), and it was SO good!!! This is the best beer bread recipe I’ve found so far…thanks for sharing it with us!
Made with homemade beer!
Just found this on Pinterest. Can’t wait to try it. Don’t drink beer, in fact never been in a liquor store so have to pick some up first :) Do you think if I make it in a 8 mini loaf pan I would need to change the time or temp? Thanks! It looks heavenly!
I made this the first time using a Blue Moon Honey, which was quite delicious. I made it again using WoodChuck Fall Cider and adding cinnamon to the batter and a cinnamon-sugar topping. Since it is getting close to Thanksgiving, I might make it with a pumpkin ale. This recipe is soooooo easy and incredibly versatile!
I made this with Pumpkin Beer this weekend and it turned out great! You can see my blog post about it here: http://smashinthekitchen.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/cheesy-pumpkin-beer-bread/
I love your blog!!]
Found this recipe on Pinterest, thank god. I have all this beer in my damn fridge and nothing to do with it, so why not make bread? I used Oberon (ever had it? It’s a microbrew from Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan and its FABULOUS.) Turned out fantastic. Thanks!
Sounds delish! Totally trying this :)
You can also make this with self rising flour.Just omit baking it’s just as wonderful.
Well, I AM a beer drinker, but I rarely drink at all, so when people leave beer at our house, I usually end up making it into a recipe rather than drinking it straight. So I am going to make this right now, and maybe the smell of baking bread will wake up my lazy teenagers where merely calling them has not done the trick….