A few months back, my mom went to a Tastefully Simple party and bought two beer bread mixes. One white, and one whole wheat. They were both delicious, and needless to say, were eaten rather quickly.
I wanted to make a "fancy" bread to go with the BBQ pulled pork I made for dinner, and decided to make a beer bread, from scratch. It really isn't difficult at all. Very simple, and quick to prepare (not so quick to bake). So, here it goes!
Ingredients
3 cups white flour
1 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt plus some to sprinkle
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. margarine, melted
1 bottle of beer
dried herbs to sprinkle
Instructions
1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.
2. In a medium to large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
3. Mix in the margarine and beer.
4. Pour into a sprayed bread loaf pan. Sprinkle with kosher salt, and some dried herbs.
5. Bake for 55 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown.
6. Allow to cool before slicing.
That's it. Very simple and tasty! You can get creative with this bread in so many ways:
Flavored Beers - To add a little "punch" to the bread, use a flavored beer. I like using Woodchuck Hard Cider (in fact, I used the Granny Smith for this bread). You could try a flavored Sam Adams (like the Cherry Wheat when in season).
Mix-In Ingredients - Stir in some cheddar cheese and herbs, and put in muffin tins! You'll get muffins with great flavor! Or, try adding bacon bits.
Change Up Flour - Try using whole-wheat, rye, potato, or a mixture of flours. As long as you have 3 cups total. (Don't use self-rising).
Make it Sweet - Beer bread is generally on the sweet side anyway, but instead of topping it with salt, or stirring in cheese, try stirring in some dried fruit and sprinkling some sugar on top. Talk about a unique breakfast bread! (And you won't feel guilty about having "beer" before 5 o'clock).
