I’ve made this beer bread countless times. Often I change up the ingredients — mostly the beer. Use whatever you have in the refrigerator. The beer someone brought to the party that you will never ever drink? Yeah, use that one. Note: Dark beer gives the bread a darker color and a richer flava. And flavored beers tend to leave behind a hint of whatever’s in the beer. Naturally.
ONE BOWL BEER BREAD
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (go ahead and substitute 1/2 wheat flour if that makes you feel better)
3 tablespoons sugar (I have substituted brown sugar)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt (I am partial to using only sea salt)
12 ounces BEER (your preference)
1 tablespoon honey
1 egg, beaten (this is to brush the top of the bread before baking so it technically isn’t IN the recipe)
Set oven to 375 degrees F. That’s Fahrenheit, but I had to look up the correct spelling and used the F word instead.
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl. Add ALL OF THE BEER. If you must drink while you bake, open another one. Stir just until all the ingredients come together.
Scoop the dough onto a floured board or counter and knead quickly into a ball. Well, ball-ish. More like a half sphere. ‘Cause it will be flat on the bottom when you put it on the flat baking pan. Get it? Not a ball, exactly. About 8 or 9 inches across should do it.
Take a sharp knife and hand it someone who isn’t drinking while they’re cooking, and mark the top of the dough with your favorite letter. I make an X for no particular reason other than it’s easy to make if you opened a beer for yourself and nobody else is around except the dog.
Take the egg you beat up and brush the top of the bread.
Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Sometimes depending on the ingredients it takes a bit longer but judge your own oven.
This is great slathered with butter or butter you mix with a little honey. We call that honey-butter in my house. Enjoy!
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