November 6, 2024

Beer Bread

beer bread muffins rucksack foodie

Bread never was easier than this recipe! No yeast, no rising, and almost foolproof. Because of carbonation, beer works as a leavening agent and helps with the rise. Beer Bread typically has more of a muffin/cake density to it than a traditional bread loaf, but when yeast is in short supply this quick bread does the trick. A perfect loaf to go with soup or chili, or baked as muffins it works deliciously as buns for sliders, like my jerk chicken example pictured below.

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  • baking beer bread rucksack foodie
    Easiest baking you’ll do!
  • jerk chicken and beer bread sliders rucksack foodie
    Beer Bread Muffin & Jerk Chicken Sliders

I tend to like a savory edge to my beer bread and will add garlic and/or onion powder, herbs and/or sharp cheddar cheese. There are so many different ways you could jazz up a batch, but stick with flavors that would compliment what you are serving it with and you can’t go wrong. And you can vary your sweetness as well, using 1 to 4 tbsp in a batch (but at least always 1 tbsp).

Tips: Don’t let the batter sit too long before baking. It doesn’t take long for the batter to start to go ‘flat’ and you end up with less rise effect on the baking. If you notice my picture of the muffins all cooling on the board, you’ll see two varying sizes, the bigger ones were the first batch baked and the smaller ones waited to be baked 15 minutes later. Big difference in rise factor, but still delicious!

For more Baking with Beer Recipes and some interesting science behind beer and baking check out the King Arthur Flour link, one of my favorite recipes sites!

beer bread muffins rucksack foodie
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Beer Bread

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword baking, bread
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tbsp white sugar
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 12 oz beer
  • OPTIONAL: 2 tsp garlic or onion powder
  • OPTIONAL: 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375f. and butter or grease your baking pan of choice.
    baking beer bread rucksack foodie
  • Combine well, the dry ingedients. Stir in the beer and butter, but don't over mix.
  • Fill your baking pan of choice 2/3 full. You may need to use 2 pans depending on their size. I used a muffin pan for this batch and it worked well!
  • Optional: drizzle a little melted butter on top before baking.
  • If using a traditional bread loaf pan, bake for 45 minutes, until a knife inserted into the loaf's center comes out clean.
    If using a standard size muffin tin, bake for 20 minutes, until a knife inserted into the muffin comes out clean.
  • Once done, cool in pan for 3 to 5 minutes, then flip out to serve.
    muffins cooling rucksack foodie

Notes

About Flour: honestly all kinds of flourseem to work just fine! And sift your flour before measuring, even if you only take a fork to the bag of flour and sift it by hand, it really does make a difference on the measuring and end result!
About Sugar: you can use up to 4 tbsp if you like it sweeter, but use at least 1 tbsp regardless.
About Butter: if you like softer loaves add the melted butter to the mix, if you like dryer loaf use butter to drizzle on top before baking and not inside the recipe.
About Beer : I think a lager or pilsner works best, but don’t hesitate to experiment with what you have in fridg!
  • About Flavor Ideas to try on different batches:
  • add 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles and 1/2 cup finely chopped dates
  • add 1/2 cup feta crumbles and finely chopped greek olives
  • add 1/4 cup finely diced jalapeno peppers and 1/2 cup sharp cheddar
  • add 1/4 cup blue berry and serve with a drizzle of honey after baked