OK, this post isn’t strictly knitting, but… This bread recipe is so easy that it ought to be illegal, because such an extreme level of gorgeousness will make folk assume that you slaved over it for hours, and it’s surely wrong to be the source of such deception. When I say that it takes two minutes* to put together, I’m not joking, and I say that as the person who looks at most recipes and thinks, “Yeah right is that gonna take a mere half hour to make: two hours, more like.”
So in case you’ve not yet had the pleasure, permit me to introduce you to the wonderful world of beer bread.
Soft, tearable, slightly sweet-tasting loaves of extreme yumminess.
I first got into beer bread when I was cooking lots of things from a medieval cookbook, but that recipe still used a bit of yeast and so was a (minor) faff. These days we make most of our dull-but-reliable bread in a breadmaker. Beer bread makes a tasty change, and is ready much faster, too. It does taste sweet, which wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste, but the sugar is necessary in the same way that you need sugar in conventional bread so that the yeast has summat to munch for its lunch before it flatulently produces all that fabulous carbon dioxide that makes your loaf rise.
So, clear most of the toys from a corner of your kitchen table (yes it’s fine to just move them to the sofa instead) and let’s begin. You’ll need:-
- 375g self-raising flour (that’s 2¾ American cups)
- 3tbsp caster sugar
- 330 ml beer/ale (that’s 12 fl oz)
- Absolutely NO YEAST whatsoever!
Chuck ingredients in a bowl. Gently mix around a bit. Observe how it goes from a fizzing quagmire to a coherent(ish) damp dough after mere seconds.
Plonk dough into a lined loaf tin.
Put in oven at 180ºC/350ºF or Gas Mark 4. Drink the remaining 170ml of the beer you opened. Remove loaf from oven after 50-60 minutes once it’s golden on top and your entire house smells of baking. Try not to eat it all in one snarling, wild-eyed, feeding frenzy, or you’ll feel sick later.
Variations:-
- When I make it, I always pour a small amount of melted butter mixed with salt onto the loaf towards the end of baking.
- Experiment with adding seeds. The Stoic Spouse has an uncanny genius for creating combinations of different seeds in bread that taste just perfect. It’s the main reason I married him.
- Try different beers: the more flavoursome, the better.
- I’ve also tried making it with proper bread flour (ie ‘strong’ flour). Yum.
- Based on recommendations online, I tried something different today. I split the mixture between two tins and left it in peace to rise for half an hour before baking. Really I should have put it somewhere warm, but we don’t have anywhere warm in our house. So although it did rise a bit and the texture was lighter, I wouldn’t necessarily do this again, or at least not unless we moved to a house that was warm enough for human habitation.
- Add anything else that will go with the sweetness of this bread. Maybe some rosemary and sliced black olives? I’m led to believe that cheese works well, but as I have an almost-phobia of cheese (stop laughing, you at the back, it’s true) I’m afraid you won’t find any cheese-related advice on here.
*Not including time to realize that you’ve run out of flour, gather up your various children and manhandle them into outdoorwear, mount an unsuccessful search for your car keys, catch the bus instead, give in to toddler demand for confectionary, and purchase flour. So, about two hours, all-told.
RECIPE SOURCE: This recipe is a hybrid of lots of very similar versions that I’ve seen online, on sites ranging from allrecipes.co.uk to Jamie Oliver’s site.
And that, my friends, may be the easiest bread to make in the entire world. Now, back to knitting…
You’ve already convinced me to try fairisle knitting, if you succeed in convincing me to make beer bread that’ll make you no less than a mentor : )
Oh dear, hope I’m not too bad an influence. I’m planning to try naked skydiving next… 😉
Don’t you need any salt in the mixture?? It does sound good though!!
I was cautious about adding salt in case it stopped the yeast in the beer from doing its work, BUT I’ve since tried adding a little salt without any ill effects to the bread. Yay!
Well, I read your post at 8:30 AM (California time) and now I’m off to buy some beer. Your job here is done. 😉
Hope it was tasty?? Apologies if I corrupted your plans for the day.
That looks delicious!
It is! Or rather, was. Very briefly. Oops.
This looks wonderful. I too use a bread machine, but I don’t cook the bread in it, simply use it for the prep, then make it in the oven. As I also have an arctic house, I put the oven on low and sit the bread on top, by the vent, to rise. Of course, if push comes to shove, I could put it on the kitchen floor in front of the only really functional vent in the house, but then you haven’t seen my floor. The cleaning fairy passed me by AGAIN!
Ah, that’s a good idea (re breadmaker to oven). I might copy you if you don’t mind.
But what? You mean the cleaning fairy doesn’t come if you wait long enough? But I’ve been waiting so patiently for so very long…
Wow, sounds fabulous!!! I have tried the “no knead” bread and not had much luck but this sounds much easier. I think that I had trouble with the cold house syndrome too. xx
It is indeed very, very easy. Do add a bit of salt, though.
Oooh looks yummy! I will have to have a go when my next delivery of spelt flour comes from the mill
Oh, I adore making beer bread … it’s so easy (and yes, it is lovely with some grated cheese added to the top 🙂
Eek! The c-word! *runs away*
But yes, beer bread is ridiculously easy to make.
Looks wonderful! This goes in my recipe “file.”
I recommend adding a little salt to the dough, too. Enjoy.
Looks dense and delicious. I’ve never tried beer bread.
It is quite dense, with a lovely hoppy aroma.
The crust is beautiful.
Thank you.
Now that does sound good. Book marked ready to try (when the weather cools down a tad). Thank you.
You’re welcome. Do try adding a little salt to the dough, too. Enjoy!
Sweet you say? Well then toss in more salt. Thank me later. As someone who has trouble keeping beer in the house (don’t ask me why but it starts with a “Stevie” and ends in “boy”…) I doubt I would ever get to sample this no doubt delectable bread so can’t really comment about it’s sweetness etc. so I will enjoy looking at it from afar. It certainly looks the business Ms T.
Never fear, I shall post you some beer disguised in an orange squash bottle. Stevie-Boy will never guess. And yes, it can stand a little salt added. (I was worried that salt would stop the yeasty loveliness doing its stuff, but apparently not.)
Oh, and thank you. 🙂
Sad to say, Stevie-boy can sniff out a good ale at 100 yards no matter what bottle it is in. He is a quintessential beer hog and much like his truffle hunting mates, is a fine example of how easy it is to train hogs to find things. Beer is apparently his birthright and he is planning on imbibing his birthright for the foreseeable future 😉
I have friends over at the weekend… so this is on my list to do, with a bottle of mud city….. thanks for sharing xx
Hope you got a chance to make it (and had a good weekend with your friends). It can stand a little salt added to the mixture, too. Yum.
Now that’s my kind of recipe!
Very, very easy. Win!
Time number 2 of making it and once again I forgot the salt. Shucks, I shall just have to try again….
However, I did scale up the recipe to use a whole 500g bottle of beer, for that you need 570g flour, 7.5 tsp baking powder if like me your flour is plain and not Self Raising, 4.5 tblsp sugar and some salt, not sure how much having not tried it yet, I’m guessing 1-2tsp. I divide this between 2 loaf tins and got decent if on the small side loaves. I’ve hidden one in the kitchen away from the ravenous hoards in an attempt to find out what it tastes like cold.
Oh you are a sweetie pie. Plastic free bread has been my goal for years now but was always let down by the yeast – the plastic packed yeast. Just about to embark on sour dough which looks serious when I stumble across your beer bread. Not saying it’s not serious you understand……well…. not really… many thanks.
Aww, thank you for such a kind comment. I hope you enjoy the bread. It’s easy to make it using locally – brewed craft beer sold in bottles, so no plastic necessary. Are you trying to live entirely without plastic? What a brilliant thing to do (but also quite tricky).
Oh wow, just found your blog. 🙂 🙂 🙂