I want to be of the baking persuasion–my idealized visions of my future self involve pulling a tray of hot biscuits out of the oven, enveloping my family with the scents of freshly baked bread as soon as they walk in the door, and serving homemade pies and cakes pretty much every 10 minutes.
But once I actually get into the kitchen, I play with my usual friends–the skillet. The Dutch oven. Mushrooms and heavy whipping cream.
When my blogging friend Veronica from Recipe Rhapsody mentioned her buttery beer bread recipe though, my heart did a little flip flop in my chest. I wanted that bread.
And I wanted it bad.
The word ‘buttery’ probably played a large part.
Guys, you must make this bread. Let me outline the advantages in a strictly logical fashion:
1) It has only 2 ingredients. Okay fine! It has 6. But it feels like 2 when you’re making it.
2) This bread does not need to rise. So after 10 minutes of mixing and only an hour of baking, it’s on the table, baby. This means that you don’t have to plan in advance–you can make this bread on a whim.
3) The hands-on time could probably go below 10 minutes with practiced efficiency. The necessary actions can be summarized as follows: Sift! Stir! Spray! Plop! Bake.
Have you seen the light? Do you seeeee the liiiiiight? (name that movie)
Ingredients
3 c flour
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp salt
1 TBS baking powder
12 oz beer
1 stick butter
Preheat the oven to 375. Sift together the flour . . .
the sugar . . .
the salt . . .
and the baking powder.
Sifty sifty sift . . .
*Please sing a sifting ditty to yourself*
And if you get some granules at the bottom of the sifter like this:
Just press ’em through with the heel of your measuring cup. Like so.
Give it a little stir with a wooden spoon:
Now grab hold of that beer. I used Blue Moon, but any beer should work.
Pour it in. Into the bowl, not your mouth, silly!
Give the whole shebang another stir with the wooden spoon.
I found it easier to finish the mixing process with my big ole hand.
Now grab that dough!
FYI, if you’re like me and feel compelled to taste the raw dough, it won’t taste that delicious. But the flavor changes completely after baking, fear not. I wouldn’t lead you down the primrose path.
Oh, make sure you spray your baking pan. I used a loaf pan, and completely forgot to spray it until my hands looked like this:
That’s when my husband came riding into the kitchen on a white steed and sprayed the pan for me.
Thanks dear. And tell that white steed to wipe off its hooves before it comes back onto my kitchen floor.
Anyway, plop in the dough and push it into as even a shape as you can.
Clean your hands off at this point–and also your camera. Mine had bits of dough on it–I wonder why.
Sorry–I just wanted an excuse to sneak that picture in there again.
Moving on!
Melt the stick of butter.
Pour the melted butter all over the bread.
It’s drowning in the golden stuff. Oh, yes. Bake your golden treat for 1 hour.
Remove it from the oven. The bread should pop right out of the loaf pan thanks to the butter. Cool it on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes . . .
. . . and dive in!
It’s best fresh, so set your friends and family on it. Don’t expect any leftovers.
Veronica, I’m forever in your debt.
Click here for printer-friendly version: Veronica’s Buttery Beer Bread
View Comments (42)
that looks amazing. I'm not a big beer fan, but I could get on board with that.
I love beer bread! Seriously <3 the beer bread. And your doughy hand reminds me that they need to make a camera just for food photographers - with fewer crevices for flour to hide. :)
looks amazing. the top crumb looks crunchy and delightful.
Oh my word, we LOVE beer bread! mmmmm.... I got my recipe out of Southern Living when we were in seminary, and theirs is almost identical, just sweeter. (of course, ha ha)
They call for 3 c. self-rising flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 12 oz. bottle of beer, and 1/4 c. butter, melted. Mix flour, sugar, & beer, plop in greased 9 x 5 pan, bake for 45 min, pour melted butter over top, and bake for 10 more minutes.
What I can't figure out is why they have you wait on the melted butter til 10 minutes before it's done. Maybe because it's only 1/4 cup? I can't wait to try this version! :)
Miss you!
This recipe is perfect for yet another snow day, which is totally what we have again here today.
Yum!
Haha, you're welcome! I have a feeling you'll work off your debt with the yummy recipes you provide on your own blog! I know that the dal makhani is fantastic, and there are so many others I want to try, mostly those that involve pasta. I'm so glad you liked the bread and I love that I can now look at good photos of the finished product! Your photos are always excellent. Rock on. :)
When you poured the butter over the dough - I was in heaven. You did great with this bread and it sounds sooooo good!
Ok, seeing this on TK was one thing. But now that I have an upclose and personal look at this, I've got to have this now. Like right now. Definitely making this for the weekend. Just the mention of butter and my heart beats faster.
Awesome! I also find that step by step pictures draw me into a recipe so much better than a single shot. Enjoy!
Yummy!
I wish I knew more about the science of how much alcohol content reduces compared to time cooked cause I wanna eat that bread. Maybe I should wait till post pardom though. We don't have any beer right now anyway. But for some reason, being stuck at home sick, makes me want to eat lots of hot buttery bread.
Oh my gracious, that looks delightful!