---

Beer Bread

November 26th, 2011

My friend Missy and her mom Merriann were telling me all about their recipe for beer bread. I just couldn’t understand how such a basic recipe could make anything deserving of such wonderful praise. But these ladies know their food, and Merriann is an amazing baker, so I really had to take their word for it

On their recommendation, I decided to whip up a fast batch, (and I do mean fast) of this when I made Mulligatawny soup this afternoon.

It took about 2 minutes of kneading the bread inside of the same bowl I added the ingredients to, and then I slapped it in a buttered loaf pan. One hour later I had a slightly sweet and yeasty flavored bread with a dense but moist inside and a hard and crusty outside. I quickly realized that the bread was so hard on the outside that it was not even meant to be sliced, but broken apart into chunks. Chunks that are absolutely perfect for dunking into soup.

I see how this comes together to make a simple bowl of soup a hearty and complete meal, and beer bread is not only delicious, but seriously the easiest homemade baked bread I have ever seen!

Beer Bread, serves 4-6
-3 cups self rising flour
-1/3 cup sugar
-½ tsp Kosher salt
-1 beer

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a loaf pan.

2) In a medium bowl, stir together the dry ingredients.

3) Add the beer and stir to combine.

4) Knead with your hands while still in the bowl until the dough comes together and is moist all the way through.

5) Place the dough in the buttered loaf pan.

6) Bake the bread at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.

7) When the bread is golden and cooked through, remove from the oven and pop out of the loaf pan.

8) Break apart and serve hot.

9) Delicious slathered with butter or dunked into hot soup!