Veronica’s Buttery Beer Bread

I’m not a baker. It’s just not what I do.

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

45 thoughts on “Veronica’s Buttery Beer Bread”

Circe February 8, 2011 at 7:23 AM

that looks amazing. I’m not a big beer fan, but I could get on board with that.
SoupAddict Karen February 8, 2011 at 7:36 AM

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. 🙂
surlykitchen February 8, 2011 at 8:24 AM

looks amazing. the top crumb looks crunchy and delightful.
Erin February 8, 2011 at 8:54 AM

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!
Virginia February 8, 2011 at 9:13 AM

This recipe is perfect for yet another snow day, which is totally what we have again here today.

Yum!
Veronica February 8, 2011 at 9:32 AM

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. 🙂
Brandie@thecountrycook February 8, 2011 at 9:55 AM

When you poured the butter over the dough – I was in heaven. You did great with this bread and it sounds sooooo good!
atouchofrojo February 8, 2011 at 10:50 AM

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.
1. Jenna February 8, 2011 at 11:55 AM
  
  Awesome! I also find that step by step pictures draw me into a recipe so much better than a single shot. Enjoy!
pinkingshearsandbroccolispears February 8, 2011 at 12:42 PM

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.
This Italian Family February 8, 2011 at 2:14 PM

Oh my gracious, that looks delightful!
Rox February 8, 2011 at 2:39 PM

Jenna I want to reach into my screen and grab a piece! By the way, I don’t really like beer as a drink, but I had the blue moon ale in Austin over the summer and it was really nice! They served it with a wedge of orange and it paired really well with it.
1. Jenna February 9, 2011 at 9:29 AM
  
  Yum! There was a local beer I used to drink in Bloomington Indiana (I can’t remember the name) that they always served with a wedge of orange, and I loved it.
Sarah February 8, 2011 at 3:44 PM

mmm i want some now! i love beer bread even though i hate beer. hmmmm
kelseymeg February 8, 2011 at 4:08 PM

holy, holy cow. i love beer bread. the picture up top is wonderful, i can practically taste it just looking at it!
whatkateiscooking February 8, 2011 at 5:37 PM

My dad would love this! He loves bread and he loves Blue Moon 🙂
The Food Hound February 8, 2011 at 6:20 PM

Your blog is FABULOUS! I love your voice, your wit, and your recipes!! OK, now I sound like a stalker, ha! I esp love the post on the top 10 things you fear most about being pregnant and having children. I totally laughed out loud, esp at the pics! Can’t wait to see what that crafty brain of yours comes up with next! Oh, and this bread looks amazing. Just amazing.
1. Jenna February 9, 2011 at 9:28 AM
  
  Haha, you don’t sound like a stalker! =) Thanks for so much positive feedback–it put a smile on my face.
NanaBread February 8, 2011 at 6:25 PM

It’s rare that I find a recipe on the internet and rush straight to the kitchen to try it. When I saw this one, I knew I would make it right away. I had a Breckenridge Brewing Vanilla Porter in the fridge just begging to be used. I baked mine in an 8″ square because, frankly, I was too lazy to dig for a loaf pan and the square pan was right up front. One stick of butter was a little too much for the 8″ pan. I had to put a baking sheet under it to catch the butter that bubbled over.

I LOVED the texture and flavor of this bread. It was crusty and buttery on the outside, and light and fluffy on the inside. The vanilla porter was PERFECT for this. It made mine a little darker than the loaf pictured. I will definitely make it again. We ate it warm out of the oven with more butter (of course!) and even tried a little local south Texas honey on it. So good. So very, very good.
1. Jenna February 9, 2011 at 9:27 AM
  
  Thank you! I’m so, so glad you loved this bread. Thanks for getting back to me with your feedback–I love the idea of using vanilla porter. Maybe next time . . .
  1. NanaBread February 9, 2011 at 10:27 AM
    
    I forgot to mention that I also took your advice and sang a sifty song while sifting my dry ingredients: “Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah yeah…” Much more fun than regular sifting!
  2. Jenna February 9, 2011 at 10:29 AM
    
    NanaBread–I think I love you. Your sifty song is absolutely fabulous. You just made me laugh out loud–thankfully I was able to swallow my coffee instead of having it spew out my nose.
Aimee S February 8, 2011 at 8:57 PM

Oh man how I love beer bread (and was that Blue Moon???). My favorite beer in the bread. Yum. I will definitely try this one, and soon!
Christine February 8, 2011 at 10:15 PM

that just looks sooooo good.
Joanne February 9, 2011 at 6:15 AM

I love love love bread baking but sometimes I just don’t have the time or the patience to wait for dough to rise. I have cravings and wants and desires…and they wait for no yeast. This beer bread sounds earth-shattering. In a good way.
ASHLEA February 9, 2011 at 3:43 PM

Wow, this looks amazing. Seriously, looks so good I might need to try it out tonight. Yum.
giselle February 9, 2011 at 9:53 PM

I made the bread tonight with a creamy vegetarian potato cheese soup and it was perfect!! My boyfriend and best friend both loved it and it was all gone. Thanks for another great recipe!

I made it in a baking dish b/c I don’t have a loaf pan (I too am not a baker), and it turned out to be a good thing because that mean more surface area on the top to be brown and crispy and buttery!! What could be bad about that?? I loved it.
melissa February 10, 2011 at 9:14 AM

Oh my word! That looks (and sounds) a-mazing! Thanks for inspiring our dinner for tonight! I’m making white chicken chili and beer bread. CANNOT wait! Yummmmm!

Thanks, Jenna!
Aimee S February 14, 2011 at 6:28 PM

I made this bread with our dinner tonight and it was fabulous! Thank you so much for a great recipe!
Lynn February 14, 2011 at 6:33 PM

I made this bread tonight and it was Delicious!!! However, I was a little worried because the end result of my batter was the consistency of pancake batter! I had to POUR it into the loaf pan. I thought I really messed up but decided to go ahead and bake it anyway. The end result looked just like your end product! Go figure! Is this normal, or should I have added more flour? Anyway, it turned out well in the end. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
1. Jenna February 15, 2011 at 9:53 AM
  
  Hmm–I definitely didn’t have to pour mine. I mean, the batter is very moist (much more so than ‘normal’ bread dough), but maybe some more flour would help. However, I’m so glad it turned out in the end! =)
  1. Veronica February 15, 2011 at 11:19 AM
    
    I’ll chime in here, if that’s OK. My batches are usually thinner than yours, Jenna, more like a very thick batter but sometimes it is much thinner and I have poured it before. I never changed the recipe so I think the thickness might more be due to the weather and perhaps different types of flour. But it has never mattered, no matter the consistency the end result is always the same.
  2. Jenna February 15, 2011 at 11:22 AM
    
    Thanks for the clarification Veronica (aka Master Creator of this Magical Bread)!
Erica February 14, 2011 at 7:19 PM

i made this two days ago for heidi and me.
we devoured it betwixt the two of us almost entirely in one sitting.

also, we are making it again tonight.

amen.
Lynn February 18, 2011 at 10:29 PM

Thank you both Jenna and Veronica for your replies to my dilemna! I’ll definitely be making this again!
Julie McAleenan March 16, 2011 at 9:09 AM

This looks amazing. Beer makes everything taste better!
Rufus' Food and Spirits Guide April 29, 2011 at 11:23 AM

I’ve had this. It’s is wonderful!
home brewing August 25, 2011 at 6:37 AM

Thanks for sharing.I was looking for this.
Pingback: Sharin’ the love (and food!) « dinnerdish
lyn February 19, 2012 at 6:18 PM

Love…love…loved this! My mom used to make beer bread when I was a kid so I’ve always liked it. Never had an easy recipe. My husband is a Vegan so baked goods can sometimes be challanging. I just used a soy margarine over the top and it worked great. I also used a “lime” beer because that’s all we had. I couldn’t even tell. Next time I MUST put a pan underneath…the burnt smell from the butter flowing over took over the house…Now I must clean my oven!
lyn March 4, 2012 at 2:43 PM

Beer Bread Amazing! and Easy! My mom used to make beer bread when I was a kid so when I saw this recipe I had to try it. I loved how easy it is. My husband is a Vegan so I used soy butter on top and I switched one of the cups of flour to wheat flour to pretend its good for us. Goes great with my Sunday Soups!
1. Jenna Post authorMarch 5, 2012 at 9:56 AM
  
  Great! So glad you guys are enjoying this recipe Lyn!
Layla January 3, 2013 at 11:34 AM

Now why have I never thought to spray Pam over the sink into the pan or whatever to avoid mess?! Brilliant!
Pingback: Bready or Not: Buttery Beer Bread | BethCato.com
Pingback: Clockwork Cookie Blog Tour: Buttery Beer Bread | M. Darusha Wehm