As the leaves begin to fall the baking begins in my apartment!  There is something about pulling on sweaters, breaking out the hot coco, and the heart of football season that spurs me to bake.  I have not had the time or energy lately to dive into making dry yeast based breads, so I have been making delicious easy to make quick breads.

I love beer bread! YUM! It is delicious and VEGAN, for all the those dairy and animal-free individuals out there!  Now some of you may be asking, what is beer bread??  Beer is made with yeast, in beer bread baking, adding beer replaces the need to add yeast.  The alcohol burns off in the heating process (it is an non-alcoholic finished product!).

It takes about 10 minutes to put together and ~50minutes to cook! I have written down the directions below, I have also included some up-grades and alterations you can make a savory or sweet bread.  The type of beer you use will also effect the flavor of the bread, darker beers giving a rich, darker bread and a lighter beer creating a light bread.  Play around with different types and different ingredients- leave a post on how you made your Beer Bread and how it turned out!

Note: My favorite is with cheese inside and spiced butter on top.

Beer Bread

Oven: 350 degrees F           Prep Time: 10 minutes        Cook Time: 50-60 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup All purpose flour

4 1/2tsp baking powder

1/3 cup brown sugar

1tsp salt

12 oz beer

Directions:

Mix all dry ingredients together.  Add beer and mix well.  Dough should moist, but solid and can mix with kids (great project for the whole family).  Place dough in greased bread pan.

Dough is ready when tooth pick/knife comes out clean.

Upgrades:

Savory:

Top if off with butter-

Melt 1/2cup of butter and pour over the bread before you put it into the oven.  This adds a nice crispy taste and a golden brown color!!!  You can add spices in the melted butter to add those savory tastes: dill, garlic, Mrs. Dash, or spice blends.

1 cup shredded cheese

I love making this bread with cheese inside it adds to the flavor and makes the bread devine.  Play around with the type.  Cheddar is delish!

Cinnamon and raisins-

adding this along with a lighter beer, a blond or honey wheat beer will make a sweeter bread.

Share your secret ingredients!