Bread

This bread is wonderful!! It is dense but not too heavy. The beer adds a delightful taste to the bread. It is not too sweet and the addition of the cheese just makes it taste that much better. It is perfect for a fall day. What makes it even better is that is can be made and baked in just over one hour Most of that time is the baking time. You can mix it up in about 15 minutes but it takes about 50 minutes to bake. If I had known it was that easy I would have made it a long time ago. This is a batter bread and does not have to be kneaded. The yeast is in beer. This would be good to take to a tailgate party!!! I can guarantee you won’t have any left. It might be a good idea to make two recipes instead of just one…..

Honey Beer Bread Recipe
(Adapted from Ezra Pound Cake)

Source

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. honey or agave nectar
1 bottle (12 ounces) beer
4 Tbsp. (half stick) butter, melted (**You can double this if you’d like**)

Method:

(Makes 1 loaf)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9″ x 5″ x 3″ inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer and honey into the dry ingredients until just mixed. (I recommend popping your honey in the microwave for a few seconds beforehand to make it easier to stir in!)

Pour half the melted butter into the loaf pan. Then spoon the batter into the pan, and pour the rest of the butter on top of the batter. (Use a pastry brush to spread it around if you’d like.)

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until top is golden brown and a toothpick/knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve immediately.

Ali’s Tip:

If you’re a big fan of beer-cheese bread, add a cup or so of cheddar (or your favorite cheese) into the batter to give it the queso-kick. 🙂

The first thing you want to do is put your dry ingredients into a large bowl. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt till mixed well.

Next get your beer and honey out. You can use whatever kind of beer you like. I used Corona. You can also use agave nectar in place of the honey. I actually used both.

I added my honey first to the dry ingredients.

Then I poured in the beer. You can see the beer is already starting to react to the baking powder in the bowl.

You will want to just stir this until it is just mixed. Do not over mix it.

This is when you add the cheese if you are using it. I used Cheddar but you can use your favorite kind.

Just lightly mix in the cheese till fully incorporated.

Now pour half of the melted butter on the bottom of your greased loaf pan. I know this sounds weird but trust me you will understand when you eat the bread.

Spoon the batter into the pan on top of the melted butter.

Spoon the rest of the melted butter on top of the batter.

Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 50 minutes until it looks like this!!! The crust should be golden brown and a toothpick when inserted in the middle should come out clean.

Take it out of the pan and let cool for about 15 minutes on a rack. It says to serve immediately but if you don’t let it cool slightly it will be hard to cut.

When you cut it this is what is looks like. Look how buttery and cheesy it looks. It taste as delicious as it looks. Try to eat just one slice……

I give this recipe out of 4……

The recipe today is a family recipe. This dough can be used to make cheese bread, dinner rolls or cinnamon rolls. My mother has been making this bread since before I was born. When I was little I used to love to be in the kitchen while my mom was making this bread. She would always let me taste a little pinch after it was mixed up!!! This is a yeast bread that requires little kneading. It is a flavorful, light and tender. I hope you will enjoy this as much as my family does!!!

Cheese Bread (Family Recipe)

¼ cup lukewarm water 3 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 pkg. dry yeast (2 ¼ tsp.) 1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup sugar 1 cup milk, scalded

2 eggs 1 tablespoon butter

1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese(sharp or extra)

1/4 cup shortening

Soften yeast in ¼ cup water. Measure shortening, sugar, salt and butter into a large mixing bowl. Heat the milk until bubbles form. Pour milk into mixing bowl with shortening, sugar, salt, and butter and stir until dissolved. Let cool. Beat eggs slightly and add to cooled mixture. Next add yeast. Then add flour gradually to make soft dough. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour). Add cheese and knead briefly. Shape into 2 loaves. Let rise for about 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees until brown and loaves sound slightly hollow about 20-25 minutes.

The first thing you want to do is get out your yeast. I measure mine into a little prep bowl.

You want to add a teaspoon of sugar to the water and yeast. The sugar is used to proof the yeast. Make sure your water is lukewarm and not hot.

While the yeast is rising, measure the shortening, sugar, butter and salt into a large mixing bowl.

Add the scalded milk to the bowl with the shortening, butter, sugar and salt. Stir till mostly dissolved. Let cool to room temperature.

Slightly beat the eggs and add to the cooled mixture. Stir till combined.

This is what it looks like when it is well incorporated.

Oh the smell of yeast!!! I think it is wonderful…… It is now time to add it to the batter. You can see it is ready by the bubbles and how its volume has increased.

Add the yeast to the batter and stir well.

Add the flour and mix it up till you have a soft dough.

Cover your dough and let it rise til it has doubled in bulk(about 1 hour). I usually put wax paper over the bowl and then a kitchen towel. Make sure it is warm in your kitchen.

While the dough is rising you will want to shred your cheese. I used both white cheddar and yellow cheddar.

After the dough has doubled in volume it is time to add the cheese.

Mix the cheese in well and then turn it onto a floured surface and knead until no longer sticky.

Divide the dough in half and shape and put into 2 non-stick loaf pans(I usually spray the pan as well). Cover with wax paper and let rise until doubled in volume(about 1 hour).

After about 1 hour put in a 350 degree oven for about 20 -25 minutes. They should be hollow when you thump them.

When they come out of the oven take them out of the pans after a couple of minutes. I usually run a spatula around the edges in case any cheese has stuck to the sides of the pan.