Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: With only a few ingredients, you can bake an artisan-style loaf of crusty bread. This beer bread recipe makes the best bread and it’s unbelievably easy! There’s no kneading, no rising time, and no special ingredients in this recipe.
How long it takes: 10 minutes to prep, 50 minutes in the oven
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, loaf pan
Servings: makes 1 loaf
Nothing Beats Fresh Bread
Don’t you agree that a slice of home baked warm crusty bread is just one of the most wonderful things in life?
Beer bread is rich, slightly sweet, super moist, and flavorful. It has a rustic crunchy crust and a hearty texture. It’s amazing and very easy to make.
Beer bread is made without yeast and doesn’t require time to rise, which is why is called a quick bread. It tastes yeasty because beer contains yeast but, like other quick breads, baking powder is the agent that causes the bread to rise. Making beer bread is somewhat similar to Irish soda bread, another popular quick-rise recipe.
What makes mine special:
- Cheaper than store-bought, and with simple ingredients. Beer bread mixes can be a little pricey. The good news is that you absolutely don’t need a kit to make this beer bread recipe. You may already have everything you need to make beer bread: all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, honey, butter, and beer.
- Not fussy about which kind of beer you use. When we tested the recipe, we wanted to make sure our beer bread recipe worked with variations. We found it to be pretty forgiving. You can use light beer, dark beer, cheap beer, or craft beer. We even skipped the beer and found that the bread turned out fine with soda water (unflavored carbonated water). The only beer that we didn’t care for was beer with high IBU, such as IPAs, because of the bitter flavor it gave the bread.
Ingredient Notes
- All-Purpose Flour: You don’t need bread flour for this easy recipe, just regular flour. I usually choose unbleached flour rather than bleached flour. Unbleached flour is treated with fewer chemicals; it has a slightly coarser texture and darker color.
- Baking Powder: This recipe is a quick bread, since it’s made with baking powder, not yeast. It doesn’t require time to rise and ferment. However, beer contains yeast, so I guess technically you could call it a yeast bread.
- Beer: There are many, many different kinds of beer. Take a look at the note below for more about which beer works well for beer bread. For best results, the beer should be at room temperature.
- Honey: The bread is lightly sweetened with honey. If your honey is very thick or crystallized, microwave it briefly so it will mix well with the batter.
- Butter: Although normally I recommend unsalted butter for baking, I like to use salted butter for this bread. The extra saltiness really enhances the flavor of the bread.
What Type of Beer to Use
Any kind of beer works in this recipe, from Budweiser to Guinness stout. Dark beers will make the bread taste maltier, more robust; light beers flavor the bread less. Avoid extra hoppy beers, like IPA which can make the bread taste a little bitter. Our favorite? Modelo Negra, a medium-bodied dark beer.
How To Make Beer Bread
Preheat the oven. The oven needs to be fully preheated before you put the bread in to bake. Since this bread is so easy to stir up, you may be ready to bake it before the oven is hot, so make sure you turn the oven on to preheat right away.
Mix dry ingredients. You’ll need a large mixing bowl. Measure the flour into the mixing bowl and add the salt and baking powder. Whisk the dry ingredients together.
Melt the butter (and honey). Melt the butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan. If your honey seems to be really thick or crystallized, heat that up too. It should be very liquid.
Combine. Add the beer, half the butter (save the other half to pour over the top of the bread batter), and the honey to the dry ingredients in the bowl. Stir the batter together just until the flour is incorporated.
The beer will foam up. That’s normal, just stir it in but don’t over stir the batter. You should still see some bubbles.
Put the batter into the pan. Scrape the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top.
Top with butter. Pour the rest of the melted butter over the top of the batter.
Bake. The bread needs about fifty minutes to bake. It will appear dry and golden brown on top. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick in the center of the loaf. It should come out clean or with a few crumbs, but not sticky batter.
You may notice that your bread does not have a smooth crust on top. Beer bread is more rustic in style, with a shaggy top. It’s always interesting to see how it’s going to look and that’s part of the appeal.
Cool. Take the bread out of the oven and let it cool in the pan for ten minutes or so. Remove it from the pan onto a wire rack to cool completely. It slices best when it’s cool but you can certainly serve it warm, if you prefer.
Does the alcohol cook out?
Most of the alcohol cooks out of beer bread but not a hundred percent. Beer is pretty low in alcohol already and what’s left after baking is inconsequential. However, if it’s a concern, use soda water instead of beer. The bread is just as delicious. (It really is, we tested it both ways!)
What to Serve With Beer Bread
Enjoy your bread spread with softened butter and/or honey. Sometimes I serve it with homemade strawberry freezer jam. Beer bread goes great with homemade soup. Try one of my 12 easy crockpot soup recipes. Beer bread and hearty beef stew (or make Instant Pot beef stew or crockpot beef stew) are a perfect match.
Tips for Success
- Preheat the oven. Once the bread batter is stirred together, you want to get it in a preheated oven as soon as possible.
- Measure the flour correctly. Use a spoon to lightly scoop the flour out of the storage container into a dry measuring cup. If you use the measuring cup to scoop out the flour, the flour will be too compacted. This can make your beer bread tough. Level the measuring cup off with a straight edge, such as the flat side of a table knife. Don’t shake the flour down to level it off because again, that will cause it to compact.
- Don’t over-stir the batter. Quick breads rely on the chemical reaction that occurs when baking powder is mixed with a liquid. If you stir the batter too much, the gases will be released before the bread is even in the oven, and the bread won’t rise.
Recipe Variations
- Try different beers. There are plenty of beer options and each will impart a different flavor to the bread. Have fun experimenting!
- Make the bread without beer. Use soda water instead. You may like my Irish soda bread. It’s also a quick bread, similar to beer bread but without the beer.
- Embellish with add-ins. Stir shredded cheese (cheddar is great!), herbs, or dried fruit into the batter.
- Make muffins or a round loaf. Bake the bread in muffin tins or a round casserole dish.
Cool the bread completely before storing it in an airtight container. It will keep on the counter for a couple of day. Remember, your homemade bread does not contain preservatives like store bought bread. For longer storage, keep it in the refrigerator or freeze for up to 3 months.
To refresh the leftover bread, toast it lightly.
More Homemade Bread
Beer Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons honey (see note)
- 12 ounces beer, at room temperature (see note)
- ¼ cup salted butter, melted (plus additional to grease the pan if desired)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or rub with butter.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until combined.3 cups all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Add the honey, beer, and half of the melted butter; stir until just combined. Do not overstir.3 tablespoons honey, 12 ounces beer, at room temperature, ¼ cup salted butter, melted
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and pour remaining butter over the top of batter.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean or with a few crumbs on it.
- Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Honey: If your honey is very thick or crystallized, warm in the microwave 10 to 15 seconds. You can substitute ¼ cup sugar, if you prefer.
- What is the best beer to use? Any kind of beer will work, from Budweiser to Guinness stout. Dark beers will make the bread taste maltier, more robust. Light beers will flavor the bread less. Avoid extra hoppy beers, like IPA which can make the bread taste a little bitter. Our favorite? Modelo Negra, a medium-bodied dark beer.
- Alcohol-free beer bread: Substitute 1½ cups (12 ounces) soda water (unflavored) for the beer or use a non-alcoholic beer.
- Beer bread muffins: Preheat oven to 375ºF. Divide batter between 12 greased muffin cups and bake 14 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cheesy beer bread: Stir in 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
Question: Have you tried making this beer bread recipe with whole wheat flour? Want to try this recipe, but we try to not eat white flour. Also, just discovered your website and am SO excited about trying your many yummy sounding recipes!!!
I have not tested this with whole wheat. I think it would probably work okay, will just be a little more dense. Please let me know if you give it a try! Thank you so much for the kind words!