Beer Bread

The most important things to remember when baking bread is to sift your flour. If you don’t sift, you’ll end up with a brick instead of a nice, fluffy loaf. So, sift, sift, sift. What’s nice about this recipe is the fact that the beer already contains active yeast, so you don’t have to sit around waiting for the dough to rise (a huge plus). And it also tastes excellent. This recipe, in particular results in a crisp, buttery crust and a soft, chewy center … the perfect bread, in my humble opinion. What’s great about this is it’s also easily doubled for two loaves - if you’re the sharing type. I used some of our home-brewed pilsner for this, but any canned beer (Miller Lite, PBR, Budweiser, etc.) will work just as well. I also added some coriander and ginger for some added flavor since the original recipe I gleaned this recipe from seemed kind of plain. At some point, I may even add ground cloves or cinnamon to give it a little sweetness.

3 cups flour, sifted

3 tsp. baking powder (omit if using self-rising flour)

1 tsp. salt (omit if using self-rising flour)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. ginger

12 oz. (1 can or bottle) beer of your choice

1/2 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together. Stir in the beer until well-blended. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Pour the melted butter over top of the dough. Bake for 45 minutes to one hour or until it passes the toothpick test.