Some nights just really call for warm bread on the table with dinner, but literally who has time to be messing around with yeast and rising times? Proofing? Even if I ever had the time, I lack the patience.
Enter beer bread.
It’s the pound cake of bread, a low-drama quick loaf that tastes great with whatever else is on the table. You literally just have to stir the dry ingredients, pour in melted butter and beer, and bake until the center is set. If you want to get fancy you can brush the top with more melted butter toward the end of the bake. Or go wild… garlic butter? Flaky salt? You do you!
Snapshot
- Implements: large mixing bowl; whisk; wooden spoon or spatula; loaf pan; toothpick or cake tester
- Oven setting: 375°F (190°C) for about 45 minutes
- Batch size: one 9×5 loaf (about 8–10 slices)
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 2 Tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 5 Tbsp salted or unsalted butter, melted
- 12 oz pilsner, Kölsch, or another lower-bitterness beer
- Extra melted butter and flaky salt, optional for topping
Method
Heat the oven
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and grease a loaf pan. I use a spray can of avocado oil.
Mix the dry ingredients
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until well combined.
Add the butter and beer
Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the melted butter and beer, then mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until well combined.
Pro tip: Pour the beer slowly so you avoid generating a huge foamy head. Use the side of the bowl if you have to, instead of fretting about the well. This loaf is forgiving in all the ways.
Bake
Dump the batter into the prepared loaf pan, it should be stiff and scoopable. Flatten it out so you have an even craggy top and bake for 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Baste with melted butter for the last 10 minutes of the bake if desired. You can also add a flaky salt topping at the same time, for some texture and crunch.
Notes, swaps, and guardrails
Flour
All-purpose unbleached flour or white whole wheat flour both work. If using whole wheat flour, increase the melted butter to 6 Tbsp to help keep the bread from drying out.
Sugar
White sugar and brown sugar both work. Coconut takes this in a whole different direction, so maybe save that for your pound cakes.
Beer choice
Use something crisp, bready, and not especially hoppy. A pilsner or Kölsch is the sweet spot: enough malt character to make the loaf taste warm and grainy, enough carbonation and acidity to help the quick bread along, not so much hop bitterness that the bread starts tasting sharp.
Beer brings more than liquid. The malt contributes sweetness and toasted-grain flavor, the hops contribute bitterness and herbal/floral notes, the fermentation contributes subtle fruit or yeast aromatics, and the carbonation gives the baking powder a small assist before the oven takes over. Baking drives off alcohol, but it doesn’t erase bitterness.
Avoid my mistake: a very hoppy IPA will leave the loaf tasting more aggressively bitter once everything else has mellowed. Use with caution.
Darker malty beers can work, but they will push the loaf toward caramel, roast, or molasses notes instead of simple savory comfort.
Vegan butter
I’ve also made this recipe dairy-free by using Country Crock plant-based sticks and it turned out EXCELLENT.