Silver James

Once upon a time, I did a lot of things with beer. I made beer batter onion rings, beer batter, fish, I drank beer. I used it in stew. I drank it. The beer, not the stew. I ate the stew. I only occasionally drink beer now so it’s not like I have extra bottles laying around. There are times, though, when I wish I did because I come across a recipe that is pretty darn simple and looks soooo tasty but…no beer to be used and I’m too lazy to put on real clothes to head to the store. Also, I’d then be tempted to drink the rest of the beer in the fridge. Too bad you can’ buy just one bottle for cooking purposes. Ah, well. Such is life. Needless to say, I haven’t actually made this recipe, though I totally plan on doing so the next time I buy beer.

Beer Bread
Yield: 12 slices
Prep time: 2 Minutes
Cook time: 45 Minutes
Total time: 47 min

Ingredients
3 cups self-rising flour
1 to 4 tablespoons sugar, to taste (every recipe says this, and most end up using 3)
4 tablespoons melted butter
12 oz. bottle of Pumpkin Ale or beer of choice at room temperature

Let’s Make It
1 – Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.
2 – Mix the flour, sugar and the beer, stirring until fairly smooth; don’t worry about a scattering of small lumps.
3 – Pour batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top a bit. Drizzle with melted butter.
4 – Bake the bread for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted about 1/2″ into the top of the loaf comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
5 – Remove from the oven and let stand 5 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
6 – To keep bread moist, slice when ready to serve. It slices best when completely cool, but feel free to slice and enjoy while still warm.
7 – Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Tips
1. Feel free to use the beer of your choice. I chose a pumpkin ale for the slight spice flavor and as it’s pumpkin season. I have made this bread with light beer in the past which works. You can also use a darker beer like a stout, which will lend the bread a more robust flavor. Just be sure to use a room temperature beer for best rising and baking.
To keep bread moist, slice when ready to serve.

2. Self-rising flour is flour that has baking powder and salt added to it and is a staple in many Southern recipes. It’s traditionally made from a softer, lower protein version of all-purpose flour for tender biscuits.If you don’t have self-rising flour, substitute 3 cups all-purpose flour and add 4 ½ teaspoons baking powder and 3/4 teaspoons salt; whisk ingredients together before adding sugar and beer.

You’ll notice that this recipe calls for Pumpkin Ale due to the season. A lot of the recipes I’ve seen call for Shiner’s Bock, which is what Cash Munro uses. Yes, I checked with my favorite retired Texas Ranger to see if he’d ever made beer bread. He made me promise not to make a joke about beer and horses before he’d talke to me. Cash is a character in MIDNIGHT CLEAR, my SciFi/Romantic Suspsense/Christmas novella. If you haven’t read it, you should–and then drop a review. It’s fun, both the story and writing a review. I realize we aren’t even to Thanksgiving yet but readers are often ready to get in the Christmas mood this time of year. You should give it a reread and a review if you already have it. Just click on a cover pic or the title to head to Books2Read to find the on-line bookseller of your choice. What do y’all think? Have you had beer bread? Would you try it if you haven’t?