Beer Bread

You all know I love to bake bread, it's fun, it's relaxing,

and it tastes so much better than anything you can buy in a store.

So I was thrilled to discover that most Beer Bread is made with Self-rising flour.

You see back during the holidays, every time I went to the store, I was picking up flour and sugar and various other items for baking.



Well some how it happened when I looked in my baking cabinet the other day to get some more All-Purpose flour out, I didn't have any. I went way into the back searching, I pulled everything out, no luck. So I made sure to add it to the shopping list. What I did find was

3 bags of SELF-RISING Flour plus I have the one I keep handy. That's a lot of self-rising flour. And I don't bake many cakes. It's got a decent shelf life so it won't go bad right away but I need to start using this stuff.

So off to the handy computer (what did we ever do before we had them) and I search

{Bread Recipes using self rising flour}

Do you know what the #1 recipe was? Of course you do.

BEER BREAD!

I probably looked at a hundred recipes, most were the same with a slight variation on how much sugar.

I picked out 3 recipes to try

Number 1-flour, sugar, beer
found at Cooks.com

Number 2-flour, sugar, beer and eggs
also found at Cooks.com

And Number 3
this one had lots of ingredients, some spices, I knew it would be good and I just wanted to try it
I found this one at Allrecipes.com

So I call hubby and ask him what type of regular beer he wants, no light beer in my baking allowed. He's thrilled I'm going to be buying beer. The selection is made.

All the recipes give the tip, this bread is best served warm. Sounds good to me!

I make them all close to the same time, they come out of the oven within minutes of each other

        Number 1                                       Number 2                                                  Number 3

I used the same flour for all, also of course the same beer, and I did on 1 & 2 the melted butter over the top close to the end of baking (number 3 has you pour the butter on before baking)

Sample time.
      Love Number 1,
           Number 2 is ok, and
                      Number 3 is completely different-in texture, crustyness, of course flavor with the spices, but still good. I have mom come over and sample, then I take the breads to City hall and start having everyone there taste test.

The overall winner was Number 1
Sometimes simple is best!

Beer Bread
adapted from Cooks.com

3 cups self rising flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 can or bottle of beer (12 ounces)
1/4 cup melted butter

Mix flour, sugar and beer together till well combined.

I felt like such a mad scientist with all the foam and bubbling going on.

Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven. After 45 minutes, pour your melted butter over top of your loaf and bake for another 10 minutes. 

Remove from oven, let cool enough to remove from loaf pan and serve.

And I couldn't leave well enough alone so I made one more loaf with 

1 teaspoon garlic powder and

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

added to my batter.

I am in love with Beer Bread, and I did buy a 12 pack, I think hubby will let me use a few more beers for this bread.

Looks like I had a good time in the kitchen, hehe

I've linked up at Foodie Friday, It's a Keeper Thursday, Friday Favorites, Thursday's treasures, Cast Party Wednesday, Chic & Crafty Party, Friday Flair, Feature Friday Link Party, Sweet Tooth Friday, I'm Lovin it, Tastetastic Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Fusion Friday, Seven Alive, Sweets for a Saturday, Crumbs and Chaos, Serenity Saturday, Church Supper