Fast Homemade Bread Alternative: Beer Bread Recipe

I was first introduced to Beer Bread at a Tastefully Simple party before I ever knew a scratch Beer Bread recipe existed.

The Beer Bread offered through Tastefully Simple was a tasty boxed mix to which you added a twelve ounce can or bottle of beer, then baked. It was so simple to make, even my least domestic friends bought several boxed mixes. Had we known then what I know now, we could have saved ourselves some cash. Tastefully Simple sells their Beer Bread mix for almost five dollars per box. For a couple dollars more, you can buy all the ingredients to make a six-pack of loaves.

The recipe.

I happened across this Beer Bread recipe at the Uncle Phaedrus, finder of lost recipes website while I was searching for a recipe for Apple Cider Donuts. I was amazed at how simple a Beer Bread Recipe was, and feeling a little duped for having spent money on a boxed mix.

The recipe, as quoted from the Uncle Phaedrus website, is as follows:

BEER BREAD

Ingredients :
3 c. self-rising flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 can or bottle (12 oz.) beer, room temp. (not light beer)

Preparation :
Mix (only 17-20 strokes) all ingredients. Place in greased 9 x 5x 3 inch loaf pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until lightly browned and sides pull away from pan. Brush with butter halfway through baking time.

Why this works.

As you can see, a Beer Bread recipe requires none of the tedious kneading and rising of a traditional bread recipe, but the result is very similar. Why is that? Notice the Beer Bread Recipe calls for 'self-rising flour'. Self-rising flour is flour with leavening agents added (baking soda and baking powder) to make the recipe rise and provide a slightly crumbly texture (think McDonald's crumbly, buttery biscuits). The beer in the Beer Bread recipe provides additional yeast and carbon dioxide which also contributes to the rising of the bread. However, with these ingredients, the rising action happens rapidly and doesn't last long, so Beer Bread has to be mixed quickly and baked immediately or the batter will fall.

A recipe as simple as it sounds.