Cheddar Dill Beer Bread

 

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Whenever my children come to visit, I lay in a 6 pack of beer.  The last time this occurred, I happened to be serving a Mexican meal to them, so of course I picked up Dos Equis beer.  Unfortunately, because I am not a beer lover, whatever bottles they neglect to consume during their visits lays around in my refrigerator until the next visit.

Sometimes I’m inspired to use the beer to make a New England boiled dinner, or a corned beef & cabbage dinner.

Today, I’m trying out a quick bread recipe using a bottle of cold beer and flavoring the bread with some leftover dill I had frozen in my freezer from my last batch of spanokopita, and a little grated cheddar cheese.

This type of bread requires no kneading, just measure, mix and bake.  I looked up a number of recipes to see if there were any tricks to using beer as my liquid leavener.  In fact, all the recipes were very easy and had few ingredients.  I decided to try Alton Brown’s recipe…barely restraining myself from frying up a few strips of bacon to crumble into the mix!  mmmm cheddar bacon beer bread sounds yummy!

Cheddar Dill Beer Bread

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Ingredients:

  • 3 cups all purpose unbleached flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon aluminum free baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh dill
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
  • 12 oz bottle cold beer

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Generously butter a 9 X 5 inch loaf pan.

Measure the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.  Add the dill and cheddar and stir to combine.

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Pour in the bottle of cold beer and mix only long enough to form a ball of dough.

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Turn into the loaf pan.  Sprinkle with extra shredded cheddar.

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Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until golden brown.

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Let cool in the pan 10 minutes.  Then remove from the pan and let cool for another 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

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