Recipe: Beer Bread

I love baking- I find it fairly easy & very relaxing. My mum is a really good baker & always baked loads when me & my sister were little so I kind of grew up being around homemade baked treats a lot. I think that's why I find it so comforting to have something in the oven. I mostly bake cakes & cookies, but I want to try & expand my repertoire & branch out into more complicated things. Eventually, I really want to try making my own bread, but working with yeast seems quite tricky, plus letting it prove for about 6 hours does not suit my impatient nature! So I have gone the Irish route & made bread that doesn't require yeast & takes about an hour to make, obviously a better option!

Beer bread is possibly the easiest bread in the world to make, plus you can drink the leftover beer which is always a good thing. To make this amazing bread you will need:

3 cups of plain flour (about 450g)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
12 fl oz beer (350ml)
A handful of grated cheddar (optional)
About 2 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 190°C (375°F)
2. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cheese & herbs in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.
3. Pour the beer in slowly, and mix slowly with a wooden spoon until just combined. You don't want to over mix it & knock all the air out of the beer. The mixture should be sticky & elastic.
4. Spread into a loaf tin & smooth and glaze the top with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with a touch of water or milk).
5. Bake for 40-45 mins until pale gold in colour.
   

I can't remember where I got this recipe so I also can't remember how exactly it works but I think the beer & the sugar react to create a natural yeast reaction. It's all very scientific. You can use any kind of beer you like- I have just used normal lager, but I also really want to try making this with Guinness!

You can also use any flavour combination that takes your fancy. Caramelised onion & gruyere? Sun-dried tomato & olive?

I also made a plain wheaten bread, but haven't included the recipe for this one as I used a popular brand of bread mix that you can get here in Northern Ireland that you just add buttermilk to as I couldn't find any whole wheat flour in the supermarket :( Next on my list is soda bread & potato bread!

Don't forget my post about home-made soup so you have something warm & delicious to go with your freshly baked bread! Happy eating!