Beer Bread
Updated
Updated
This Beer Bread Recipe is super easy to make with only 6 ingredients and a crispy buttery crust when it’s done baking. I love it on its own with a slab of butter or dipped into soup or chili!
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5 STAR REVIEW
Easy Beer Bread Recipe
Offer me a cold beer and I will immediately decline. Offer me a slice of this beer bread and I will beg you for the entire loaf! The combination of beer, brown sugar, and butter just creates a trifecta of deliciousness that cannot be denied.
Beer bread is really just any bread that includes beer as an ingredient in the dough. From there, it can vary quite a bit, depending on the type of beer used and the other ingredients, transforming the mixture into a whole loaf or individual rolls.
I love making beer bread because it’s one of the easiest ways to enjoy fresh, homemade bread without the fuss. Since all beer contains yeast, I don’t need to add any extra yeast, knead the dough, or wait around for it to rise. The natural yeast in the beer, combined with a little sugar, helps the bread rise beautifully, and I like to add a bit of baking powder too—it keeps the loaf from getting too dense and gives it that perfect, tender crumb.
Beer Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted*
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 12 oz. bottle Negra Modelo beer, room temperature, any type works**
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted, and divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 9x 5x 3-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the beer and ¾ of the melted butter until just combined. Make sure not to over-mix. Overworking the dough will create a very dense loaf.
- Spoon the batter evenly into the pan and drizzle the remaining ¼ of the butter over the top.
- Bake for 55 minutes or until the top is golden and a tooth pick (or long skewer) inserted in the middle comes out clean. Slice and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!How to Make Beer Bread Step by Step
Preheat the oven and prepare the loaf pan: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Prepare the batter: In a large bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour, ½ cup sugar, 2 tbsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the beer and ¾ of the melted butter until just combined (don’t over-mix).
Transfer to pan: Spoon the batter evenly into the pan and drizzle the remaining ¼ of the butter over the top.
Bake: Bake for 55 minutes or until the top is golden and a tooth pick (or long skewer) inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Slice and enjoy: Slice and serve immediately.
Which beer is best?
You can use any type of beer. If this is your first time making this bread, I recommend trying it with the type of beer you enjoy drinking. After that, play around with different varieties.
Dark style lagers, like Samuel Adams, have notes of caramel and roasted malts, which will give you a strong, but smooth flavor. Miller Lite or Bud Light will deliver the mildest beer flavor. You can even have fun using seasonal brews like pumpkin ale and hard cider.
How to Store
This bread is best enjoyed the same day it’s baked—fresh from the oven with a slab of butter! As the days go on, the bread will lose some of the beer flavor and also seems to settle and get heavier, but is still very delicious.
Anything not eaten should be cooled completely to room temperature, wrapped tightly in foil and placed in a plastic bag, then stored at room temperature for 1 additional day.
After a day, you should freeze it (storing in the fridge dries it out) for up to 1 month. Thaw on the counter overnight and let it come to room temperature. If you want to re-warm it, remove it from the plastic bag and place it in the oven at 300°F for about 20 minutes.
What to Serve with Beer Bread
This beer tastes great on its own, but I especially love dipping it into a comforting roasted red pepper soup or a flavorful creamy asparagus soup. I also like to use it to soak up all the flavors of my easy chili recipe.
Hey Amy!!
I’m making your Beer Bread tomorrow but have a question about your recipe vs your video. In the written directions you say to spoon the batter into the pan THEN pour 1/4 of the butter over the top then bake. However, in the video you just spoon the batter then smooth it out then bake. I was wondering if you decided the drizzle of butter on top before baking was unnecessary, or did you just miss that part in the video? SO appreciate any info you can give me as I want mine to turn out just like yours! :)
Thanks so much!
Debi in Virginia
Hi Debi! Ignore the video. HA. Follow the written instructions where the melted butter is divided – some is mixed into the batter and the remaining is drizzled on top. Enjoy!
I used to make this a few years ago, and we have always enjoyed it. My husband and father both have a cholesterol problem. I have been making the substitution of avocado oil for butter in most of my cooking/baking. I did not drizzle the top with the oil. This came out just as good or better than I remember; moist and delicious.
Could I use soda if I don’t have beer?
I’ve never tested this recipe with soda, but honestly, I can’t see why not. As long as it’s 12 ounces and room temp it should work (obviously with a completely different taste.) Try it!
Question.. can I make my beer batter the night before and cook it in the morning
I don’t recommend it. This bread has the best taste and texture baking and eating the same day.
Just cranked out a loaf of this. Honestly, I have some beer that’s ok but not my fav, left by a guest and I want to use it up! That said, the bread that came out of the oven, and I’ve now sampled, is exactly what I had in mind. Let me explain. We’ve been baking this week – I’ve been making apple fritter bread, cranberry bread, lebkuchen and now this. I wanted something strong, a bit crusty, with some good chew to it, moist, a little grit. Admittedly I made some mods on the fly and crossed my fingers but, yum!
This was a big hit! I served with chili and we all loved it. So easy.
This was delicious!!
Thanks for this! I have been looking for a GREAT beer bread recipe, not from a box!! This was GREAT.
So happy to hear it!
I am so jealous that you get to meet so many great chefs! Perks of living near a big city, I suppose…. I’ll keep my mouth shut about the Negra Modelo, but this bread is definitely a keeper! Can’t wait to try it with some of Billy’s favorite beers.
I used a dark lager and loved it. Would make again.
We’re not beer drinkers, but loved this. It’s sort of sweet!
Yes!
That sounds like my kind of walking tour! And I just happen to be head over heels for beer bread. I mean, really, why wait for yeast to rise when you can get this in the oven in under 10 minutes.
This beer bread looks fantastic – and Rick Bayless – love him! His recipes are always excellent – love that you used Negra Modelo beer in this!
Can you use a lite beer? Something along the line of Miller Lite?
Hi Larry – you can, but I would really recommend sticking to a dark style lager. The malted barley lends to the color and flavor, with way less bitterness.
Oh how I love this beer bread. Especially with a bowl of chili!
I have made several Rick Bayless recipes over the years and they’ve all been fantastic (seriously, try his moles sometime). This bread sounds absolutely fantastic!
I love Rick Bayless! And beer bread! And I especially love how easy this recipe is (and that it doesn’t have yeast)
Call me jealous! When we visited SF we were lucky enough to have locals take us to the good Mexican joints. The best food! Also beer bread might just be the easiest quick bread out there.
A friend of mine used to make beer bread all the time when I was younger and it was so good. This absolutely reminds me of him and I love it!
I have a celebrity chef crush on Rick Bayless. Like a real, hard crush. It’s kind of unreal how serious my crush is lol And I’m insanely jealous right now. But your bread looks good :)
Hanging out with Rick Bayless is not only worth leaving the house, but also worthy of putting on real clothes and make-up! What an awesome opportunity. Beer bread is my favorite quick bread. It’s so easy that every meal can have fresh bread with it.