Beer!

For his birthday my husband was given one of those boxes with all different kinds of beers. Through the adventure of trying the various small batch craft brews, I discovered one I really enjoyed. I'm not usually a big fan of dark beers. This one is called a "Brunette Beer" and comes from The Original Firemans Brew company out of Ukiah, CA. I decided to try using it to make a beer bread, and oh my goodness did it turn out great! 

Now, I love me a good quick bread recipe, but many are overly sweet. I combined a few recipes and reduced the amount of sweetener to come up with the recipe below. This bread is hearty and has just the right amount of barely there sweetness. It would be PERFECT served warm & slathered with butter along side a stew or cream soup.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups AP flour

3/4 cup old fashioned oats - ground up in a food processor 

1 Tbsp flax meal

2 Tbsp quick grits (corn meal would make a good subsitute)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup honey

12 ounces of your favorite amber or dark beer

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

DIRECTIONS

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or butter. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, flax meal, grits, baking powder and salt. 

3) Add in the honey and beer and mix until just combined. 

4) Spread the batter in the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Evenly pour the melted butter over the top of the batter. DO NOT skip this step. This is crucial to both the flavor and crunchy crust of this bread. Reduce the fat somewhere else! I mean it!

5) Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until it passes the toothpick test and the top is golden brown. 

6) Transfer immediately to a cooling rack. Allow to sit for at least 20 minutes and then slice & enjoy!