Easy Homemade Beer Bread Recipe - An Italian in my Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What beer is best for beer bread? ›

Lighter beers, such as lagers, ales and pilsners, will give your bread a lighter color, and mild taste that just about everyone loves. Darker beers like stouts and porters make a darker-colored loaf and have a stronger beer flavor. Hoppy beers like IPAs will give your bread a more bitter taste.

Italian bread tends to include olive oil, herbs, and milk that add to its distinctive taste and texture.

Well, don't worry, because when making our beer bread, you can use warm OR cold beer! When pouring the beer into the bowl with the mix, we recommend pouring slowly, so it doesn't over-bubble. The same goes for any carbonated beverage you use to make our Beer Bread Mix; cold or hot will work!

If you bake an overworked dough, it will come out hard. Even though you aren't kneading beer bread, the same principle applies. It can be harder to tell when the dough is overworked, though, since you won't feel it in your hands and the mixture isn't supposed to be smooth. Instead, rely on your eyes.

The strains of yeast used to make beer, bread, and wine come from the species of yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. S. cerevisiae is known as “brewer's yeast” or “baker's yeast” for good reason: it's responsible for the fermentation that makes beer alcoholic and allows a lump of dough to rise into a loaf of bread.

Can You Use Something Other Than Beer in Beer Bread? Absolutely! Almost any carbonated or noncarbonated beverage can be used, including water, soda pop, milk or buttermilk, fruit juice and even creamed corn! In general substitute 12 fluid ounces of whatever liquid you choose in place of beer.

Farina 1 or 2

Even coarser than the previous types, these soft wheat flours are best used for bread and pizza.

Perhaps the most well-known and popular Italian bread, ciabatta is a slipper-shaped bread. It has a unique, almost plasticity, texture, which makes it possible to do practically anything with this bread.

Bake the bread for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted about 1/2" into the top of the loaf comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.

Again, due to its dense texture, beer bread goes perfectly with dips and spreads. Serve up a thick slice with your favorite spread or cube a loaf to use as an appetizer with your favorite dip or dipping oil. Think brisket, chicken, ribs, steaks, pork loin – all pair wonderfully with a slice of beer bread.

Can kids eat beer bread? ›

Keep in mind, the alcohol evaporates in the baking process, so it is safe for the kids to enjoy as well. Add in cheese if you like, it's not necessary, but it is delicious. Drizzling butter on top helps it have a nice crust. This beer bread comes together in less than 5 minutes and bakes in less than an hour!

Baking powder is made of baking soda plus cream of tartar and cornstarch. Baking powder can be substituted for baking soda by tripling the amount of baking powder. Baking soda can be substituted for baking powder by dividing the amount of baking powder needed by 4 and adding twice that amount of cream of tartar.

It's important to note that when using beer in bread recipes, the alcohol content will cook off during the baking process, so the bread will not be alcoholic. Additionally, if you are sensitive to gluten, be sure to use a gluten-free beer or substitute another liquid, such as soda or carbonated water.

The yeast converts the sugars in bread to create C02 that makes the bread rise, but it also creates some alcohol, just like in beer and wine fermentation. That flavor just means that the yeast has been given sufficient time to work. The alcohol evaporates at the temperatures that bread bakes.

Pro tip: As a good rule of thumb, keep in mind that whatever type of beer you use, the flavor will come through in your fresh-baked bread. Darker beer, like stouts and porters, will produce bread with more robust, pronounced flavors. Likewise, a blonde ale or pilsner will make a milder, lighter loaf.

Relatively lighter ales (pale ale, amber, or light brown ale) will complement nearly all beer-recipes and so are a great default choice. That said, it's also safe to stay away from IPAs (India Pale Ales) in your cooking.

One of my favorite beers to use is Yuengling Lager. It's a medium-bodied lager with notes of caramel malt and a sweetness that makes it perfect for beer bread.

The beer acts in place of yeast as the leavening agent, along with the baking powder. Keep in mind, the alcohol evaporates in the baking process, so it is safe for the kids to enjoy as well. Add in cheese if you like, it's not necessary, but it is delicious. Drizzling butter on top helps it have a nice crust.