Homemade Beer Bread Recipe

Beer and bread have similar creation stories: Yeast meets sugar; sugar becomes carbon dioxide and alcohol; tasty carbohydrate is made.

So it's only natural that sooner or later, the two would get hopped up on each other, which is exactly what happens in this simple no-rise loaf. The carbonation in the beer, plus a hefty amount of baking powder, lifts the dough for a quick bread that tastes fermented, thanks to dormant yeast in the bottle. And aside from the speedy start-to-finish time (let's face it, waiting just sucks sometimes), the beer gives your final result a uniquely hopped flavor.

The beauty of this recipe is that similar to beer made with food, each loaf tastes different depending on your brew of choice. We went with a classic Stella lager for our standard version, but it's a good way to use any leftover pumpkin brews during autumn or fruitier ones in the spring. Experiment with ingredient swaps to complement your beer—say, a cup of oat flour to match an oatmeal stout—or adding cinnamon to a pumpkin-ale-based loaf.

Note: I've made this many times with PBR, and no one was any the wiser.

Recipe from the Tasting Table Test Kitchen