Sunday, November 16, 2008

Almost Too Easy Whole Wheat Beer Bread

Since I have no hot water yet or should I say STILL... I was trying to come up with a meal that didn't require too many dishes. I do have a dishwasher, but I still hand wash lots of items and call me crazy, but I have become spoiled and really enjoy washing up with hot water. So in an effort to use as little dishes and utensils as possible, I thought I'd make some Ham and Bean Soup and some Whole Wheat Beer Bread.

This bread was so easy it was ridiculous! I found the recipe on a great site called
Farmgirl Fare. Susan has some terrific recipes, so many for bread that I could hardly choose where to start. She also has the most adorable farm critters you have ever seen. I saw the recipe for this Whole Wheat Beer Bread I knew it would be perfect to go along with the Ham and Bean Soup.

Susan has so many different variations on the beer bread that I can barely decide which one to make next....garlic & herb, dill & chive, rosemary & cheddar? I think I'm going to be doing a lot of baking in the next few weeks.

This bread was simple to make (under an hour from start to finish!) and tasted divine. A real rustic, hearty bread that will go great with soups and stews. I think I'll have to make 2 next time, cause one loaf doesn't last long in this house!


Farmgirl Susan's Almost Too Easy Whole Wheat Beer Bread
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
14 ounces of beer (or a 12 ounce beer and 2 ounces of water)
(I used a Sam Adams lager)

Glaze: (optional) 1 egg and 1 teaspoons water, beaten.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the flours, sugar, salt & baking powder in a large bowl . Slowly stir in the beer and mix until combined. Batter will be thick.

Spread in a greased 8 inch loaf pan. Brush with egg glaze if desired and bake until golden brown or a toothpick tests clean (about 45 minutes). Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cook 10 more minutes. Serve warm or room temp.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lisa, last week I made several loaves of beer bread for a Stone Soup day at work. I made an onion/dill bread with half white whole wheat flour and a lighter ale. Then there was the cheddar beer bread made with a crisp apple hard cider. But my favorite was an oatmeal walnut beer bread. I used regular unbleached bread flour but before measuring the flour, I added about 3/4 cup of "oat flour" I'd made by whizzing up some rolled oats in my mini-chopper. I added some toasted walnut pieces and the beer was an oatmeal porter. It was finished off with a sprinkle of the rolled oats before pouring on the melted butter. Mmmmm. It was good.

Lee

The Cutting Edge of Ordinary said...

Wow Lee those all sound wonderful. What I love about his recipe is it's so versatile. This weekend I'm going to experiment with a few different flavor combinations.

So glad you like it (and made it!)