Honey Butter Beer Bread
Honey Butter Beer Bread is just as simple as the original recipe but deliciously flavored with honey and butter!
Have you ever tried beer bread? I’ve been making this Easy Beer Bread for years but after finishing this loaf of Billowy Off-White Bread with Honey the other day that includes honey, milk, eggs, and butter, I had a hankering to modify it a bit and go for some Honey Butter Beer Bread. Why did I not try this before!
The recipe for the Beer Bread comes from one of the first cookbooks I bought when I moved to Denver so many years ago, the Colorado Cache Cookbook (affiliate link) from the Junior League of Denver. It was called Coors Beer Bread so of course I assumed it was something devised locally.
Over the years I’ve come to realize that beer bread is pretty universal; the Coors designation for this bread was simply the Colorado ingredient the recipe used. Coors Beer used to have a lot of cache attached to it; it wasn’t shipped east past the Mississippi River and it became the stuff of legend. Now it’s available everywhere and I’ve renamed the recipe on this blog to Easy Beer Bread…use whatever beer your heart desires!
The truth is that the beer brand is not particular in this recipe. For this recipe though I wanted a light beer; I would have used Coors if it had been on hand but alas…only a 12-pack of Corona; so Corona it was.
No, this is not Mexican Beer Bread; Corona is simply a pale lager; a pretty even-keeled imported beer that has fruity-honey aromas and a touch of malt. It’s perfect to add the yeasty flavor that makes this bread different from a quick bread but doesn’t impart a strong flavor profile of its own. For one that does you should also try this Honey Maple Dark Beer Bread. I used Nitro, a stout beer from Colorado’s Left Hand Brewing for that loaf along with some molasses and maple syrup; Guinness would also be delicious!
I think it’s important to note; this bread also uses baking powder for leavening; someone made a comment about that the other day saying of course it would rise and that the beer was unnecessary. Well there is some truth there but that’s not the whole story.
The beer does have some yeast in it and that might serve to help it rise as well, I think the baking soda is the workhorse for that effort and the beer simply adds that yeasty flavor that we expect from homemade bread. The woman who suggested 7-Up could be used was even further off base; I don’t crave bread that tastes like a soft drink! 😉
Either way, it’s a recipe ingredient that equates to 12 oz of liquid…experiment if you must but don’t blame me if you’re not happy. Some things in baking you can play with and others…not so much.
For this recipe I did switch out the white sugar for honey and added some of the butter to the batter instead of pouring most of it on top but it is still so quick and so easy and I becoming redundant, NO yeast required. Normally that would not be a huge deal but even I want some delicious foods that don’t take hours to prepare.
Here’s a list of ingredients you’ll need…and I’m hoping most of you have these already in your home (full recipe at end of post):
- Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Beer, room temperature
- Honey (if not available, you can substitute 1/4 cup of white or brown sugar)
- Butter, melted
That’s it…and it’s all mixed in one bowl too. Simply spread melted butter all over the inside of your bread loaf pan, use more melted butter when mixing the dough and then after putting the dough in a bread pan, drizzle the remaining butter over the top and voila…you’re done. You seriously can make it AND bake it in an hour.
Remember a few years ago when flour and yeast could be a bit difficult to come by but everyone wanted to spend some of that time at home making bread? I was able to find yeast on Amazon and ordered a pound of SAF Yeast (affiliate link). A pound sounds like a lot but during Covid I was glad to find it and it will keep in the freezer for a couple of years…I’m set!
I’ve always loved regular beer bread but admittedly this Honey Butter Beer Bread is my new favorite! Happy bread baking!
More Beer Bread
PIN IT! ‘Honey Butter Beer Bread’
Honey Butter Beer Bread
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter melted, divided
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 12 ounces beer (1 bottle)
- ¼ cup honey
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
- Pour 2 Tablespoons of the melted butter into the bottom of a 9×5-inch bread pan, and brush it around to grease the inside of the pan; top and sides.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt until combined. Slowly pour the beer, honey and 2 tablespoons of the melted butter into the flour mixture, and stir just until combined.
- Spread the batter into the pan in an even layer. Brush the remaining 2 Tablespoons of melted butter evenly on top of the batter.
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove and transfer the pan to a wire baking rack and let the bread cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Slice with a bread knife, serve warm and enjoy!
Too many interesting things here, thanks for these great recipes. Love your page and I will save it to read the next information you update.
Beer bread is good stuff, isn’t it? And so easy to make! Really like the addition of honey — nice hit of sweetness. Thanks!