Cheesy Beer Bread

12

Over the years, I’ve become a lot more confident in making yeast breads/doughs. I don’t make them that frequently but I’ve had enough success that I’m not as…scared? Worried? Crossing my fingers and praying in the corner? So, I thought for sure I could dust off the old bread maker I hadn’t used in ages and it would be even easier than the old fashioned way I’d become comfortable with. On a day the kids and I were home alone together, I decided it would be a fun and easy activity for them to help with. We dumped everything into the bread machine and waited. What we got was a barely risen, dense loaf. A cheesy, garlicky brick.

I’m still not entirely sure what happened. Everything seemed okay going in. But it really killed my confidence because it’s a bread machine! It does the work for you and is supposed to be foolproof! The next week I wanted to make a new yeasted loaf recipe but the store was out of an ingredient I needed. Taking both things as a sign, I decided to take the easy way out and just make some beer bread.

I stayed pretty basic with this one, just mixing in some garlic powder and cheese. You could of course add herbs, peppers, swap out the cheeses, whatever you want. The loaf will be done in less than an hour and you will end up with a tender bread with a nice crust. No machine, finger crossing, or…ahem…swearing necessary.

Cheesy Beer Bread

blogherads.adq.push(['Middle1', 'skm-ad-Middle1']);
//

12 thoughts on “Cheesy Beer Bread

  1. I have some serious hang-ups in the baking department – I lose all confidence with anything requiring yeast, but I’m working on it. This looks like a good ‘gateway’ recipe for those of us that want to make bread, but need need a half-step to boost our confidence!

  2. I make sourdough bread on a regular basis. Although I usually just do the dough cycle now and bake it in pans, I used to bake it in the machine. Once, I had my boyfriend do it on his own and his turned out dense like that, too, like a brick. We compared what we did and I’m pretty sure the only difference was that he just dumped the flour in (after sifting). I always gently shake it in a little at a time with a flour scoop (after sifting) and allocate it evenly over the whole pan so that it says on one level above the liquids. Could that be what happened?

    1. Maybe, MJ. I let my kids do some of the dumping so it’s possible. But, I made sure to do most of it, including the last part, so that the water was completely covered, etc. Who knows!

  3. Made it yesterday. Yum. Hit the spot with some homemade soup. You need that kind of thing when contending with your second nor’easter in 7 days. Didn’t have white whole wheat flour so I used half regular flour and half standard whole wheat. Very tasty and super easy.

    1. Glad you liked it, Amy! Hope you’re recovering from the storms. We just had nearly 2′ feet here this weekend – so crazy.

      1. Let me just say that if you toast it the next day and then add a generous pat of salted butter, you could do worse.

  4. Another winner! I used half whole wheat and half white flour but otherwise stuck to the recipe. I love a quick bread that I can bake up when I’m having soup or stew for lunch or dinner. I just saw the comment about toasting it with butter – going to try that as well. Thanks!

Leave a Reply to Amy Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *