Honey-Rosemary Beer Bread

By Jeff Schwarz and Greg Kessler

Honey-Rosemary Beer Bread
Greg Kessler
Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Rating
4(172)
Comments
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Can flour, beer and little else be turned into steaming, golden bread in under an hour? Yes, and this recipe shows you how. When making beer bread with whole-wheat flour, light is what you want. No yeast is needed — the beer does the proofing work. Use a local lager, and add rosemary and a generous amount of honey. Finish it with butter, sea salt.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 3cups whole-wheat flour
  • 1tablespoon baking powder
  • 1teaspoon salt
  • 1(12-ounce) bottle of beer (lager)
  • 1teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
  • 3tablespoons honey
  • 4tablespoons butter, divided
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

494 calories; 14 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 82 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams dietary fiber; 13 grams sugars; 12 grams protein; 485 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Step 2

    Grease a 9-by-5 loaf pan with 1 tablespoon of butter.

  3. Step 3

    Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.

  4. Step 4

    Mix the beer, rosemary and honey into the dry ingredients.

  5. Step 5

    Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Whisk the butter into the mixture.

  6. Step 6

    Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Gently tap the pan on the counter to even out the mixture and remove any air bubbles.

  7. Step 7

    Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes.

  8. Step 8

    Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

  9. Step 9

    Slice and serve with butter and salt.

Ratings

4 out of 5
172 user ratings
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Comments

Kristine

Made this tonight for dinner. Will not make it again. Looked like a doorstop. Tasted slightly better. Sorry. I hoped it would work. I did bake it for 60 min., as the other reviewer suggested. But there was no "whisking" the butter into the mixture as it was tough to stir with a spoon. I've made other beer batter breads. Will have to look for those recipes.

Anja Parker

This bread is good, but needs a little adjustment. Others said it was really dense so I did 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 white bread flour, and I thought the texture came out well, not too dense. I used Penzey's powdered rosemary and mixed it in with the dry ingredients because I find fresh rosemary too perfumey and woody. It worked very well! It baked in the 50 minutes the recipe called for. I toasted it with butter and it was pretty good. Would definitely go great with soups and chilies.

kk

Made to use up some WW Flour and a stray bottle of Sam Adams Winter Lager. Left out rosemary as the beer used is brewed w/ orange peel, cinnamon & ginger and I didn’t think flavors would meld. Bread is good, but dense. Ate it w/ unsalted butter and prosciutto (which made me wish I had used rosemary). Would possibly make again as a means to use up beer and would sub in some white flour in hopes of a less dense crumb. Guinness beer bread from Alex Guanaschelli is still my go to beer bread.

BestCat

Well, I appreciate that Mr. Schwartz and Mr. Kessler offer a beer bread recipe with whole wheat flour bc I need to use mine up before it starts to get sour/weird. 50/50 whole wheat/ all-purpose or just whole wheat and a light lemony vinaigrette and salad if the bread is super-dense. I like the addition of honey in the mixture because I've made a few loaves of beer bread plain (didn't have any herbs) and it definitely needed some flavor!

MB

When it says whisk butter into the mixture, does the mixture have to be really WELL combined? Most quick breads recipes say to mix gently and do not overmix. So I'm not sure what to do here. I don't know if a beer bread is considered a quick bread. Please help and thank you!

DavidMC

Turned out excellent! From Jennifer, (5 months ago from 11/10/20) applied her notes. From the recommendation to visit Sara Moulton’s web page and use her method of incorporating butter and ‘amping’ up the rosemary and honey. Instead of 1 tsp of fresh rosemary, I used 2 Tbs. I went 50/50 with the flour (whole wheat/all purpose) and I doubled the honey. Additionally I added a Tbs of sugar and used a stout Guinness instead of a Lager, mixing the honey with the beer then mix with dry ingredients.

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