Honey Beer Bread is one of the easiest, yet heartiest and most flavorful breads to make. This bread recipe just takes a few ingredients and a few minutes to prep. Every bite of buttery honey goodness and golden crunchy crust make this more than just bread!
My kids beg me to buy beer when we go to the grocery store. When they were little, this earned me some dirty looks from other shoppers. Now that they are teenagers, it still does. LOL.
This quick bread recipe is one of our tried and true favorites. Dense and hearty, it pairs perfectly alongside winter soups and stews like Broccoli Cheese Soup, Instant Pot Beef Stew, and Butter Bean Soup.
It’s simple to make: Just mix it up and into the pan it goes. No messy kneading. No extra tools to pull out. No extra rise time. Perfect for beginner bakers, but beloved by experienced ones all the same.
More beginner bread recipes to try:
How to make beer bread
Step 1. Measure out your dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, and salt. Lightly stir them to combine.
Step 2. Add the honey and beer to the dry ingredients.
Step 3. Mix it together until it’s just all combined.
Step 4. Spread the bread batter into a loaf pan coated with melted butter and bake!
Step 5. Brush it with more melted butter and honey when it comes out of the oven, if desired.
Make Beer Bread Muffins! This recipe bakes just as well in a muffin tin as it does a bread pan. Simply butter the bottoms of your muffin tin, fill each cup ⅔ of the way full with bread batter, and drizzle a bit of melted butter of the top of each portion. Beer Bread Muffins can be baked at 375 degrees for about 17-19 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Beer bread usually doesn’t have an overwhelming beer flavor. Most of the alcohol cooks out and you’re left with a yeasty and slightly sweet bread. For this reason, I recommend using a cheaper light beer. I generally use Busch Light or Miller Lite. That said, choosing the beer is the easiest way to change the flavor of beer bread. Some people love using dark beers and others IPAs. Start with what you prefer.
If you’d like to make this recipe without beer, it can be done. Just note that you will lose a lot of the flavor that’s traditional with a beer bread and it will generally turn out much sweeter. My recommendation is using Ginger Ale as a substitute.
Cheese- Add up to a cup of your favorite shredded cheese.
Herbs- Add your favorite fresh or dried herbs to the batter.
Maple- Make Maple Beer bread by switching maple syrup for the honey.
Other add-ins: Bacon, Garlic, Jalapenos, Olives
Any bread is best when it’s still warm from the oven, but this bread will stay fresh for about 3 days when stored at room temperature in an airtight container.
You can also freeze your beer bread. I like to cut my beer bread into thick slices and wrap them in saran wrap so that I can pull out slices of bread as needed. Just pop them into the microwave for a few seconds and it’s like you’ve got warm fresh bread all over again!
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Honey Beer Bread
Honey Beer Bread is one of the easiest, yet heartiest and most flavorful breads to make. This bread recipe just takes a few ingredients and a few minutes to prep.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup honey
- 12 ounces beer
- 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Lightly stir it to combine. *
- Add the honey and the beer and stir just until all the flour has all been incorporated.
- Pour half of the butter into a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan and swirl it around to coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Spread the beer batter in the loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown all over and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Turn the bread out of the loaf pan onto a wire cooling rack and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Brush the baked loaf with the remaining butter, if desired.
- Serve warm. Slice with a bread knife or electric knife for best results.
Notes
*3 cups of self-rising flour may be substituted for the all-purpose flour and baking powder.
Beer bread variations
- Cheese: Add up to a cup of your favorite shredded cheese.
- Herbs: Add your favorite fresh or dried herbs to the batter.
- Maple beer breaad: Make Maple Beer bread by switching maple syrup for the honey.
- Other add-ins: Bacon, Garlic, Jalapenos, Olives
Storing beer bread
Beer bread will stay fresh for about 3 days when stored at room temperature in an airtight container. This bread can also be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze, tightly wrap in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer safe container. Thaw it in the refrigerator and then place slices in the microwave for a few seconds to enjoy warm.
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Anita
Tuesday 22nd of February 2022
I made this recipe. It's super easy.i followed the exact measurement but my bread did not turnout soft.It was little chewy and difficult to cut. Could you please tell what could have gone wrong.
Amy D
Tuesday 1st of March 2022
Anita,
I've had that happen with beer bread too! Usually it is a very crusty loaf on the outside, which can make it difficult to cut. But as for the inside being too chewy, make sure you are lightly spooning the flour into the measuring cup and leveling it off when you add it to the mixing bowl. Sometimes if you just scoop, the flour can become hard packed in there and you actually get a little too much flour! Also, make sure you aren't over-mixing. Over-mixing will always result in a tougher baked good. Stir it just until it's all combined. I hope this helps and am sorry your first go round wasn't exactly as you'd hoped.