This simple, but oh so buttery, Beer Bread recipe is a delicious way to make bread without yeast. It bakes up with a perfect buttery crust and soft, tender inside!
If you like this quick bread recipe, you will also want to try out my recipe for Easy Irish Soda Bread, or the other version of this Beer Bread with bacon in it — Bacon Beer Bread!
Easy Homemade Beer Bread
Quick breads are already beyond easy to make and bake up super – wait for it – quick (I’m here all week folks!). So, you might be wondering what can make them better? How about BUTTER and BEER!?! There is a full bottle of beer and a full stick of butter in this Beer Bread recipe, but who’s counting, right?
This is a recipe I’ve been making and perfecting for over 10-years now. You can trust me when I say, you’re going to love it.
One of the best things about this recipe is that it takes no more than 5 minutes of work from you. Then, you pop it in the oven and in about an hour, you are devouring your buttery Beer Bread – smeared with even more butter (if you can handle it!).
What is Beer Bread?
Beer bread is a quick bread recipe that incorporates an entire bottle of, you guessed it, BEER! The beer acts in place of yeast as the leavening agent, along with baking powder. The alcohol evaporates in the baking process, so it is safe for the kids to enjoy as well.
If you don’t like the taste of beer, don’t go running. It does not taste like you are drinking a bottle of beer. I promise. Instead the beer adds a great flavor to the finished bread!
Recipe Ingredients
The recipe ingredients here are so simple you are sure to have them in your pantry. Seriously, there are only 6 ingredients! You may just need to run out for your favorite lager.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- all-purpose flour
- sugar
- baking powder
- salt
- beer
- unsalted butter
How to Make Beer Bread
1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan. Line the loaf pan with parchment paper for easy removal (optional).
2. Mix: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer into the dry ingredients until just mixed.
3. Pour: Pour half of the melted butter into the bottom of the loaf pan. Then spoon the batter into the pan, and pour the rest of the butter on top of the batter.
4. Bake: Bake your beer bread for 50 to 60 minutes, until it’s golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve your beer bread immediately with a smear of more butter.
Tips for the Best Beer Bread
You’re going to love this beer bread, but keep these tips in mind to make sure it is as good as possible:
- My favorite beer to use in this recipe is Shiner Bock. If you can’t find that, I suggest using a darker beer because it gives the bread better flavor, but a light beer will work in a pinch!
- You can replace your sugar with honey.
- Use a sharp serrated knife to slice your bread.
- For an interesting savory variation, you can mix in herbs and garlic, or green chilies and cheddar cheese.
Serving Ideas
This buttery Beer Bread is perfect sliced and served with a dab of butter, but here are some additional serving ideas:
- Topped with butter and honey
- Topped with butter and jam
- With chili or any soup – particularly a chili, veggie or bean soup
- Along with a stew or pot roast
How to Store
Store this bread at room temperature for about 2-3 days. Make sure you keep it in an airtight container to keep it moist. Resist the urge to put it in the refrigerator. That will actually make your bread go stale more quickly.
Can I Freeze this Bread?
Yes! Simply double wrap it in saran wrap and aluminum foil. You can freeze it for up to 6 months. Let it come to room temp in your fridge before slicing it. Reheat each slice in the microwave for 20 seconds.
You can freeze loaves of this buttery Beer Bread and then use them as holiday gifts!
This Beer Bread recipe has been a favorite of ours for over a decade. It’s something we make so often, I don’t even have to look back at the recipe anymore! It’s a recipe that I always have the ingredients on hand for and my family is sure to eat every single bite.
Please leave a review or comment below letting me know how it turns out for you!
Buttery Beer Bread
This Buttery Beer Bread is an fun, easy twist on a classic quick bread recipe. It's made using just a few ingredients and comes out soft and oh so buttery!
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 bottle (12 ounces) beer
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Line with parchment paper for easy removal (optional).
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer into the dry ingredients until just mixed.
Pour half the melted butter into the bottom of the loaf pan. Then spoon the batter into the pan, and pour the rest of the butter on top of the batter.
Place loaf pan on cookie sheet in case there is any butter that spills over as it bakes.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve immediately with a smear of more butter, or reheat in the microwave for 20 seconds.
Notes
I used Yuengling (original) this time. I prefer to use Shiner Bock, but the store was out. I would suggest using a darker beer because it gives the bread better flavor, but a light beer will work in a pinch!
Repost from 2009
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10 slicesServing Size:
1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 238Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 24mgSodium: 360mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 1gSugar: 5gProtein: 4g
Categories
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I made this today and it was a hit, especially with my stepson who tends to be finicky. Kiddo took half the loaf home with him! We loved the texture and flavor. Only had Mic Ultra on hand and it worked out just fine.
I made beer bread this AM. It turned out perfectly. Thank you for the recipe.
Can you use margarine?
I have not personally tried it, but I think it will work. I would cut back on the amount of butter added on top/bottom. Margarine can taste oily.
Can I use salted butter?
Sure! I would not add extra salt to the bread if using salted butter.
Can you use non-alcoholic beer?
Yes!
I’m going to make this for my husband tomorrow but I’d like to add rhe grated cheese. I know with biscuits you don’t want to add too much. What do you think ? 1/3 cup? 1/2 C ?
I think a 1/2 cup would be perfect!
Not sure how anyone can mess up this recipe. If I can do this absolutely anyone can with great results. How do I know this you ask? Well, I am easily distracted. In the process of mixing up the batter and pouring it into the loaf pan three times I first forgot to grease the loaf pan. Dumped the batter back into the bowl and greased the pan. Having successfully replaced the batter into the now greased pan I remembered the salt. It wasn’t in the batter. Dumped the batter back into the bowl, added the salt and replaced the batter. Stepped back and smiled. My work here was done….so I thought…I forgot the sugar. Pour the batter back into the bowl, added the sugar, put the whole mess back into the pan and placed it into my preheated oven. After two minutes, I remembered I forgot the butter that was melted in a bowl sitting in my microwave. Without hesitation I pulled the 2 minute loaf out of the oven and poured the entire stick of butter over the top, replaced the loaf into the oven and waited 60 minutes. It came out perfect. The crust was crisp and the crumb tender. It was a hit served with my homemade beef veggie soup. I plan on doing this the right way next time. Thanks for a great recipe even the sleep deprived fogged bound can manage.
This is hysterical! Thanks for sharing and I’m glad it all still worked out! 😉
Can you make this with whole wheat flour??
100% whole wheat will change the texture a lot, I would recommend doing a 50/50 blend. 50% whole wheat flour and 50% all purpose flour. Hope this helps!
Whenever I make this bread the bottom of it…about a quarter of inch…comes out hard as a rock.
I use a dark Loaf pan lined with Parchment paper….for 60 minutes.
Thoughts? Maybe bake only 50 minutes?
Tx!
Hmmm. That’s a new one! I usually use a dark loaf pan with parchment paper, so that should work. But maybe try a glass loaf pan if you have one? Is the bottom of the bread dark in color? Or just a different texture? The bottom and outside edges will all be a little firmer than the interior of the bread.
After reading all the different comments I was nervous to make this, but I finally did today. as some suggested I did not add salt because all I had was salted butter. Also I was out of parchment paper so I just buttered and floured the pan and it popped out easily. I also used about a cup of shredded cheddar cheese. It came out perfect and was absolutely delicious
Can you use Self Rising Flour and omit the baking soda and salt ❓. Just wondering
For every 1 cup of self-rising flour, substitute 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 1 tsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. baking soda. In this recipe, I only used baking powder. So yes, it should work, but I haven’t tried it and can’t guarantee it will work the exact same.
What kind of loaf pan did you use. I tried once and used an in expensive loaf pan and it didn’t turn out well. I was told you need to use a rather heavy duty loaf pan to get great results. Unfortunately I never tried again. But thought I would share experience.
Could you use a hard cider instead of beer?
Sure!
Well, my sister and I didn’t like this beer bread. But I’ve been wanting to try it for awhile and I’m glad I did. I do recommend adding some kind of flavor to the dough and less butter. Thank you though for the recipe.
Just made it for my first time and OMG! It turned out soooooooo AMAZING! I’m serving it at Easter Dinner tomorrow! I have a second one in the oven right now…soooooo easy and soooo delicious! Thank You!
So glad you love it as much as we do! 🙂
Can you use flavored beer?
You can, but your bread will be slightly flavored with whatever you use! So if you use orange beer, expect a mild orange beer flavor in the bread.
Do I use beer straight from the bottle ? Do I use the entire 12oz
Yes and Yes! 🙂
’m wondering if the difference in texture some are seeing is due to flour volume? If the cup measure is filled by scooping, then it could have substantially more flour (up to 50%!) than if the flour is spooned into the measuring cup. Is the flour taken directly out of the bag, or has it been dumped into a canister (the bag is likely much more compressed)? That also matters.
Anyway, I made it today with the flour spooned from a bin, put half the butter in the mix, the other half in the pan, and I had a fairly thick batter– about the same as the typical banana bread batter. It looks really good, though I haven’t tasted it yet. I’m waiting to slice until it’s a bit cooler.
Hi David! Yes, that tends to be a common issue. Packed flour can definitely alter a recipe, especially one like bread! I hope you enjoy it once you try a bite! 🙂
Going to try this looks good. Also the one with bacon.
Yummy..
Made it yesterday. . . .easy and delicious! If l add raisins and cinnamon next time what amount of each would you recommend?
Hi Lettie! I haven’t added cinnamon or raisins, but I’d say start with a teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/3 cup of raisins and see how you feel.
I have been baking this bread for several years and we love it!! I use 2 different kinds of flour…..half white with seeds etc and half brown with seeds. I don’t add any butter till it’s baked then slather it on!!!! I bake one for sandwiches, and one with same recipe and add cinnamon and raisins…..then toast it and slather it with butter and honey!!! Everyone loves this recipe!! We live in Belgium, and use the cheapest beer I can get at Aldi!!!!!
Tried this today and it’s so good! I used half bread flour and half all purpose flour and Miller Lite Beer. I also followed another poster’s suggestion to use less butter in the pan and put some butter in the bread. I put 3 Tbs butter in the pan, 2 Tbs in the batter, and 3 Tbs butter on the top. This is definitely a keeper! I’m going to share this recipe with my three daughters and my sister. It was so quick and easy to make. Thanks so much for a great recipe!
I’ve been hesitant to try beer breads but if the recipe calls for Shiner, then it’s got to be good.
Tried this bread this morning. I too had the consistency of a very sticky dough and had to pull it apart to spread it around the bread pan. I used a dark Guiness and the flavor is amazing. It only had to cook for 55 min and is so delicious and the outside is incredibly crunchy. Love this recipe!
would this recipe work with adding cranberries to it
Yes it will work, but it will add a whole different flavor. This is a savory bread, not much of a sweet bread.