Grocery Store Bread Solutions and Substitutions You CAN Bake at Home!
With grocery store shelves rapidly emptying, it’s hard to get your hands on the everyday staples—bread, of course, being top among them.
This easy beer bread recipe is a great solution for when you are running out of bread and the store and local bakery are no help.
Beer bread does not need yeast and does not require kneading.
It needs only minimal ingredients that you probably have on hand, and is good for sandwich-making, as a dinner side, cheese plate partner, toast-maker, and much more.
Your biggest problem will be keeping enough made ahead, as it’s a real fan-favorite!
Some things to know about baking beer bread:
>> Beer Bread does not require yeast
>> Soda, seltzer, almost any carbonated beverage can be used in place of beer
>> Four simple ingredients
>> 2 minutes of mixing
>> 1 hour to homemade bread!
>> Great for sandwiches, cheese plates, toast, & more
>> Basic, cheap beer is the best beer to use to make beer bread
>> You can make self-rising flour from basic pantry ingredients if you don’t have any on hand
NB: Most easy Beer Bread Recipes call for Self-Rising Flour. It’s easy to mix up if you don’t have any on hand. Click this link for easy instructions for making your own self-rising flour for your beer bread, or in fact for any recipe that calls for self-rising flour!
Easy 5-Minute Beer Bread
Ingredients:
- 3 Cups self-rising flour
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- ¼ Cup melted butter, divided
- 1 Can beer (equal to 12 ounces, or 1 ½ cups)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Grease a 9 x 5 bread loaf pan (if you do not have a 9 x 5 pan, use whatever size you have—just know that you may need to adjust baking time up or down accordingly).
- Melt the butter.
- Combine the self-rising flour and sugar and stir through to combine.
- Pour in 1/8 Cup of the melted butter (equal to 2 Tablespoons).
- Pour in the can of beer.
- Mix through until evenly combined. Try not to over-mix the batter, as this will “deflate” the beer’s carbonation and restrict the rise. It should not take more than a minute or two to mix the batter. Some lumpiness is normal when mixed.
- Pour mix evenly into prepared bread loaf pan. Pour the remaining 1/8 cup melted butter over the top of the batter.
- Place in oven and bake at 375 F for 45-50 min. To check if done, insert a toothpick about ½ to ¾ inch in. If it comes out clean or with few crumbs clinging to it, the loaf is done. It should be golden brown on top.
- Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes on a cooling rack. After cooling, invert the loaf to remove from the pan and cool before cutting and serving.
- Enjoy!
A Couple Beer Bread Baking Tips & Ingredient Substitutions:
Beer bread typically has a crisp, crunchy crust due to the butter poured over it before baking. If you prefer a softer crust, mix ALL of the butter into the loaf and do not pour any over the top.
If you do not have beer, or prefer not to use it, you can substitute other carbonated beverages or sodas, such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, seltzer or tonic water. Some bakers have even created interesting flavored beer bread versions with things like Mountain Dew and Cherry Coke.
What’s the Best Beer to use to Make Beer Bread?
As for what type of beer to use for beer bread, you don’t need to overthink this. Use what you have—especially if you’re making beer bread just because you can’t find bread in the store and you need a quick and easy bread substitute!
That said, some darker beers can lend a deeper flavor—try dark ales, porters, Guinness, brown ales. Lite beers will make a lighter, whiter, bread.
The yeastier-tasting the beer, the more similar to a “real” traditional white yeast bread it will taste; but aside from taste, it’s the carbonation in the beer that is bringing the rise to the leavening agents in the self-rising flour, and you are not actually relying on any yeasts from the beers (which by the time of bottling is gone anyway).
Many, many people who make beer bread regularly have this to say about what beer to use for beer bread:
Don’t waste the good beer!
The difference in flavor is not all that perceptible, in the opinion of most beer bread bakers.
And so, it makes sense that you would use the cheapest beer you have on hand, or maybe the beer you don’t care for that got stuck in the back of the fridge.
And that, my friends, is all there is to baking easy beer bread at home–a simple, time-saving solution to bread shortages, or just a good, plain handy, helpful recipe to have on hand for delicious bread any time!
These easy homemade bread recipes are a great way to overcome bread shortages, too! Learn a new old trick that will ensure you never have to fear the bread aisle again!
Those of you with stand mixers might want to check this popular, well-loved bread-baking book, too!
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