It only takes 6 simple/pantry ingredients to make this Honey Beer Bread – and NO yeast! No rising time, just mix with a spoon and bake!
This Honey Beer Bread is one of those recipes we have with so many of our family meals. We also love easy bread recipes like my No Knead Bread and Cheesy Garlic Bread. This is one of my Bread Recipes I know you’ll want to keep on hand!
HONEY BEER BREAD RECIPE
Have a craving for some homemade bread – but you don’t have any yeast? Been there!
Or maybe you’re intimidated by using yeast, or just don’t want to wait hours and hours for bread to rise, then rise again. Been there too!
This beer bread is your solution! Just 6 ingredients, no kneading, no rising, no yeast, no mixers – no fuss. Mix with a spoon/spatula, add it to the pan, top with some butter and bake!
My 10 year old could make this entire recipe herself, so I promise you, it’s easy peasy.
If you’re worried this bread recipe will taste overly beer-ish (yep, we’re making up words here), it really doesn’t. It has a slight, delicious bitterness, and has a subtle beer taste – but a fabulous one!
HOW TO MAKE BEER BREAD
- Preheat oven and prepare loaf pan.
- Add dry ingredients to mixing bowl and stir. The dry ingredients here are flour (regular all-purpose), baking powder (helps the bread rise), and salt (for flavor).
- Pour in wet ingredients. This is the beer (choose your fave), and honey (adds a slightly sweet flavor plus a bit of moisture).
- Stir until combined. Just use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon and stir until all the flour is incorporated.
- Add half the melted butter to the bottom of the pan. This helps release the bread from the pan after baking, as well as adds extra buttery flavor!
- Add the batter and top with remaining butter. This ensures a nice golden brown top, plus, more buttery flavor.
- Bake until golden and cooked through. This always takes about 47-ish minutes for me, but since all ovens are different, make sure you test with a toothpick or knife to check for doneness.
- Let cool in the pan for a bit, then turn out to cool on rack. It’s SO tempting to dive right into this bread as soon as it comes out – but I think it has the best texture when it’s been cooled for about 20-30 minutes. Still warm, but not hot.
ADDITIONAL COOKING TIPS
- USE YOUR FAVORITE BEER – I like to use a regular Budweiser or Miller to make this bread because it’s cheap, and produces a very light beer flavor. If you prefer a more robust beer flavor profile, feel free to use an ale, or your favorite brew.
- TEXTURE – don’t expect this beer bread to have the same texture and crumb as a sandwich bread or a loaf from your favorite bakery. This bread is dense and hearty, with a tendency to crumble a bit as you slice it… while still being incredibly moist and tender.
VARIATIONS OF THIS RECIPE
- NON-ALCOHOLIC – a huge percentage of the alcohol is cooked away when baking this bread, so it won’t give you ANY sort of buzz, but if you’d rather not consume alcohol, my best substitution would be non-alcoholic beer. Maybe a seltzer water would work, but I haven’t tested it.
- MUFFINS – if you’re in a hurry, you can make honey beer bread muffins! Just lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin, add 1/2 tsp of melted butter in the bottom of each muffin cup, fill the cups 2/3 of the way up with batter, and spoon another 1/2 tsp of melted butter over the top of each one. Bake at 375°F for about 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- FLAVOR ADD-INS – you can totally customize this bread! Feel free to add in some of your favorite seasonings, or cheeses! I like to add a cup of shredded cheddar to mine.
- SELF-RISING FLOUR – if you don’t have any all-purpose flour, self rising flour will work – just omit the baking powder.
- SUGAR – You could substitute the honey with granulated sugar if you prefer.
MAKING HONEY BEER BREAD AHEAD OF TIME
This bread is definitely best when made fresh, and other than the baking time, it comes together so quickly!
STORAGE
This bread can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days without losing freshness.
FREEZING
Baked beer bread can be frozen for up to 5-6 months! Cool it completely and wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then place it into a freezer container. Thaw in the refrigerator and microwave a slice for 20-25 seconds for a “warm from the oven” flavor!
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE
- Mixing Bowl – no fancy tools here, just a lightweight and economical mixing bowl.
- Rubber Spatula – I like to use spatulas like these that are all one piece, as they seem to hold up better.
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Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 12 oz beer (your favorite kind)
- 5 Tbsp honey
- 3 - 4 Tbsp melted butter divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly spray the sides of a 9x5" loaf pan. Set aside.
- To a mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder and salt, and stir to combine. Pour in the beer and honey and stir until no flour streaks remain.
- Add half of the melted butter to the bottom of prepared loaf pan and tilt the pan around so the butter coats the bottom of the pan. Transfer batter to pan, spreading it out into an even layer.
- Pour remaining half of the melted butter over the top of the batter, brushing it around so it evenly coats the top.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
- Let bread cool in the pan for 5-7 minutes, then turn out carefully onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
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Chef Tips
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Judith Kantorowski says
Amazing easy to follow recipes. Delicious.
Molly says
Does the beer need to be room temperature or is straight from the fridge ok?
The Chunky Chef says
I usually let mine sit on the counter for about 15 minutes or so 🙂
Denise Harris says
Wonderful , very easy and flavorful. I used shiner bock , being from Texas and I threw some sunflower, pumpkin seed , hemp Chia and flaxseed for topping delicious.
Took a picture of it, but I don’t know how to attach..