Spicy Cheddar Beer Bread

Beer bread is one of the first recipes I tried when I started getting familiar with cooking and baking. It's simple to make, ridiculously tasty, and works well both on its own and as a sandwich bread. It's also the second best use for beer that I know of! As the name implies, it's also fairly spicy, but not in a way that overpowers the flavor of the bread. One thing you'll soon notice is that I love spicy foods, so I'll give pretty much everything an extra kick when I can.

Recipe adapted from Not Crocker


Difficulty: Relatively Easy
Active Prep Time: About 20 minutes
Total Prep Time: About 1½ hours
Special Equipment: None

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour (Bread flour is just as effective, however)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup sugar
• I cup grated cheddar cheese (the sharper, the better)
• 1 (12 ounce) can/bottle of beer (I used Coors Light for this particular loaf, but almost any beer will work)
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 additional teaspoon parsley

Instructions:


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


2. Whisk or sift together dry ingredients


3. Add grated cheese, mix until cheese is covered in flour.


4. Pour beer into dry ingredients and mix until combined. Dough will be sticky.


5. Plop the dough into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. 


6. Melt the butter, stir in minced garlic and the additional teaspoon of parsley, then pour the mixture over the dough.


7. Bake 55 - 60 minutes, remove from pan and cool on a rack for 15 minutes before slicing.

Additional Notes:

• If you have a stand mixer, you can use it for this recipe, though it is not necessary.
• Some don't prefer their bread to be spicy, in which case you can simply leave out the crushed red pepper, cayenne, and black pepper. The bread will still be quite tasty without them.