I’ll never get sick of beer bread. I love how easy it is to make and how accomplished you feel after making a delicious loaf without having to stress and labor over a yeast-based loaf. It’s the best kind of “cheaters” bread you can make. Today we have a Cheesy-Herb Beer Bread that’s topped with a bunch of seeded ‘stuff”. I really love heavily seeded, savory pastries. They always add such a nice texture and so much flavor and I can never get enough! I also always have so many seeds (like pepitas and hemp hearts) laying around that I can’t seem to finish fast enough, so this recipe makes great use of a bunch of them all at once!
Oh and since I’ve been on such a freezer kick lately (because apparently I think my husband and I will starve otherwise, once our little babe arrives, lol!), this recipe freezes VERY well. Along with freeze-ahead meals, it’s also really nice to be able to freeze sides like this one so that you can pull them out for when you have guests over and want to bulk up a meal or if you’re making a pot of soup and want a little something extra to serve with it, you know? :) Enjoy! xx, Jenny
Ingredients: Directions: **To Freeze: Cool loaf completely, before tightly wrapping in plastic wrap and freezing for up to 2 months.
Cheesy-Herb Beer Bread
Makes 1 (9”x 5”) loaf
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
14 ounces (a nice flavorful) beer
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter, divided
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons shredded white cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon minced thyme
1 tablespoon thinly sliced chives
1 tablespoon minced sage
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
topping:
3 tablespoons pepita seeds
1 tablespoon hemp hearts
1 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease the loaf pan and set aside.
2. Place flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together.
3. Create a small well in the center of the flour mixture and add beer, 6 tablespoons melted butter, 1 cup cheese, herbs, and black pepper. Stir together until the dough just comes together. Do not over mix! (if there are small flour pockets, gently stir them away; a couple remaining flour pockets are okay).
4. In a small mixing bowl combine all topping ingredients and toss together.
5. Pour mixture into a prepared loaf pan. Pour remaining butter over top, sprinkle remaining cheese and topping mixture over top of bread and bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the loaf.
6. Remove loaf from pan and allow it to cool until just warm to the touch (about 1 hour and 30 minutes), before slicing.
7. Slice and serve with whipped butter or a drizzle of honey.
