This time of year, I’m still in hibernation, oven on, looking for a tasty, warm hug of a snack or activity. A few years back, I was hanging with my friend Simon in March, and we started getting excited about Irish Soda Bread, dorking out about the science and wonder of baking soda and buttermilk. Then he started asking about self rising flour and cue, hours long baking session, bags of self rising flour and cans of every fancy and unfancy beer you can imagine later and we had a bulletproof beer bread recipe on lock he still texts “hey, do you have 7 mins…also can you send me the beer bread recipe again?” This year, I decided to push beyond the boundaries of the classic and combined my never ending supply of very very ripe bananas (occupational hazard with toddlers?) and some sultry brews.
Beer Bread: the formula: carbonated brew + self rising flour.
Beer bread- why it works: The yeast and carbonation in the beer interacts the with baking powder and gives the bread an incredible boost while in the heat of the oven. The water activity of the beer combined with the flour gives it chew on the inside and an insane crust on the outside (with a little help from the sugars too.) The sour notes from the beer mimic some of the most elegant sourdough-like flavors, yet comes to life in a jiffy. She’s got crunch, chew and attitude. You almost won’t believe there’s no stressing over starters or yeast, kneading or high oven temp nonsense. Just a one bowl wonder that’s a POWERHOUSE- exponentially greater than the sum of its parts.
I’m clearly a fan.
Self Rising Flour…what the what?
Self-rising flour is basically all purpose flour with leavening agents (the store bought stuff has a little more oomph in it), which ensures perfectly risen baked goods. Originally invented in the good old days as a way to make better baked goods while at sea/ on the road because you don't need to use baking powder or baking soda when you use self-rising flour, it’s kind of fallen by the wayside as an old timey thing though most grocery stores stock it!
How to make self rising four if you can’t find it in store:
whisk together 3 cups flour, 1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, ¾ teaspoons salt.
Tips:
Sling in loaf pan (show in shot somewhere). I am always thinking “how am I going to get the baked good out of the pan?” and reverse engineer how/where I spray and cut/place parchment or any other liner as such. This is a skill I’ve built over decades of torn brownies, crumbled pie slices and broken layers of cake. Getting that darn thing out of the pan in one piece should be the most rewarding, least stressful part!
Rrripe bananas
Anyone who has ever purchased a banana knows: they are masters of disguise. When you pick one up at the store it may be a little green, indicating it’s not quite ripe yep - which is fine, you’ve got time… or so you think! 9 times out of 10 you place the banana in your fruit basket with hopes and dreams of coming back to it for a tasty snack only to find that magically overnight the banana has gone completely brown. But wait - that brown banana has life in it still! Rrripe bananas (see the top banana above) are perfect for banana baking so don’t toss em!
If you find it impossible to wait, buy bananas, and throw them in the freezer, peel on, in an airtight container to age for 2 days or up to 2 weeks (freezing speeds up the ripening process and ensures you don’t get any weird banana trail of liquid, fruit flies, etc. Defrost them in the microwave, remove the peel and go!
Middle banana, you’re still not there- put her in a paper bag and trap her in with some apples or another ripe fruit overnight.
Banana-Stout Beer Bread
Makes one 1-lb loaf or 12 muffins
11.5 oz Guinness beer (note: bottles are 11.5 oz, cans are typically 14.5 oz!)
3-4 ea rrrripe bananas (save the 4th banana to half and adorn the top before baking)
⅓ cup honey or light brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 cups self rising flour
1 teaspoon salt
Salted butter to slather on top for eating!
Heat oven to 350F. Grease a 1 lb loaf pan and cut a piece of parchment to create a sling left to right side of the pan and grease anew (this will help with easy release!)
In a large bowl, whisk together beer, 3 rrrrripe bananas, honey and melted butter. Switch to a spatula and mix in self rising flour and salt and stir to combine.
Transfer batter to prepared pan, halve the additional banana lengthwise and sit each half at the peak of the loaf to the right and left of center. Bake loaf at 350F for 60 mins and the center toothpicks clean. During that time the bread will rise, and develop an epic deep brown crust on the outside. Remove from pan with that handy parchment sling while still hot and cool completely (ideally on a wire rack) before slicing and serving.
Alts:
Pretzel Beer Bread
Makes one 1-lb loaf or 12 muffins
12 oz Negro Modelo
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 cups self rising flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Garnish with mini pretzels! It’s DEVINE!
Chocolate Cherry Chip Stout Loaf
Follow Banana Stout, sub in ½ cup dried cherries, ½ cup chocolate chips for bananas
Cheddar Scallion Sausage Beer Bread
12 oz Coors banquet or Negro Modelo (a lighter beer)
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 cups self rising flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup scallions, sliced
1 ea sausage sliced on bias for top or chopped for bread.
Kombucha Berry Bread
12 oz kombucha (a different brew for a sweeter outcome!)
¼ cup honey
4 tablespoons butter, melted
3 cups self rising flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried berries (cherries! blueberries! cranberries!
Frankie and Sonny LOVE these
I wanted to LOVE this because it looked so good on your insta. Maybe the beer I used was too bitter, because the bread left such a bitter aftertaste. I ended up having to throw it away :I