Sticky Toffee Beer Bread

A few weeks ago, my husband brought home a pack of interesting sounding beer - Wells Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale.  We enjoy sampling interesting beers, and this one sounded promising.

Unfortunately, it lived up to its name and turned out to be cloyingly sweet, so that neither of us were able to finish our glass - I'm sure many people would find it delicious, but it wasn't to our taste.  So what to do with the leftover bottles?

Beer bread, of course!  This is just about the easiest way to get a tasty loaf of bread, perfect for snacking.

The type of beer you use subtly alters the taste, so that it can be herbal and citrusy or rich and nutty. Unsurprisingly, the Wells Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale made a really delightful nutty bread with just a hint of sweetness - what made it undrinkable as a beer made it delicious as a bread ingredient, just perfect as a carrier for pumpkin butter or apple butter.

Here's the basic recipe for Beer Bread - use whatever kind of beer you like!

Beer Bread
(makes one loaf)

Preheat  to 375F.

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup of sugar (or honey)
1 bottle of beer
1/2 cup melted butter

Grease a loaf pan and set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl (I just shake it through a large fine mesh strainer).  Add sugar or honey and beer, and mix to combine (don't overbeat, just make sure the flour and liquid are blended).

Turn the batter into the prepared loaf pan.  Pour melted butter over the top.

Bake 50 minutes to an hour, or under crust is golden brown and loaf feels 'hollow' when tapped.

Let cool several minutes in loaf pan before removing.

Enjoy warm or cold with butter and honey, fruit butter, or peanut butter and jam!