Quick Beer Bread

Picture Soren and me at the market checkout. She is pushing one of those little kid shopping carts up to the cash register. I remove our items and place them on the conveyor belt: one yellow onion and a six pack of beer. I had to explain to the cashier for my own sense of self that I wasn't a drunk who needed an onion. I was a loving wife who wanted to make beer bread for her hubby, and all we had at home was cold beer that just wasn't suitable for baking. I'm sure the explanation wasn't needed, but it made me feel better.

So, this is a quick and really yummy beer-cheese bread from Cooking Light that my whole family loved.

First, Heat 1 TBL of olive oil over medium-low heat in a small skillet. Add 1/2 c. finely chopped yellow onion to pan and cook until nice and brown. I dislike onions, but they smell so good while caramelizing. Side note here: the cookbook said this should take 10 minutes. Um, no. Go ahead and preheat your oven part way into the onion-browning process to 375 degrees) Stir in 1/4 tsp black pepper and 1 minced garlic clove after the onions are brown, and cook for one more minute.


Lightly spoon 3 cups all-purpose flour into dry measuring cups and level with a knife. Combine flour, 3 TBL sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk; make a well in the center of the mixture. Add the onion mixture, 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used Colby Jack because that's what I had), and one 12 oz bottle of lager-style beer to the flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Okay, the recipe said to use a lager-style beer and specifically mentioned Budweiser. My hubby isn't hip to Budweiser, so I used his favorite locally brewed Empyrean Ales Third Stone Brown ale. It worked just fine.


Spoon batter into a 9x5 inch loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray. Drizzle batter with 1 TBL of melted butter. It will look like this:


Bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees. Drizzle an additional 1 TBL of melted butter on the partially-cooked loaf, and let it bake for an additional 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove the loaf from the pan. Cool completely. Slice and enjoy!