Mom's Beer Bread

I've been mentally writing this post for over a month. It started with "Today was (is) my mom's birthday." and went off from there. Yet, it never made it to the digital paper that is this blog. Now it's two days after Thanksgiving. (Yes, Mom, I made the cranberry relish and the pecan pie.)  It was common for us to celebrate birthdays weeks after the actual dates, so by that standard I'm actually only a little late.

Oct 25 was my mom's birthday. I came home from work with a bread craving. Well, I was really craving something to spread my grapefruit marmalade on. The fastest bread I could think of was beer bread, and since it was my mom's birthday, making her beer bread seemed an appropriate way to remember her. I must own about a half dozen copies of her beer bread recipe, either hand-written or typed up on index cards. I'm always stumbling across copies in various parts of my recipe collection, but of course that night it took me a good 15 minutes to find one: a hand-written copy written in almost an upside down fashion with the title at the bottom.

Making beer bread is as easy as making muffins. Actually, it's easier, since there's only one pan to fill instead of a dozen muffins! My mom always swore by a cheap can of beer, like Budweiser or Miller. I didn't have any, so I used what I thought might be the mildest ale we had in the house. A strong beer will definitely be noticed. 

Beer bread doesn't really go with grapefruit marmalade, but it's wonderful with butter and honey, especially when still warm.

Mary Jo's Beer Bread

3 C self rising flour (=3 C flour + 1.5 tsp salt + 4.5 tsp baking powder)
4 Tbs sugar
1 12oz can (or bottle) of beer
1 egg

Heat over to 350 F.  Grease a 9x5 bread pan. Sift or mix the self-rising flour and sugar. Whisk egg with a fork. Mix flour, egg, and beer. The batter is gooey, and it's easiest to mix with a wooden spoon or large whisk. Put into bread pan. Bake for approximately 50 minutes - until a toothpick comes out clean (crumbs excluded) in the center. Let cool a bit and un-mold.

Best enjoyed while still warm, but will last a few days and microwaves fine.

 

Comments

[LizT]

Oh, honey, your mom's handwriting looks just like my granny's, with the same kind of recipe writing copy. Teared up reading that. Much love and healing for you.

[Jenn]

I used to get a packaged herb bread mix you added beer to, and can't find it anymore.

I can't even tell you what was in those mixes, but they were good.

Any herbs you would suggest?

[Kitchen Chick]

@Jenn: I've never added herbs to the recipe. Dill, caraway, thyme, rosemary, or sage are all possibilities. Not sure I'd use all of those in the same recipe. The last three could probably be grouped.

[Robin @ Yankee Kitchen]

There is something extra special about recipes scrawled on paper. I have a few from my family, but also relish finding hand written recipes in old cookbooks I pick up here & there. If they thought the recipe good enough to take the time to write it down...they must have really liked it.

[Boho Michigan Cupcakes]

I would love you guys to try our vegan and gluten free cupcakes. Feel free to email us and we will get some out to you right away. A lot of Ann Arbor people eat gluten free and vegan! Love the web site.