The Best Easy Beer Bread Recipe – buttery, salty, beer bread is quick to make and so simple – suited to beginners!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Beer Bread

Beer bread was the first bread we ever made growing up, because it is so simple. There is no kneading, proofing yeast, or rising period – mix (all in one bowl!), and bake. It's also incredibly good – with notes of molasses, yeast, malt, butter, and salt!

Quick and easy beer bread is the solid fall indulgence – it is easy to make, warm and soft with a crunchy outside and moist, chewy crumb – plus it is loaded with your favorite beer flavor! If you love fresh baked bread, but don't want to go through all the hassle of complicated bread making, this recipe is for you. It's simple, quick, but loaded with flavor – and easy enough for beginner home cooks.

What stands out

mix and bake – no proofing, rising, or kneading!
Suited to beginners – this bread requires no advanced bread making knowledge.
Great with butter bacon butterjams, spreads, and more!

Beer Bread Ingredients

To make beer bread, you will need the following ingredients:

All-purpose flour. Even though we often bake breads with bread flour for it's gluten profile, all-purpose flour works better to keep the bread lighter, and less dense. Bread flour will work – but may be chewier and more dense.
Granulated sugar. Adding sugar to beer bread isn't to sweeten the bread – it is actually to create a chemical reaction, feeding the yeast, and causing the yeast in the beer to activate, without a rise period. This is a fast bread without a rise, and adding sugar helps speed up the process without adding yeast bread dough, rising, and proofing – the sugar helps the beer work it's magic!
Baking powder. Beer bread primarily relies on fast-acting baking powder for leavening, as well as the carbonation and yeast in beer, to provide lift – so our bread comes out springy, light, chewy, and good!
Salt. Salt enhances the rich buttery flavor and also helps your bread from rising too fast – it helps to keep bread's structure in tact.
Beer. Beer works three ways in beer bread: yeast from beer mixes with baking powder to work as a leavening agent power – making a rapid-rising bread that doesn't need proofing, rising, or complicated kneading and punching down like many breads. Beer's carbonation also provides extra springy lift, and beer is a fabulous flavor addition to bread!
Butter. Melted butter dumped over the top of bread dough as it bakes is a heavenly, good addition to beer bread that will make your bread golden brown, irresistible, and totally good!

Beer for Beer Bread

Picking the type of beer you'd like to use in this bread is largely up to you – you can reach for something you love – be sure it's a beer whose flavor you like, since it will be prominent in your beer! More flavorful beers will result in more flavorful beer breads – lighter beers will have a lighter flavor.

We prefer Belgian ales or light ales for this recipe but have made it before with dark beers and stouts.
Flavored beers such as blueberry or pumpkin also work well, and are great for adding some seasonal touches to your beer bread!
Soda can also be used in place of beer – you can use sprite, sierra mist, or ginger ale.

How to make Beer Bread

Once you've gathered your ingredients, we will use the following process:

Mix. Mix bread dough in a bowl, starting with dry ingredients, then wet, and add to well prepped nonstick loaf pan. We love using a cooking spray with flour to prep pans for bread-making. Top with melted butter.
Bake. Bake in an oven at 375 for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let rest 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Enjoy! We love to serve with pumpkin butter, butter, or jam!

Serve it with

Slather this bread with apple butter bacon butterjam, or eat it hot out of the oven – this bread will be your new favorite easy treat! Beer bread is the solid recipe for beginner bread bakers – it doesn't require any special equipment or bread-making knowledge, it comes together quickly, and it's easy to mix!

Try with a pumpkin beer for fall, an amber ale, or even a rich porter – the sky is the limit, pick a beer you love the flavor of! Sprinkle some crunchy maldon sea salt along the top for a bit of extra flavor, it is our favorite extra special touch.

Beer Bread Recipe FAQs

How long does beer bread last?

Store beer bread for up to three days, in a cool, dry place.

When is beer bread done?

Bake beer bread until golden brown on the top and sides and a toothpick probed into the center comes out clean (or an instant-read thermometer reads 200º F.)

High Altitude Beer Bread Adjustments

To make this beer bread in high altitude (like us in Denver), decrease cooking time by about 5-8 minutes.
Increase water by 2 tablespoons.
Increase flour by 1 tablespoon.

Does beer bread have to rise?

One of the reasons we love beer bread is how easy it is – no proofing, rising, or kneading. The yeast in beer helps lift and rise your bread, doing all the work for you – and the rustic, homemade quick bread nature of beer bread makes this a truly mix and bake recipe.