Tag: Beer Bread

Beer Bread Pizza

One of my favorite things to make during the week is semi-homemade pizza. It’s straight forward, easy, and almost always comes out delicious. While I love the premade pizza doughs that come two to a package, I figured it was time for me to be a little more creative. For some reason, making dough scares me, and that’s the main reason why I’ve shyed away from making a truly from-scratch pizza. Late one night, though, it dawned on me – beer bread pizza!

Thanks to the beer, making bread this way is a whole lot easier. I don’t need to worry about adding yeast, kneading it for a certain amount of time, and then trying to entertain myself as I patiently (read: not patiently at all) wait for it to rise. My fiancé was skeptical about the idea, but I figured I’d give it a whirl. I mean really, what could go so horribly wrong that it would be a total fail?

Using my generic beer bread recipe, I spread it out on a baking sheet (no snazzy pizza stone for me), so I suppose it was more like a flatbread, or a Sicilian styled pizza since it was somewhat rectangular. The ususal baking time for the entire loaf in a bread pan is an hour, so I decided to bake the bread for 45 minutes, take it out and add our toppings, and then continue to let it cook for another 8-10 minutes. I went with a BBQ themed pizza since I wasn’t sure how the flavors of traditional pizza sauce and beer bread would be. But in my head, BBQ sauce and caramalized red onions married quite well with beer. Thankfully, I was right.

I’m now left wondering what other combinations I can put on this beer bread crust, because it was pretty awesome.

BBQ Beer Bread Pizza
– makes 1 pizza –

Ingredients:

For the dough:
3 cups of all purpose flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp salt
3 Tbsp of sugar
12 oz. your favorite beer 

For the rest of the pizza:
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 Tbsp salt
1/4 cup your favorite BBQ sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I used mozzarella, though I bet gouda would be awesome) 

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine dry ingredients, and slowly mix in beer until fully incorporated
3. Spoon the mixture onto a greased baking pan, or pizza stone if you have one 
4. Bake for 45 minutes
5. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet, and add sliced red onion and a Tbsp of salt. Sautee for about 10-15 minutes, until they are tender and begin to caramelize
6. Once the pizza is done, pull it out to add the BBQ sauce, cheese, and onions. Bake for an additional 8-10 minutes.  

Oven Workout

After the success of my lasanga “cupcakes,”  I decided to keep with the savory baking trend and give beer bread a try. I’ve had beer bread on my list of things to make for awhile but just haven’t gotten around to it. So, I took advantage of some extra time I had on Friday night to give my oven a nice workout (after completing my own, of course).

I’ve read here and there that for those who actually make bread themselves (meaning from scratch, adding the yeast, kneading it, etc.), it can be pretty tedious and a bit nerve wracking while you wait to let it rise. By using beer, though, you skip the requirement of kneading and setting. Since I’m pretty impatient, this worked out very well for me. While the house was filling with the sweet smells of fresh baked bread, my head started spinning with all the possibilities of flavor variations that I could do with such a simple recipe. Dark beer and chocolate? Yes. Summer beer and fruit? Oh yeah.

Quick ‘n Easy Beer Bread
– makes 1 loaf –

Ingredients:
3 cups of all purpose flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp salt
3 Tbsp of sugar
12 oz. your favorite beer 

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine dry ingredients, and slowly mix in beer until fully incorporated
3. Spoon the mixture into a greased bread/loaf pan 
4. Bake for 1 hour