Guinness Beer Bread

Well faith and begorrah it’s almost St. Patrick’s day! That means one thing for me and my buddies – Guiness. And who knew there were so many ways to enjoy this great Irish tradition. I came across this recipe here and it looked so delicious I had to try it. Let me tell you, they say soda bread is Irish, but nothing is more Irish and more delicious to me than Guiness beer bread.

Ingredients:
• 3 cups self-rising flour*
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup molasses
• A pinch of salt (roughly 1/8 teaspoon)
• 12 ounces of Guinness beer
• Butter for greasing the pan

* Self-rising flour substitute: For every cup of self-rising flour use 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, plus 1/8 teaspoon of salt, for every cup of self-rising flour.

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan well with butter.

2. Pour the flour, salt and sugar into a large bowl and whisk to combine.

3. Slowly pour the Guinness into the flour mixture. Start stirring the beer into the dry ingredients, and when you are about halfway done, add the molasses. Mix well, just to combine.

4. Pour batter into the loaf pan filling it no more than 2/3 full. Bake in oven for about 50 minutes. Bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the deepest part of the loaf comes out clean.

5. Remove from oven and let cool about 5 minutes then turn it out of the pan onto a cooling rack.

This bread is delicious. Sweet and hoppy, it’s a great treat before or after your corned beef and cabbage. I cut the bread loaf into slices and packaged them up with kraft colored tin-tie bags and a custom label. I paired each package with a cold bottle of Guinness with it’s own matching beer label and gave them out to all my Irish buddies. They loved it, but that could have been the bread talking!

James (14 Posts)

James Luster is a recent transplant from Brooklyn, New York. He's an actor, writer, professional donut maker, and lover of the finer things in life. Currently he's educating himself on the arts of brewing and mixology, and working on his new show set to premier next summer.