This Three Ingredient Beer Bread could not be more simple to make, or delicious! This beer bread recipe is the easiest way to make homemade bread.
Three Ingredient Beer Bread is so much better than what you get using a mix, and it is just as easy to make! It doesn’t require you to proof yeast and it’s only 3 ingredients! Plus it’s so easy to add in other mix ins, like honey or cheese! As an added bonus, you don’t even need a bread machine.
“Was looking for a simple bread recipe, and it cant be any simpler. Love it, love it, love it.” – Arlene
Why this Three Ingredient Beer Bread Recipe Works
This beer bread recipe starts with self rising flour. Self rising flour is a combination of flour, baking powder, and salt. The combination of the baking powder and the salt work together to act as a leavening agent.
In my pizza dough recipe you can see how we add yeast (the leavening agent) to warm water and wait for it to proof before adding it to the flour mixture and letting that dough rise.
By using self rising flour, we skip that step in this recipe.
High fives all around for great easy recipes.
How to Make Self Rising Flour
To make your own Self Rising Flour, combine 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
What the of Beer to use in Beer Bread
I get that question a lot with this recipe. The answer is: Whatever type of beer you like. It is important to use a beer that you would drink on it’s own because that is the primary flavor in this bread.
I use a pilsner because it is light and doesn’t have an intense flavor. Though I have only made this recipe with Pilsner, it is true that your beer bread will rise differently with different types of beers because of the different amount of yeast in the different beers.
This is a great recipe to play around with and figure out what you like.
Butter on Top
A lot of recipes call for a few tablespoons of melted butter on top of the bread. I didn’t include that because I think the beer bread is great without it. But if you are looking for something richer, add that!
Beer Bread Variations
Because this recipe is so simple there are a lot of variations that can be done.
I’ve turned it into Monkey Bread.
It is also absolutely delicious when you toss in some cream cheese and make it Jalapeño Popper Beer Bread.
This beer bread recipe is amazing when you add just a little cheese and bacon, like I did in this Bacon and Cheese Beer Bread.
What to serve with Three Ingredient Beer Bread
This bread would be a great addition to any of my soup recipes!
I also love it best when cut into cubes and served with my Spinach Dip. I mean, I loved it so much, I even turned this recipe into a bread bowl to serve with the dip.
If you make any of these recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know. I love hearing from you!
Three Ingredient Beer Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups self-rising flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 12 oz beer
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Spray a 9 by 5 inch bread pan with cooking spray.
- Gently mix together the flour, sugar, and beer until it is throughly combined. The batter will be thick.
- Pour the batter into the bread pan and bake for 40 minutes.
- Take out of the oven and let sit for five minutes in the pan, remove and let cool completely before slicing.
Pat Drenowatz says
Could you possibly give the substitution for self rising flour for those of us who don’t bake with it? Thanks! Know we can Google but would be great to have the substitution given👍
Verlie Whitlock says
I keep a list of substitutions, and this gives instructions to add two teaspoons of salt for every cup of plain flour – which I’ve just done, while making this recipe for the first time. The one thing not mentioned is that mixing the dough is hard work! My fault, probably, because I decided to make two loaves at once, rather than using the oven for 40 minutes for a single loaf – I still think it would be hard to mix for only one loaf – o.k., probably not impossible, but it would have been nice to see a warning of this! My loaves are in the oven now – I intend letting you know how they turned out!
Nonny says
My Food Science book says to make self rising flour out of all-purpose flour: add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt per cup of flour.
Love this recipe! My grandma used to always make it. It smells so good baking and tastes so good with some butter!
Thanks Nonny!
Lois says
Love the new look! :-)
So glad to hear it, thank you!
vicki Ward says
I make beer batter bread all the time. Mine is generally like yours but I cook 45 minutes, take out pour butter over top nd cook mother 15 minutes. I also add all sorts of additional ingredients like jalapeños. Cheese, and one of my favorites was when I added chopped dried apricots. Delicious.
I love adding bacon and cheddar cheese!
Rajean says
Can you use gluten free flower for this?
Rajean says
**flour
It would require quite a bit of testing, Rajean. You would need to make gluten free flour into self rising flour and play around with the ratios to get the one that works best.
Dolores Rodnick says
Thank you Lisa. Recipes for bread are most appreciated. 😇😇😇😇
Debbie Finkle says
Mine is in the oven now and I think it shall be spectacular. I tasted the batter :0). LOL. Anyway, I made my own self-rising flour (so simple to do, 3 ingredients: 1-cup flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4tsp salt). I threw a little bit of butter on top to melt. Looks and smells so good. Having it tonight with the Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe from Simply Joy.
Going to be making more of this bread. Also, I’m going to try out the other beer bread with bacon and cheese. Sounds delicious.
Gina Mikolon says
Can this be made in a bread machine? If so, what are the directions to do so (please)?
I’m sorry, Gina, I don’t have a bread machine so I don’t know how how that would work with this recipe.
Nicole Renee says
I just made a GRAIN FREE, GLUTEN FREE, CANE SUGAR FREE version of this bread and it’s delicious, especially fresh out of the oven, warm and topped and slathered with a generous amount of warm butter! For anyone else needing a grain free or gluten free option, here’s what I did…
I used 2 scant cups of Otto’s cassava flour ( it’s the most finely milled brand and doesn’t leave gritty flecks) and 1 cup of chickpea flour.
I added 1 T plus 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1 1/2tsp of real salt, a half cup of coconut sugar and a 12oz bottle of vanilla porter.
Why scant cups of cassava flour? It is far more absorbent than other flours. If you use all cassava you will need to increase the amount of liquid used. I find that it tends to work better in many recipes if you use roughly 2 parts cassava and 1 part some other grain free flour. In addition to being highly absorbent, cassava also sometimes leaves you with a somewhat rubbery texture in baked goods when used alone.
If you wanted to used almond flour for part of it then be sure to add the full 2 cups of cassava flour. While cassava is extra absorbent, flours like almond and coconut are poor absorbers. When combined, the two help balance out liquid absorption. However, I bread made with mostly or all almond flour, other nut flours or coconut flour, will yield a more cake like texture and will likely fall apart. I prefer not to use coconut flour in large quantities in many recipes because the flavor is overpowering.
Be advised that grain free loaves will not shape up the same as those containing gluten. They will not spread out or rise nearly as much. Results will most likely be a low loaf that doesn’t change too much in volume from how it was when you placed it in the oven. That’s kind of standard for grain free in my experience. So shape your grain free bread as best you can according to how you’d like it to be when it’s done. I found that when the dough was mostly mixed it was easiest just to pick it up, work it into a ball and then shape it by hand. I baked it on a lightly oiled ceramic baking stone.
The taste and texture turned out great with this version of the bread and it did rise and spread just a bit. I set a timer for 35 minutes and checked it then. I ate an end slice and decided to put it back in for about 5 more minutes. Ovens vary. If you make a grain free loaf I would recommend checking it a bit early because sometimes grain free baked goods cook a bit faster. If you use nut flours they sometimes take a bit longer.
If you don’t need grain free and only want gluten free, you should be able to use a standard gluten free baking mix in equal portions provided in the recipe- most gluten free mixes contain part rice and/or potato flours and starches, often xanthan gum and stabilizers. You would need to add 1T, plus 1 1/2tsp baking powder and
1 1/2 tsp salt.
If you cannot eat standard baking powder- most contain corn starch- then you can make your own batch of it by combining 4 parts cream of tartar with 2 parts arrowroot powder or tapioca starch and 2 parts baking soda. After mixing up the batch you would then use 1T, plus 1 1/2tsp of it in your bread recipe.
If you’d like to substitute honey or maple syrup for sugar then you would use 1/4 cup of either of those in place of the 1/2 cup of sugar. Using a liquid sweetener sometimes helps a bit to offset the highly absorbent nature of cassava flour as well, in the grain free version.
Play around with it. Using part green banana flour would work as well. I share all of this because I know it can be a struggle for many who find themselves in need of navigating the grain free and gluten free baking worlds. I’ve been at it long enough to have gained some insight. I figured it was worth sharing if it helps others to create and enjoy some more satisfying comfort foods. :) Happy baking!
Calla Smith says
Nice!!!!
Gayle says
Could you possibly substitute for the beer.
Thank you, as I would like to try this recipe.
Sincerely,
Gayle
Others have made with with soda and found it worked well.
Terri says
I want to make this with my students to give to their dads for Father’s Day. Can I use the mini aluminum bread pans? How long and at what temp would I bake?
Thanks for any help.
I haven’t made this in mini loaf pans. I would start checking if they are done around 20 minutes in to baking.