This recipe is partof myOld Yale Series, a collection of recipes that I’ve created featuring beer from Chilliwack’s award-winning Old Yale Brewery.Details of my partnership with them (disclaimer: this is a sponsored post, but theviews expressed are my own), and info onwhere you can find their beer can be found in the introduction to the first recipe of this series, my Beer-Battered Shrimp Po’ Boys.
Calorie counters, just go ahead and close this window now. Honestly, I don’t want to be responsible for your falling off the wagon –or whatever mode of transportation one falls off of when they break their diets. Seriously, this bread is about as dangeroustoa diet as itgets, in an “if I’m going out, it’s in a blaze of glory and a mouthful of spicy, cheesy beer bread” sort of way.
Now, if the thought of homemade bread intimidates you, fear not, as there is absolutely no proofing or kneading necessary for this recipe. It really just comes down to whether or not you canchop, grate, sift, and stir. The only real talent needed for this recipe is the ability to crack open a beer. Now, I may not know a lot of my readers personally (which I’d love to change– so go ahead and leave a comment, even if to just say hello)…but I trust that you’re up for the task.
Speaking of which, does anybody else have a friend that simply refuses to open a bottle of beer in a civilized manner?I have a friend who –for some particular reason – absolutely refuses to use a bottle opener whenever he needs to, as the name suggest, open bottles. I think he takes it as a personal challenge to find new and creative ways to achieve a task that is so much more efficient with the proper tool.
Anyways, whichever way you choose to open your beer, if you can do so, you can make this delicious bread. Also, if you can handle spice, totally go for the recommended amount of pickled jalapenos I have listed in the recipe. If you aren’t as big of a fan, you’ll definitely want to cut it back a bit. Actually, when taste-testing this bread with friends and family, it was pretty split. Those that like spice said it could be a little bit hotter, whereas those not as keen suggested a little less heat. So, make a judgement call on your end.
Also, if you’re into the hoppystuff, Old Yale’s West Coast IPAdoes go pretty well with spice. Just sayin’…
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp. baking powder
- 1 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1 heaping cup lightly packed old/sharp shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup pickled jalapeno peppers, roughly chopped
- 1 can (355ml./12 oz.) Old Yale Brewing Off Trail Pale Ale
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
Directions:
- Before anything else, preheat your oven to 375°F and lightly grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan with butter.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl.
- Add in the cheddar and jalapenos and stir until mixed well.
- Pour in the beer. Use a spatula to stir until the contents of the bowl are incorporated together into a thick batter.
- Transfer the batter to your greased loaf pan and smooth the top with your spatula.
- Pour your melted butter over the top of the loaf pan, being sure to coat the entire surface of the batter
- Toss in the oven and bake for 1 hour.
- Once fully baked (brown on top but still quite moist inside), remove from the oven and let sit in the pan for about 10 minutes.
- Carefully remove the bread from the loaf pan and let rest for another 10-15 minutes on a cooling rack.
Makes one 9 x 5 loaf of bread
As a tiny disclaimer, the pictures are from my first round of recipe testing. I ended up increasing the salt, ditching some sugar and cutting down on the amount of butter poured over top. Unfortunately, my second batch (which the posted recipe reflects) didn’t make it to the photography stage because I ended upgiving too much of it away to some very eager (and very satisfied) taste testers.Though theloaves looked near identical, the second loaf seemed to rise a little higher than the first. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to make it again…
