Honey Maple Beer Bread

Honey Beer Bread — The easiest beer bread ever! No kneading, no yeast, and guaranteed soft and fluffy results every time!

Quick Beer Bread Recipe

I hate beer. But I loved this bread. You will too. And it’s ridiculously easy.

Hate may be too strong of a word about my feelings for beer, but not really. In college, if the choice was drink beer at a party because it’s all there was or stay sober, I stayed sober. I was the built in designated driver.

I really don’t know what it is about beer that I despise so much. I love wine and champagne, but not beer, which is odd because I dig yeasty, cultured, and vinegary things. I like to ferment, pickle, and make homemade kombucha and kefir.

Beer does wonders for this bread, and the bread does not taste like beer. If it did, I wouldn’t love it so much.

And let’s cover this since I know I’ll be asked. Most of the alcohol bakes off and what you’re left with is wonderfully textured bread, with great depth of flavor.

The bread is one of the best sandwich-like breads I’ve ever made, either quick bread or yeast. I have others that are very good, but they’re yeasted breads and require rising, kneading, and you’re looking at a 4+ hour event with lots more work.

The bread is about as sweet as storebought honey-whole wheat sandwich bread. Although there’s no whole wheat flour in the bread, it has a wheaty, nutty quality which I love, courtesy of the beer.

I used one teaspoon each of cinnamon and nutmeg, as well as a dash of molasses, all of which add warming undertones and little bursts of comforting flavors.

They’re very subtle, but present. It’s the nutmeg that I notice most, and it plays wonderfully off the honey and maple.

This honey beer bread is ridiculously soft and moist. It’s on the denser side, as is to be expected without using yeast, but it’s not a crusty bread, which is music to my ears.

I baked it late one night last week, and woke up to photograph it, only to find it was raining and continued to rain all day. Horrible weather for food photography, but great weather for curling up with soft, squishy bread.

It’s total comfort food. I’m not even that much of a bread eater, and I loved it.

Effortless, goofproof, and tastes amazing. Cannot ask for anything more! 

What’s in Honey Beer Bread? 

To make this easy beer bread, you’ll need: 

• Vegetable oil
• Molasses
• Honey
• Pure maple syrup
• Ground cinnamon and nutmeg
• Salt
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Beer

How to Make Honey Beer Bread

The honey beer bread is so simple to make you’ll think you’re doing something wrong.

You combine all the ingredients in one bowl, pour beer over them, stir, and that’s it. You cannot mess this up.

My one suggestion is to let the homemade beer bread cool completely before slicing it. The bread needs time to set up.

Ways to Use Beer Bread 

As a sidebar recipe, I made bread pudding with it. In a medium bowl, I beat 1 egg with about 1/2 cup milk, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and then put 3 slices of bread (torn apart) into the egg-milk mixture and let it soak for 10 minutes.

Then I pressed it into an 8×4 pan and baked at 350F for 17 minutes. It was some seriously good bread pudding.

Or use the bread for Pumpkin Cinnamon Overnight Pull-Apart French Toast or in place of the Hawaiian bread in Hawaiian Bread and Maple Banana Baked French Toast.

What’s the Best Beer for Beer Bread? 

Since I’m not a beer drinker, I stood in front of the beer case forever and had no idea what I was grabbing.

I finally settled on Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale because pumpkin anything sounds good. But no, the bread doesn’t taste like pumpkin, although I wish it did.

I really don’t think there’s a wrong beer for the bread. I want to make more of it, trying a variety of beers to see how they effect the taste. Since I don’t know one from the other, it’ll be random potluck. Sounds fun.

Tips for the Best Beer Bread

I used honey from Trader Joe’s. If you have fancy honey and want to use it, go for it. 

If you don’t have real maple syrup, no biggie. Use what you have, and that goes for the beer, too. Just make sure to use pure maple syrup, NOT pancake syrup. 

If you plan to make sandwiches with the bread or dip it with chili or soup, or let it go stale and make croutons with it, or use it as the dipper for hummus or on a cheese platter, you may want to either omit or dial back the cinnamon and nutmeg.

You could also go savory with the spices, adding a pinch of garlic or onion powder, curry, oregano, dill, or whatever flavors you like.

More Easy Bread Recipes: 

Homemade Soft Pretzels – These jumbo pretzels are soft, chewy, and just like the IRRESISTIBLE ones at your local mall’s food court!

Soft and Fluffy Sandwich Bread — This sandwich bread is soft, fluffy, light, and moist. It’s made with a secret ingredient that keeps it moist and fluffy — oatmeal! It’s the perfect bread for a PB&J or grilled cheese sandwich!

30 Minute Honey Whole Wheat Skillet Bread — Skillet breads bake quicker than bread in loaf pans, so you get to enjoy this bread sooner rather than later. It’s soft, fluffy, chewy, and lightweight with a moist crumb that reminds me of the texture of a moist muffin.

Outback Steakhouse Wheat Bread — This bread is a copycat version of the Outback Steakhouse bread that I just adore. If you’ve never made yeast-based bread, this is an easy one to tackle.

Honey Butter Pumpkin Dinner Rolls — Big, soft pumpkin bread rolls brushed with honey butter are the best! Everyone loves them and they disappear so fast!

Soft & Fluffy Sweet Dinner Rolls — Lightly sweetened from the honey in the dough and brushed with honey-butter prior to baking!! These dinner rolls are made from scratch and are baked to golden brown perfection!