Cody's Crusty Bourbon Beer Bread

Cody's Crusty Bourbon Beer Bread

It's fall and time for GOOD bread, even when you're trying to avoid carbs! (Everything in moderation.) I recently adapted this recipe to include some local ingredients. This is a very crusty, chewy bread similar to sourdough without the need for a starter. If you aren't close to the Quad Cities, use the best you can find.

CODY'S CRUSTY BOURBON BEER BREAD

3 C All-Purpose Flour
2 T Sugar
1 T Baking Powder
1 t Salt
1 C Great River Oktoberfest Beer (or Roller Dam Red if the Oktoberfest is out of season)
1/2 C Mississippi River Distilling Company Cody Road Bourbon 
2 T Honey
3/4 stick Butter, melted.

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the beer, bourbon, and honey all at once and mix only until the batter is evenly moistened.

Put 1/2 of the melted butter in the bottom of a 9x5 bread pan. Put the batter on the butter and top with the rest of the melted butter. 

Bake at 350º for one hour or until the crust is dark golden and a pick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool on a rack. Don't expect any leftovers. 

Variations:

1. You can omit the bourbon and increase the beer to 12 oz if you prefer.
2. Decrease the honey to 1 T and add 3 bulbs of roasted garlic
3. Decrease the honey to 1 T and add 4 strips of crisp bacon and 3/4 C shredded Cheddar cheese. I substituted the bacon grease from cooking the bacon for the melted butter in the bread pan.
4. (12/20/12) Use dark beer (Like Great River Brewery's Farmer Brown Ale) instead of the red beer and add 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon.