Disaster Chef: Cheesy Beer Bread

I found this recipe quite a while ago, but like most pins on pinterest, I pinned it and forgot it. But then I saw the stray can of beer that's been hanging out in my refrigerator for a couple months, and I went to pinterest to see if I could find something to do with it.

This bread is based on a recipe I found at Gotta Get Baked blog. It's definitely worth checking out her blog, if only for the gorgeous pictures. My bread was gorgeous, but my pictures don't do it justice. Her pictures are awesome. Plus, she's kind of hilarious.

Anyhow, this is how I adapted her recipe.

You will need:
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 12 oz. can or bottle of beer
1 tbsp honey


If you will notice, there is no butter or oil in this bread. I thought that was weird, because every time I've made quick bread, it has a lot. And eggs--this one has no eggs, either. I was confused until I mixed up the batter and realized that the yeast activates and makes bread dough (duh--but I really hadn't thought of that until I mixed it up and it was all sticky like yeasted bread dough).

Now, let's put it all together. 
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Grease a loaf pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder. Add 3/4 c. of the shredded cheese and onion; toss together so that everything is well combined. At this point, everything will be so coated with flour it will be white.
Add the beer and honey. Mix until all dry bits of flour are absorbed/moistened. Your dough will be lumpy and sort of sticky, but it shouldn't be as moist as cake batter. This should be more like dough.
Dump the dough into the loaf pans and smooth the top of the dough.

It will look about so at this junction.

Bake for about 25 minutes, then add the last 1/4 c. cheese to the top of the loaf.

Half baked and covered in cheese.

 Return to oven and bake for 15-25 more minutes.

Hot and fresh out the oven.

 I had to bake for all 50 minutes before a knife in the center came out clean. It looked done at 40 minutes, but the knife came out all gooey. At 50 minutes, it was completely clean. I let the bread sit about 10-15 minutes, then turned it out and set it on a rack for a few minutes.

Textured, yeasty goodness within.

My son absolutely LOVED this bread. He kept picking at it while it cooled. We ate it warm with pork chops and braised red cabbage with apples. It was delicious warm. He ate 2 pieces, and my husband had 3. It was a big hit, and delicious the next day, too.

Cheesy, crispy goodness without.