No yeast is required for this easy and delicious honey beer bread. It’s a great sidekick for the cooler weather soups, stews or chili and is ready to enjoy in just about 1 hour.

Honey butter beer bread sliced on cutting board.

Beer bread is a great option for a quick and easy bread to accompany the cooler weather soups and stews. This honey beer bread is a favourite of mine as I love the bit of sweetness. Just add butter and enjoy!

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Ingredients and substitutions

A few notes about the key ingredients …

Beer – It wouldn’t be beer bread without beer! While you can technically use any beer, for the best results, I like to go with a lighter lager, ale or pilsner beer. I’ve used Coor’s Light here, just because it was in the house. The flavour was perfect. Not too beery, so it would appeal to all.

Honey – Any liquid honey will work here but I would avoid a heavily-fragrant honey which might not blend well with the beer flavour.

Salt – Don’t skimp on the salt. It sounds like a lot and there may be a temptation to cut it back a bit but salt is really needed for flavour in this type of quick bread. It also brings a nice balance to the sweetness of the honey.

How to make honey beer bread

This is a summary of the steps to make this beer bread. Always refer to the Recipe Card below for the complete ingredients list and instructions when making this bread.

Flour mixture in a bowl with a whisk.
1
Honey butter mixture in a bowl with a spoon.
2
Some of the honey butter added to the pan with a pastry brush.
3
  1. Start by adding the flour, baking powder and salt to a bowl and whisk together.
  2. In a small bowl, melt the butter and honey together just until the butter melts.
  3. Add some of the honey butter to the loaf pan and use a pastry brush to brush onto the bottom and sides of the pan.
Adding beer to the flour mixture.
4
Adding some honey butter to the bowl.
5
Finished dough in a bowl.
6
  1. Returning to the flour mixture, add about 1/2 of the beer to the flour mixture and stir in.
  2. Add some more of the honey butter to the dough and stir in.
  3. Begin adding some more beer to the dough, a bit at a time, stirring in between additions, adding enough beer to just moisten all the flour.
Drizzling honey butter over the dough in the loaf pan.
7
Cutting a slash in the top of the dough.
8
Loaf pan on top of a baking sheet before baking.
9
  1. Spoon the dough into the prepared loaf pan and drizzle the remaining honey butter overtop.
  2. Optionally, spray a bench scraper with cooking spray and insert it into the top of the loaf, pressing in about 1/2-1 inch. This little trick makes a nice controlled crack in the top of the loaf. (It doesn’t work for every loaf, but many of them!)
  3. Place the loaf pan on top of a baking sheet just in case a bit of butter bubbles over. (It usually doesn’t but better safe than sorry.)

Recipe tips!

  • You can use either a 4×10-inch loaf pan (that’s what I used here) or an 8 1/2 or 4 1/2-inch loaf pan. The baking time will be a bit longer for the 8×4 loaf pan.
  • As noted above, don’t reduce the salt as it is needed in this type of quick bred to really bring the flavours together. If you like, you can also sprinkle a little finishing salt on the loaf when it comes out of the oven.
  • Beer bread is much like biscuits in that the amount of beer you add to the flour mixture will vary a bit, so you may not need to add the entire amount specified. Judge by the moistness of the dough.
Honey beer bread sliced on cutting board.

Storing and freezing

Beer bread is best enjoyed on the day it is baked and is especially nice enjoyed warm with butter. It can be made earlier in the day and re-heated. Simply loosely wrap in foil and pop into a 350F oven for 8-10 minutes to warm it up.

Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days.

You can freeze beer bread well-wrapped for up to 3 months.

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Honey beer bread sliced on cutting board.

Get the Recipe: Honey Butter Beer Bread

No yeast is required for this easy and delicious honey butter beer bread. A great sidekick for soups, stews or chili.
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

Honey Butter:

  • 1/4 cup (67 g) salted butter
  • 3 Tablespoons honey

For the dough:

  • 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 12 oz (355 ml) beer, *see Note 1 below
  • 4 Tablespoons honey butter, from above

For topping before baking:

  • 2 Tablespoons honey butter

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 375F (non-convection/not fan-assisted). Have ready a 4×10-inch or 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch metal loaf pan. (For glass loaf pans, reduce the oven temperature to 350F.)
  • Make the honey butter by melting together the honey and butter in the microwave or a small saucepan, just until the butter melts.
  • Spoon 2 Tablespoons of the honey butter mixture into the loaf pan and use a pastry brush to brush the bottom and sides of the pan. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Pour in about 1/2 of the beer, together with 4 Tablespoons of the honey butter mixture. Use a wooden spoon to stir together. Begin adding more of the beer, a bit at a time, stirring as you add, until the dough is just moistened and there is no dry flour visible. You may not need quite all of the beer.
  • Spoon the dough into the prepared loaf pan and spread to fill the pan, slightly mounding in the centre.
  • Drizzle the remaining 2 Tablespoons of honey butter over the top of the loaf.
  • Tip! If you have a bench scraper, spray the bench scraper with cooking spray (or brush with melted butter) then insert it into the centre of the loaf lengthwise, pressing it into the loaf about 3/4-1 inch. This will create a controlled crack in the loaf as it bakes and makes for a prettier loaf.
  • Place the loaf pan on top of a baking sheet (to catch in butter bubble-overs if necessary).
  • Place into the oven on top of the baking sheet and bake until a toothpick inserted in centre of the loaf comes out clean, 45-50 minutes for a 4×10 loaf pan or 50-60 minutes for an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Run a knife around the outside of the loaf and remove it to a wire rack to cool.
  • Serve warm with butter. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Notes

Note 1: You can use any beer but I find a lighter lager, ale or pilsner beer works nicely. I used Coor’s Light here, as it was what was in the fridge.
If you’d like you could sprinkle a little finishing salt (such as Maldon’s) on top of the loaf when it comes out of the oven.
Be sure to read the notes above this Recipe Card, for more tips on making this recipe. You’ll find substitution suggestions as well as step-by-step photos that you might find helpful.
Cuisine: American, Canadian
Course: Bread
Author: Jennifer Maloney
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 177kcal, Carbohydrates: 30g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 10mg, Sodium: 324mg, Potassium: 147mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 119IU, Vitamin C: 0.03mg, Calcium: 51mg, Iron: 2mg
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