Beer & Bread, Cinderella Style

Shelley Munro is in the house and she even included a recipe combining the two most favorite foods in the world. I love fresh bread, but I'm too lazy to bake half the time, so this might be perfect for me. Greg actually has some craft beer in the fridge he doesn't like so I'm going to try this with them.

Oh, and don't forget to enter Shelley's contest. There's a link at the end of this post.

Cinderella Breaks Bread 
by Shelley Munro

Most of you are familiar with the tale of Cinderella. You’ll have read the book as a child, seen the Disney version at the movies or taken your own children and grandchildren to watch Cinderella catch her prince.

Recently, I ventured in self-publishing territory with the publication of One Night of Misbehavior. As you might guess from my intro, my story is a modern retelling of Cinderella, and the gorgeous cover was designed by my wonderful host, Maria under her Book Cover Diva guise.

Charlotte Dixon, my poor hapless Cinderella, has good reasons for staying under the roof of her wicked stepmother and slaving away day after day, cooking, cleaning and looking after Gran. She’s a creative person who enjoys design, photography and scrapbooking. Charlotte and Gran spend their free time trying all sorts of crafts.

Cooking is another creative outlet, one Charlotte enjoys—when her stepmother and stepsiblings remember to leave something for her to eat after her hard work. During the course of One Night of Misbehavior Charlotte makes pasta dishes, salads for her diet-conscious stepsisters and steampunk cupcakes. She also makes focaccia bread.

Today I thought I’d give you another bread recipe from Charlotte’s repertoire. It’s the type of bread she makes when her stepmother springs extra guests on her at the last minute or her stepsisters eat every scrap of bread in the house and forget to tell her.

Beer Bread

3 cups of plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
400 ml/12 oz of beer (not low alcohol beer/if your can of beer is smaller make up the difference with water.)

Grated cheddar cheese

Place the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Add the beer and combine all ingredients well. Place mixture in a greased tin and sprinkle the cheese on the top. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C/400F for 33 minutes. Turn out of tin and cool a little—if you have the patience!

Notes:
1. I vary the types of flour. The loaf in the photo is made with one cup of wholemeal and two cups of plain white flour.

2. Experiment – add sunflower seeds, nuts or herbs to the mixture.

3. The original recipe says to cook the loaf for 40 – 50 minutes. I have a fan oven and 33 minutes is the exact time for a loaf of bread to bake. You know your own oven so just be aware the cooking time can vary.

4. You can free form the loaves but I like mine in a tin because the mixture is on the sticky side.

Doesn't this look good!


This bread is also a staple in my household. I’ve been making my own bread instead of buying it for about six months now. Beer Bread is my go-to recipe when I don’t have time to mess around with waiting for yeast to do its magic i.e. when I want to concentrate on my edits. 

It’s quick, easy to make (as long as I can steal a can of beer from Mr. Munro) and is ready to eat in just over half an hour. It also keeps well and makes excellent toast—if there are leftovers!



CONTEST: Fill out the rafflecopter to win an Amazon gift certificate. What is your favorite type of bread to eat and have you tried making your own?

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand with her husband and a rambunctious puppy called Bella. When she’s not writing, she loves to travel and bake bread. To learn more about One Night of Misbehavior and Shelley’s other books visit her website at http://www.shelleymunro.com.







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Comments

DEZMOND said…
nom nom .... you know I've been looking for a yeast free bread recipe for a long time and I will try this one, Maria :)
Maria Zannini said…
Dez: Hiya Dez! I'm going to wait for hubby to come back and try it out on him. He loves bread--and beer, so it's a win-win situation.

Nice to see you again!
Mary Kirkland said…
I have a bread machine and I love it! I have made white, wheat, french, cinnamon raisin and even made the dough for cinnamon rolls. The white bread from the bread machine is my favorite though.

miztik_rose@yahoo.com
Maria Zannini said…
Mary/Shelley: Would this bread work in a bread machine? I haven't used mine in years. I wonder if it still works.
Maria Zannini said…
NOTE:

Shelley is on the other side of the world from this blog, so I'm sure she'll pop in later today.
Shelley Munro said…
Hi Maria, Mary and Dezmond,

Hubby has gone off to work and I'm wide awake. I don't own a bread machine so I don't know the answer to this. I just bung it in the oven for 33minutes and it's done. The breadthat is.

Maria - this would be a great way to use up beer that isn't to your taste. I sometimes make it with dark beer and it tastes awesome.

Mary - all that bread sounds yummy. I bet your house smells good when you're cooking.

Dezmond - this is the perfect one for you to try.

Maria - thanks for having me to visit today :)
Jennifer Shirk said…
I have a bread machine but when I use it too often, I notice I really start putting on weight. WAH.
Your recipe sounds awesome though!
Unknown said…
Hi Shelley,

The recipe looks delicious, and your book sounds like a lot of fun! Thanks for leading me to a new and lovely blog!

Carole
LD Masterson said…
Um, excuse me, I have to go to the kitchen now. Wonder how Sam Adams will taste...
Shelley Munro said…
Jennifer - i haven't had that problem, but I think the novelty factor has worn off since I make bread all the time.
Shelley Munro said…
Carole - great to see you here. You'll enjoy Maria's blog. :)
Shelley Munro said…
LD - I suspect Sam Adams will work fine. Let me know how you get on.
Carol Kilgore said…
Thanks! This is my kind of bread recipe. Quick and easy. Worth donating a beer for, I think :)

Hi, Maria!
Maria Zannini said…
Shelley:
Re: dark beer

Oh, that would be interesting to try it with two different beers and see how they taste. Greg will be home in 3 weeks. I'll try it for sure.
Maria Zannini said…
Carole: Nice to meet you. And thanks to Shelley for introducing us!

I've just added your blog to my Reader.
Maria Zannini said…
Linda: If you make this bread before me, let me know how it turns out.

I think Greg will like this.
Maria Zannini said…
Carol: I'm with you. Much as I love bread, I'm terribly impatient. I hate waiting for it to rise.
Anonymous said…
The recipe sounds great and the bread looks yummy! I'm definitely trying this out...maybe even tonight ;)

Congrats on the book Shelley, it sounds fun...you had me at crafts by the way.

Maria, I hope the fur-babies treated you well for Mother's Day :)
Maria Zannini said…
Raelyn: My fur babies demanded food and treats and then ignored me.

Typical. ;-)
Shelley Munro said…
Carol - it takes five minutes to mix and around 30 to cook. Can't get much quicker than that.
Shelley Munro said…
Hi Raelyn - thanks. I hope you enjoy the bread. It's a recipe that everyone should have in their repertoire.
I love beer bread and make it in my bread machine. I like to vary the ingredients too. Now I'm hungry, dang it.
Jackie said…
Doggone it now you have made me want homemade bread and I have to go buy some beer, I hate beer!

Have long wanted to find and not researched a recipe to make homemade bread without using a yeast dough, or buying another bread maker to waste space when I only use it three or four times than get tired of having to mess with the clean up of something we eat in 5 minutes.

Maria hope the restoration of the house after floor project finished did not overtax you and Greg too much and also hope that water heater job goes smoothly for you guys too.
Excellent cover, Maria! Sounds like an exciting read. And exciting bread. Do you have a page where your other covers are listed? Am I blind?
Maria Zannini said…
Susan: I wondered if it was too sticky for the bread machine. Thanks!
Maria Zannini said…
Jackie: When Shelley mentioned what her topic was, I jumped at it. LOL.

I only wish I could transport her here--and the bread too. :)

The floor remodeling was longer than we expected, but they did a good job so I can't complain. We still haven't replaced the water heater. That'll have to wait until Greg gets back again.
Maria Zannini said…
Barbara: You're only slightly near-sighted. LOL!

You can find information about Book Cover Diva and a gallery of covers at the web site.

Here's the direct link to the Gallery. http://bookcoverdiva.blogspot.com/p/portfolio.html

I only put up the covers once the author has published the book--or given me permission.
Shelley Munro said…
Susan, it's good to know it can be made in a bread maker sine I had no idea.
Shelley Munro said…
Jackie - the beer is for a good cause :)
Shelley Munro said…
Barbara - thanks. I think Maria did an awesome job with my cover.
Melissa McClone said…
I'll give this recipe to my hubby to try. He's the bread maker around here. I love pumpkin bread. I like the taste and texture!
Mike Keyton said…
I love baking bread and this sounds just the ticket for last minute guests. Mind you, I prefer drinking beer to eating bread : (
Maria Zannini said…
Melissa: You have a husband that bakes bread? Do you think I could send mine over there and see if it rubs off? LOL!
Maria Zannini said…
Mike: You drink. I'll eat.
Mike Keyton said…
Sounds like a plan
Maria Zannini said…
Mike: I figured you'd agree. :o)
Shelley Munro said…
Melissa,

My hubby likes to make bread too. He's a dab hand at fococcia bread.

Mike - hubby says the same. I have to sneak beer to make bread.