Beer Food

Ah… the refreshing smell of freshly baked bread…

This weekend, I baked bread all on my own for the first time in a fairly long while (discounting naan, cornbread, and other sweet breads, that is). This is sad, because I really love baking bread. Generally, it’s the time commitment (and the abundance of superb bakeries here in Toronto) that deter me from making it more often, but when I do, I always feel like the time is well spent. Freshly baked bread just tastes so darn good!

So, as a special little treat for my long-due return to bread-baking, I decided to bake a loaf of Beer Bread, following this recent recipe from Closet Cooking. This is a straightforward (and easily veganizable!) recipe, which includes a good cup and a half of beer in its dough (I used some Chocolate Stout, which seemed to work well). I was a little disappointed that the amazing beer aroma didn’t stick around after it had baked, but the beer did seem to lend the loaf a nice inner softness and springiness. Overall, I was really happy with this bread, and had a hard time stopping myself from eating it all in one go (which is probably another reason I don’t make bread more often). Here are some photos of my bread baking journey. First, some pics of the loaf after it came out of the oven…

And here are some close ups of it after it had cooled down and been sliced open…

Yum! But that’s not the only beer food I made this weekend! Along with my beer bread, I decided to whip up a batch of Chocolate Beer Pancakes for breakfast, in part to use up the remaining beer and in part because these pancakes are soamazingIwanttoeatthemeverydayforeverymealandalsowhileI’msleeping. The recipe comes from the excellent Vegan Brunch cookbook, where it’s actually a recipe for Chocolate Beer Waffles. Lacking a waffle iron, I decided to try these out as pancakes, and they were wonderful: fluffy and super flavorful! (And as I discovered later, while eating up the leftovers, these pancakes become even more delicious when complemented by clementine slices.) Here are some photos…

And that’s all I have to share today! I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the (other) wonderful things beer can do. And remember: if you decide to make these beer recipes on your own, enjoy responsibly. 😉

Until we eat again,

Willie Costello