Una’s Cheddar Beer Bread

  4.3 – 71 reviews  

a soft beer bread that tastes richly cheesy and like cheese nips. Wonderful toasted, plain, or in sandwiches.

Cook Time: 1 hr
Total Time: 1 hr
Servings: 24
Yield: 2 (1 pound) loaves

Ingredients

  1. 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle premium lager
  2. 2 tablespoons margarine
  3. 2 tablespoons milk
  4. 4 cups all-purpose flour
  5. 2 teaspoons salt
  6. 2 tablespoons sugar
  7. 4 teaspoons yeast
  8. 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  9. 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  10. ½ teaspoon onion powder
  11. ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  12. ½ teaspoon dried marjoram
  13. ½ teaspoon dried basil
  14. 8 ounces reduced-fat extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
  15. 2 tablespoons margarine, melted

Instructions

  1. Grease two 9×5-inch loaf pans.
  2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm beer slightly. Stir in milk and 2 tablespoons margarine to melt. Pour contents into bread machine pan. Pour in flour. Make a well in the center of the flour, and sprinkle salt onto one side of the mound that forms. Into the well, pour the sugar and yeast. Sprinkle with pepper, onion, garlic, and herbs. Begin the dough cycle.
  3. Meanwhile, slice the cheese into pea-size crumbles. Avoid using shredded cheese, as it may clump. Once the dough forms into a sticky ball, gradually add the cheese crumbles.
  4. As the cycle continues and the cheese fully incorporates into the dough, the ball should still be somewhat soft and sticky. If it is too dry, add a bit of milk.
  5. When the cycle has completed, punch down the dough, and divide it in half. Place each half into a greased loaf pan, and allow the dough to rise, about 45 to 60 minutes.
  6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  7. When the dough has risen, bake for 1 hour, or until the loaves are golden brown and make a hollow sound when thumped. Immediately turn out onto a cooling rack, and brush with melted margarine. Cool completely before cutting.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 124 kcal
Carbohydrate 18 g
Cholesterol 3 mg
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Protein 5 g
Saturated Fat 1 g
Sodium 282 mg
Sugars 1 g
Fat 3 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Joseph Black
Use Smoked Paprika for all or part of Cayenne pepper (or use both). Came out great!
Ryan Shepard
I make many delicious breads, but this is a favorite for years! Thank you Una! I had to copy it again, since I misplaced my copy. The only thing I do differently is roll the loaves in some coarsely grated cheddar and then apply an egg wash before baking. I couldn’t believe that some people review this recipe after they’ve left out a major ingredient!!! You’re supposed to review the recipe, not your changed recipe! This bread deserves 5+++ stars, as is! I’m not a fan of highly spicy, but the recipe as is is not too spicy! Try it toasted with boiled ham & a cup of pea soup! Again, thanks Una and forgive those who leave out ingredients, then rate it poorly!
Kayla Sanchez
It turned awesome.. We are having chili tonight this will be good with it.
Nancy Atkinson
This was amazing. I made it in the Kitchen aid instead of the bread machine and baked it for 40 minutes at 400 degrees because I had a pot pie in the oven with it. Will definitely make this again.
Jennifer Powers MD
This bread is so flavorful and moist. It’s the best bread I’ve ever made. Will be my ‘go-to recipe’ from now on.
Susan Smith
Recipe is great. Made in 2lb zojirushi bread machine at 7000 ft elevation. Only change was reduced yeast to 2.25 tsp and used dark crust control setting (normal white cycle)
Jordan Gutierrez
This is a really good bread recipe. I didn’t use a bread machine but my stand mixer with dough hooks. My biggest complaint was that it was a little too spicy for my taste. Next time I will omit the cayenne but that’s the only thing I will change. Thanks for the recipe.
Allen Miller
Made this bread to eat with vegetarian sweet potato chili and it was a big hit with my daughter and her friend. I made a few substitutions based on the ingredients I had on hand. Used 2 tsp of Italian seasoning in place of the basil, marjoram, onion and garlic powder. I did add the cayenne and black pepper and one minced clove of garlic. I left out the cheese since I didn’t have any on hand and subbed butter for margarine. The only small critic I have is the amount of black pepper is a bit overpowering. I didn’t notice it so much when the bread was hot out of the oven, but once it cooled the pepper taste was prominent. Next time I’ll reduce by half.
Drew Ball
I was looking for something to do with a bottle of home-brewed beer which hadn’t carbonated properly and found this. My husband was thrilled with this bread. I don’t have a bread machine, so made it with my regular, old-fashioned method and it came out great! Thanks so much.
Cynthia May
I made this totally in the bread machine. I’ve never used a bread machine before. I didn’t read the how-to’s, I just dumped everything into the machine. My bread machine has an option for a 2 pound loaf so I went with it. Well, I guess 2 1# loaves of bread aren’t the same as a 2# loaf of bread :-). My dough rose over the top of the bin and started burning and smoking. I had to unplug the bread maker and pull the bin out and dump it onto a sheet pan and finish it in the oven. But … the bread was Phenomenel!!! I added 2 diced jalpenos, dropped the cayenne to 1/2 t, didn’t add marjoram or basil. I will halve the recipe next time. It was delicious!!!!
Mr. John Kim
I halved this, and substituted the garlic powder with one fresh pressed clove of garlic. Baked this on the regular cycle, medium crust. The cheese melted completely and made a very tasty flavorful loaf. Would probably make this again, but I might try different cheeses and beers. I think we used Michelob?
Thomas Acosta
My family was fighting over every piece and I had to make another loaf the next night. I just put in all the ingredients in my bread maker at once and let it go because I didn’t have time to take it out and put it in pans. I did warm up the beer, butter and milk though and kept the dry ingredients separated from wet. I only had light beer. I used real butter. It rose really high so would probably put 2 to 2.5 tsp yeast in next time. Can’t blame the recipe though as I didn’t follow it as written.
Mr. John Shaw
I didn’t use a bread machine and here is what I found. The milk curdled when added to the beer. I warmed the beer, butter and milk then added the sugar and yeast and let it set for 10 min. Then stirred in the flour and spices. I got a great rise and had no troubles. I rated it only a 3 because the flavor seemed lacking. The cheese was there but everything else just seems lost. I will try an increase in the next batch, but theer will be a next batch.
Jill Smith
I have made this bread twice and each time it has risen very slowly and not nearly as high as I would have liked.I make all my bread by hand and I can’t see that as being a reason for the slow rise. I made this again last weekend but this time I added some gluten to it and it still rose slowly,it rose to a height of 2 and a quarter inches.I like the taste though,even though it’s a bit on the spicy side.I’m a home brewer also and the thought of making my own bread with beer that I made really intrigued me.One more thing,looking at the pictures here of this bread it looks like I’m not the only one having trouble with this being a slow riser.I would give this recipe 4 stars if it rose better.
Donna Campos
EXCELLENT! The best I have ever made. Thanks very much chef Una!
Kevin Sherman
I think this recipe is awesome. I tweaked the recipe because of not having some of the spices on hand. I wraped a loaf with plastic wrap and it stayed as fresh 5 days later as the day I baked it. It might sound odd but it’s great toasted and topped with your favorite jam or preserves. As for the person who would not follow the recipe and then gave the bread a 3 star rating, SHAME ON YOU. You only showed your ignorance by complaining.
Sheila Moreno
I ended up making two batches, because it was so good that we gave up testing the first loaf and just ate it. Really easy, very flavorful.
Bryan Warner
I have tried all kinds of cheeses with great success.
Kelsey Zimmerman
It was very tender. I didn’t use cheese because my husband doesn’t like cheese. A friend had made this without the cheese because she missed the signal on her bread machine and she said it was good without the cheese. I added extra garlic and used regular budweiser beer. It didn’t really have any flavor, except spiciness from the ground red pepper and black pepper. Probably won’t make again.
Audrey Fuentes
The first time I made this, I halved the recipe and added the ingredients to my machine. I missed the add in beep and ended up with just beer bread, which was crispy and savory. The second time, I made it correctly but we decided we like it better without the cheese because the flavor of the beer is stronger.
Eric Kelly II
This not only smells great, but tastes great also. I used Yeungling Lager, substituted italian seasoning for the marjoram and basil like another reader suggested, left out the cayenne but sprinkled in red pepper flakes, and used 1 tsp. of garlic powder in place of the onion and garlic powder just because that was all I had on hand. Usually a bread smells really good but doesn’t have much flavor. Not this! Great with soup.

 

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