Hot Honey Beer Bread is crazy easy and so so good

Hot honey beer bread is a fast and easy buttery quick bread made from a few pantry staples, beer and a drizzle of hot honey to bring all the sweet and savory flavors together. If you skip the added flavorings, there’s only 6 ingredients. It’s moist, a little crisp around the edges and always something to look forward to.

this …

In college there was a fried chicken place just off campus that was positively legendary for their amazing fried chicken. As good as their chicken was, I always appreciated their biscuits which were dusted with a spicy powdered sugar before baking. Maybe that sounds weird, but what that did was add a little bit of sweet heat to their otherwise perfect biscuits that was the perfect foil to the spicy crunch of their chicken.

I have never forgotten those biscuits! When I started thinking about hot honey, it occurred to me that mashing them up with beer bread would get me in the same family of flavors.

This bread goes with just about any meal from soup to BBQ to slow cooker meals. I tend to make it when I want something to go with a one pot meal but don’t have time to make something else.

Whatever you serve it with, you’re going to love how easy beer bread drizzled with honey really is. Crack open a beer, and let’s make this.

Hot Honey Beer Bread

What is beer bread anyhow?

Beer bread is a fast and easy quick bread made from flour, leavening, a little sweetness, butter and beer. The butter is drizzled over the top of the bread before baking to give it a unique texture. The beer adds flavor and boosts the leavening power of the baking powder with all its foamy bubbles. In this version, we additionally drizzle on some hot honey to add some extra savory sweet flavor and some gorgeous color.

You can bake beer bread in a loaf pan as I’m doing or bake it even quicker in a 9 x 13 pan for thinner wedges of beer bread.

Why you’ll want to make beer bread on repeat

1. So easy: You need just 1 bowl and about 5 minutes to get this into the oven.
2. Tastes of yeast bread without the fuss: The smell of the beer baking will remind you a little of the smell of a yeasted bread loaf, but you won’t have to wait around to bake it.
3. Butter drizzle: Pouring the butter on top before it bakes, the butter will work its way down into the craggy top of the beer bread, making for a really unique texture. There’s really nothing else like it. It’s seriously so buttery that there’s no need to butter the bread when you eat it.
4. Hot honey!: The hot honey drizzle is everything. It not only adds a little welcome sweetness, but the added peppers make for a hint of spice that compliments nearly every dinner under the sun.

What kind of beer is best for making beer bread?

Honestly, use what you have. I drink about 1 beer/year split twice with my Mom when we eat Jägerschnitzel for holidays and birthdays, so I’m not a great authority on beer.

Coors Light makes a great neutral flavored beer bread, but like with wine, only use what you would drink. The honey makes this sweet enough that you can also use hard cider, though I wouldn’t do that in beer bread without the honey.

Process for making hot honey beer bread

1. Heat and melt: Heat up your oven, letting the butter melt in the pan while the oven is preheating.
2. Mix: Mix the rest of the ingredients minus some of the honey for the top of the bread in a bowl.
3. Pour off: Pour off all but about a tablespoon of butter from the melted butter that’s in your baking pan into a little cup.
4. Smooth: Scoop the beer bread batter into the pan, smoothing it into the corners.
5. Drizzle: Drizzle the top of the bread with the reserved butter and the rest of the hot honey.
6. Bake!: Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cut the bread when it’s completely cool.

Flavor and dietary changes to make to your beer bread.

1. Cheese it up: Grate in about 1 cup of Monterey jack, Havarti, or another mild cheese.
2. More herbs: Fresh dill and parsley would be delicious here, though rosemary, thyme, and sage would also be good.
3. Dairy-free: replace the butter with coconut oil for an easy dairy-free swap.
4. Vegan: Omit the honey, and substitute either maple syrup or regular sugar with a teaspoon of chili powder.

Print