Baking; it’s something that nearly everyone and their moms are doing during this quarantine, thanks to the pandemic that we’re in. While I’m not one to keep up with the baking scene, it seems like everyone’s making banana bread for some odd reason. If you’re one to follow trends, then if you haven’t started baking already, you’re probably going to end up baking at some point during this quarantine. However, you don’t have to be basic and make said banana bread like everyone else. What you can do is bake with Samuel Adams Beer, and I’ll explain to you how you can do just that.
What to do
Said bread is a 10-step beer bread recipe that incorporates Samuel Adams Boston Lager for a rich, malty and complex flavor. The recipe was created by Axel Erkenswick Co-Founder Smack Dab Chicago, a Sam Adam’s Brewing the American Dream client — another way Sam Adams continues to support entrepreneurs.
The recipe:
3 cups white bread flour
1/2 cup fine whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats (optional – oats add texture and flavor. If you skip the oats, decrease beer by ¼ c.)
1 – 12 oz bottle of Samuel Adams Boston Lager®
2 tablespoons honey or another sweetener
1 oz of butter or other fat
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons instant dry yeast or equivalent – Extra flour for working the dough
Directions:
1. Make sure all of your ingredients including the beer are at room temperature.
2. Start with your liquid in your mixing bowl. Next, add the butter and honey. Top that with both flours, add the year on one end of the bowl and the salt on the other — this is so the salt doesn’t kill your yeast.
3. Using a wooden spoon or your hand, start to mix the contents of your bowl. After you see the liquid absorb, knead the dough for 5-10 minutes.
4. Turn it on to a wooden or other surface and using a little flour on the table, start folding the dough and kneading continuously until you have a smooth dough that springs back when you poke it using your finger.
5. Now add the oats and knead them into the dough. Fold them into it and press them into the dough kneading a few more times to incorporate.
6. Put it into a bowl, cover towel, and place to rest (warm and draft-free location) for 1-1.5 hours until it doubles in size.
7. Scrape it out and gently press it to release gas keeping a round shape. Shape it into a log.
8. Place this into a lightly greased 9” x 5” loaf pan, cover it and its time to double in size again for 1-2 hours. When the dough is almost doubled in size, preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. Score your loaf with a cut right down the middle using a serrated knife 1/2” deep and sprinkle/spray the top with water.
10. Bake your loaf for 35-40 minutes. It will have an internal temperature of 190F to be fully baked. Let it rest in the pan for 10 minutes, take it out of the pan and transfer to a cooling rack.
Of course, if you have some extra beer left over for yourself, you could always drink it while baking. You don’t want to drink to the point where you don’t have a single clue as to what you’re doing, but a beer or two won’t hurt.