Beer bread recipe - gluten free

A lovely friend of mine made me a loaf of bread. As strange as this sounds it was such a thoughtful gift – as much as I love baking and cooking it really is a treat to be cooked for.

He had come across beer bread during a holiday in South Africa and told me he wanted to make a gluten free version. So I gave him some of my GF flour blend and also GF beer for him to try; it worked and it was delicious. As we all know some recipes swap easily to GF and some do not!

He has kindly given me his recipe to share – thank you Quin – so here it is.  

No yeast is needed  - it's a very simple bread made from plain flour and baking powder, salt and GF beer/lager – just four ingredients.

We both think it’s best if you add some extra flavours to it, particularly cheese, but it’s one of those recipes that you can adapt and flavour to your own personal taste. Match your chosen flavourings to whatever you are serving.  I'm going to try it with chilli flakes and cheddar to go with a chilli

I’ve used cider instead of beer and it worked just as well and to this I added cheddar and chopped apple – it was delicious.

It's a cross between a savoury scone and a loaf of bread - Delicious! 

Ingredients:

500g GF plain flour

3 level teaspoons of baking powder

½ teaspoon of salt

330ml GF beer, GF lager or cider

50ml water

1 teaspoon of dried thyme

20g sesame seeds (optional but tasty!)

Sea salt to sprinkle on top (I use Maldon sea salt)

Options:

1. Blue cheese and walnut
2. Cheddar & chopped up apple
3. A few teaspoons of pesto
4. Chopped up semi dried tomatoes ( the ones in oil)
5. Any fresh herbs

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c and grease a …… loaf tin.
2. Sift the flour & salt together in a bowl and stir in the beer and thyme.
3. Add the extra water, if needed, to give a soft but not too sloppy dough.
4. If you are adding other flavours stir them through the dough.
5. Pour into the 1 kg loaf tin.
6. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and sea slat.
7. Place in preheated oven for approximately one hour.
8. Let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.
9. Enjoy warm spread with plenty of butter!
10. You can allow it to cool and toast it or reheat it the next day but it is best eaten fresh.