My husband and I really aren’t beer drinkers. It’s not that we haven’t tried, because we have. We just prefer wine (and I haven’t met a mojito I didn’t like). The thing is, we go through stages where we pick up a six-pack from a local brewery thinking that maybe we will discover the one beer that we actually do like, but we rarely do. Instead, it ends up hanging out in the fridge for a while.
So, yesterday I decided I was going to use up some of the strawberry wheat beer from Lancaster Brewing Company that was taking up space in my fridge. I used one bottle to make a barbeque sauce for some shredded chicken in my slow cooker. That wasn’t enough, though. As I was paging through my King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook, I noticed a recipe for Micro-Brew Honey Wheat Bread. I knew it would make some delicious rolls to go with my barbeque shredded chicken, so in a matter of minutes I was mixing up a batch of bread dough… Two bottles down, three to go!
I have been adding my milled golden flax to everything lately, so I decided to incorporate it into my rolls, as well. It adds some extra nutrients and you won’t even notice it’s in there. In fact, this bread was so moist and light that you’d hardly know that it was healthy, made with flax and whole wheat flour… It can be our little secret.
Speaking of flax, there’s still time to enter my FlaxMatters.com giveaway! You have until Friday at 10:00pm EST to enter to win some great products from FlaxMatters.com… Just head on over to last week’s Ten in 10 Update post for all of the details. I’ll be announcing the winner in my Ten in 10 post this Saturday!
Honey Beer Bread
(Adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook)
- 3/4 cup strawberry wheat beer (or your favorite light/amber micro-brew), at room temperature
- 1/4 cup orange juice, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 2 teaspoons dry active yeast
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup unbleached bread flour
- 1/2 cup milled golden flax
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the beer, orange juice, honey, and canola oil. Add the yeast, and whisk until it is completely dissolved in the liquids.
Add the flours, flax, and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Use your hands to knead the dough until smooth (I did this in the bowl to contain the mess and avoid too much cleanup, but you can turn the dough out onto a floured surface, if you prefer).
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 – 2 hours). Punch down the dough, and shape it into one loaf or eight rolls. If you make a loaf, place it in a lightly greased bread pan. If you are making rolls, place them on a lightly greased baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with a silicon mat. Cover and let rise for an additional hour.
Towards the end of the second rising, preheat the oven to 350°F. Whisk the egg with a few drops of water, and use a pastry brush to brush the rolls or the loaf with the egg wash. Bake uncovered – 30-35 minutes for a loaf and 15-20 minutes for rolls. The bread is done when the internal temperature is 190°F.
Allow the bread to cool completely (removing from the pan when cool enough to handle and cooling on a rack) prior to slicing. Enjoy!
My Kitchen Addiction Product Review Policy and Disclosure– I received this product (milled golden flax) at no cost from the manufacturer (or a representative PR firm) for the purpose of testing and reviewing the product. Unless specified otherwise, I do not accept monetary compensation for reviewing or writing about products. I only review products that I have personally tested and used in my kitchen/home, and all opinions expressed are my own.
I am not a huge beer drinker either – but that Strawberry Wheat sounds really good! I tend to go for more fruity beers with citrus in them. So I bet this bread is just delicious!
These look wonderful! I like the way you shape them. I have the same King Arthur Cookbook and use it frequently.
These rolls look so good! I love the way it sounds!
You have lovely blog. Have a wonderful week!
That bread is seriously beautiful!
{We NEVER have extra beer in the fridge!} ;)
Yummy bread. I’m more of a wine/cocktail drink, too. I do have a couple bottle of beer in the fridge right now. Maybe beer bread is in order. Mmmmm…
Healthy and beer in the same recipe? I’m so there!
The Strawberry Wheat from LBC is pretty tasty! Too bad I don’t live in Lancaster anymore :-/
Sounds like a great healthy recipe, I’ll be sure to try soon!
The guys in the audience surely will prefer their beer in frosty mugs. Me? I totally want it from now on in bread form! ;)
What a great way to use up beer…although that is not a problem in our house :) I love beer! I actually love wine too but Mr.NN hates it. I need to give these rolls a try. They sound so tasty…yum!
The rolls look great and the chicken sounds pretty good, too! Can I make bread with wine? We don’t keep much beer around either. :)
bunnycooks – I think that it would be possible to make the bread with wine since the beer is really only acting as the liquid in the recipe. However, the flavor of the bread would be drastically different, and I’m not sure how it would change the consistency. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
Wow! Healthy bread that looks that delicious…gotta try it. I love your blog!
They look like cute little snails! I love the idea of using beer in bread, I think Mr Bake & Bloom would like it even more too! thanks :)
So you see, you can have your beer and eat it too! I’ve had reat success with Buttery Beer Bread (from Recipe Rhapsody) and this looks like another must-do-over-the weekend. Thanks for sharing, your rolls look great!
I love the spiral shape of your rolls! And I’m sure they are delicious with the honey and whole wheat. I’ll definitely be trying this recipe!
Wow. I am a huge bread fan. I have been looking at healthy alternatives. This looks great. I can’t wait to give it a try. Thank you.
these are beautiful rolls…and i can’t imagine they are anything short of fantastic with this combo of ingredients!
Gorgeous rolls and I bet they are so wonderful freshly baked!
Jen, I’m going to have to pick up this cookbook you keep mentioning! These rolls look gorgeous and tasty!
A very nice recipe! I never tried beer bread, and I think I should. It’s really fun to experiment with different breads :-) – I’ve been doing it a lot recently http://cookingrookie.blogspot.com/search/label/Bread
Your pictures are beautiful! The recipe sounds delicious – something I am definitely interested in trying.
I am very curious about the strawberry wheat beer. I have never heard of it before and I am going to have to keep my eye open for it.
I’ve made this bread several times (I, too, have the cookbook) and it’s my husband’s favorite – his friends love it, too, and have actually requested it as a gift.