Irish Apple Beer Bread

   

Beer Bread could be the talk of the table at your St. Patty’s Day Party this year.  This Irish Apple and Beer Bread Recipe is hoppy and slightly sweet–the perfect paring to a hearty slice of Irish cheese.

What do YOU do on St. Patty’s Day? Do you have any annual traditions?

Every year without fail, Lt. Dan and I have a lunch date at a local Irish Pub on Saint Patrick’s Day. If we happen to be traveling, we find an Irish pub, in order to keep our tradition.

It’s not that either one of us have strong Irish roots… The importance of the date has to do with the fact that Lt. Dan grew up in South Bend, Indiana, home of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

That’s it.

It doesn’t make sense to me either, but let’s just go with it.

We always put on our Notre Dame sweat shirts (annual gifts from his family) and head out for fish and chips, corned beef and cabbage, or bangers and mash.

I can’t complain; we have great memories from our St Patty’s Day dates.

This year, with St. Patrick’s Day being on a Sunday, the kids will be included in our date. Then we’ll come home and prepare an Irish feast for dinner, fit for all the gentry of Tullynally Castle.

Irish Feasts From Years Past Have Included:

• Irish Soda Bread
• Dubliner Fondue
• Chocolate Guinness Floats
• Whiskey Walnut Ice Cream
• Irish Beef Stew
• Crispy Potato Boxties
• And Other Irish-Inspired Dishes

My favorite part of an Irish dinner is always the bread. Although I love to make Irish Soda Bread, a beer bread recipe is a nice alternative and loaded with flavor.

This apple beer bread is a quick-bread recipe, so there’s no rise-time. Just mix it up and pop it in the oven.

The burnished color and moody undertones come from adding a dark beer to the batter, a touch of molasses, and a hefty dose of rich Musselman’s Apple Butter.

Classic Dishes from Villeroy & Boch.

These ingredients gives the beer bread an intense complexity that pairs perfectly with sharp cheese like Dubliner or Irish Cheddar.

Today I paired my Apple Beer Bread with Horsefeathers Horseradish and Cheddar Spread, a fantastic spicy Real California Cheese made by Fiscalini Farmstead Cheese.

Sooooo good guys! You’ve got to try this.

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Yield: 2 loaves

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 60-70 minutes

Apple Beer Bread

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups Musselman's Apple Butter
• 12 oz. Porter or Stout Beer (dark)
• 1 Tb. molasses
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 Tb. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour two standard loaf pans.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs, Musselman's Apple Butter, beer and molasses and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Slowly add to the wet mixture. Beat to combine.
4. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared loaf pans. Bake for 60-70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf, comes out clean.
5. Cool in the loaf pans for 10 minutes before gently inverting to release the loaves. Once completely cool, wrap well to store.