Thursday, February 19, 2009

Whole Wheat Beer Bread

                                   from Vegan Crunk


Putting together this bread was a total Mr. Wizard experience.

I mixed all the dry ingredients together then dumped in my can of beer and...



Well, that, but in a more beer-foamy and less flamey kind of way.

It wooshed up into a big foamy beer-swirl that kept getting bigger and bigger as I whisked and then all the sudden FOOMP it instantaneously all vanished into a doughy mix.

Fun shit.

And despite my doubts about the bread--the directions said to "pour" it into my bread-pan, but the dough was thick and in no way "pourable" so I was a bit concerned--it came out quite good.

The top didn't smooth out 'cause of the thickness of the dough, but it gave it a kind of nice crumble-crunch to an otherwise soft squish bread.

The only other weird thing was that I *did* use sea salt (though only 1/4 of the amount called for) and it gave the bread the illusion that it had mold-pockets. The salt granules didn't dissolve all the way, they sort of just blossomed out into a white-pocket surrounding each granule, so I was forced to assure the folks eating it that it really wasn't moldy.

Ultimately though, I liked this bread. Mostly because it was super easy and didn't require kneading. And granted, I like crusty bread, and this certainly isn't that. But I'd definitely make it again, this time with a deeper stout-type beer (instead of the Brooklyn Winter Ale I used) as it's real good bread for dipping.

Also, it's fun to eat at work.

INGREDIENTS:
  • 3 c. whole wheat pastry flour (I just used whole wheat flour)

  • 3 t. baking powder

  • 1-1/2 T. sugar

  • 1 t. sea salt (I used 1/4 t.)

  • 12 oz. of tasty vegan beer

  • 1 Tbsp. soy margarine

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Add beer. Stir to combine. Pour into a lightly greased loaf pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, and then brush margarine over the top.

Bake an additional 20-25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

(Recipe from Vegan Crunk)

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