Apricot-Cranberry Beer Bread

Good Morning Beer Bread!!

 Last night, as I was relaxing in front of the TV, I contemplated what I would have for breakfast! I'm not much for cold cereal, however, I love a piece of coffee cake or sweet bread with some fruit or maybe yogurt. I had fruit and yogurt in the house but, to my dismay, nothing sweet to munch on. That's when my mind started to run a virtual list of sweet breads I could whip up quickly! I decided to make some "Beer Bread"! For breakfast your thinking! My beer bread is a beautiful sweet loaf with cranberries and apricots thrown in. Add a smear of butter and you have a lovely treat for breakfast! The thing about beer bread is you don't need a lot of ingredients. You can decide to make it sweet or savory. It takes one bowl and a little more then 1 hour including the baking time. If you have a bottle of beer in the house, you too can make beer bread. Different types of beer bread can be made by using different beers; for instance, a dark beer will give you a darker bread with a heavier flavor. Using a beer that is spiced, or has a flavor added, will make a bread with a similar flavor. Hence..my blueberry beer bread. This past summer I made one using blueberry beer and fresh blueberries! Yum!! I can't wait to see what other flavors of beer I can find. So for the recipe…

 Apricot-Cranberry Beer Bread

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 12 oz. bottle beer

4 Tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

1/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in center and add the melted butter and bottle of beer. Stir just until no streaks of flour remain, then add the dried fruit.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
If you would like a savory loaf, cut the sugar to 2 tablespoons, add herbs, such as dill and some cheddar or parmesan cheese. You can also add sundried tomatoes and herbs, garlic and feta, ect. Experiment using different beers..it will change the flavor of the bread.

Beer being poured into dry ingredients.

Mixed with fruit added into batter.

Ready to bake.

Lovely loaf of Apricot-Cranberry Beer Bread.