Pumpkin Beer Bread
This week the pumpkin recipe train keeps rolling along! A few weeks ago we got one of those Trader Joe’s inserts in the mail advertising all things pumpkin that they were currently selling. Well, it worked, and two weeks ago we made a very successful trip to Trader Joe’s and came back with pumpkin ale and frozen pumpkin macarons.
Given the rate at which we drink beer there would probably be 2 or 3 bottles left in the fridge next October, so I went looking for quick bread recipes that we could make with it. This one does not disappoint. You get the nice wheat taste of the beer but it doesn’t overpower the other pumpkin flavoring of the bread.
We still have a bit left in the freezer, but I imagine that once that gets finished up I’ll be making this again. I had never done any cooking with beer or ale but you just treat it like any other ingredient. Speaking of which, I should probably go buy some red wine to prepare for the inevitable winter beef stew cravings.
This was also the first recipe that I took pictures with using new settings on the camera. I took a photography course in high school that had us use film SLR cameras and really enjoyed having total control over the shutter speed, f-stop, and actual film development. I kept complaining that I didn’t have that sort of control with the camera (which is exceptionally nice) I’m now using, but realized I had never bothered to read the manual.
As expected, reading the manual proved quite useful. While I can’t control shutter speed and other factors, there is a manual focus setting, which let me finally take pictures like the one above. Having a board to cover up the mess that is our apartment definitely helps too.
Michigan football didn’t have a game scheduled on Saturday which means 1) No pictures of key moments to photoshop bread into and 2) I actually had a productive weekend. Including eating more of this pumpkin ale bread, enjoy!
- 3 C AP flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 12 oz bottle Pumpkin Ale
- ½ C chopped nuts
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp allspice
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease a loaf pan. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, spices, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- Pour in beer and fold the dry ingredients in until completely mixed. Don't overmix though, stop once everything has been incorporated.
- Pour the dough into the loaf pan and smooth out with a spatula. Bake for 50-55 minutes in the oven, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
