Recipe: Guinness Bread | Cooking On the Side (2024)

Bread

With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, my eyes turned toward the random bottle of Guinness that’s been sitting in my fridge for…well, I’m not even sure how long it’s been there at this point. Long enough that I began contemplating ways I could cook with it, rather than drink it!

I found a terrific recipe for Guinness Bread on the Guinness website. It made a huge, sandwich-quality loaf of dark, lightly sweet bread that was far less cakey than other beer breads I’ve made. Warm brown bread with a good smear of soft Irish butter…definitely one of life’s simple pleasures.

As with most beer breads, this one was very easy to pull together except that, since the recipe came from a European website, it took quite a bit of conversion and Google searching for me to translate it into “American”. For example, I had to confirm that “bread soda” was the same thing as “baking soda” and that molasses would be a suitable substitute for “black treacle”. I have a kitchen scale and measuring cups with metric markers so following all the grams and milliliters wasn’t a problem (it actually made things easy), but I went ahead and converted it all to cups for my American friends who don’t own a scale. Lastly, the oven temperature…170°C doesn’t translate neatly to a standard Fahrenheit temperature (it’s between 325°F and 350°F) so I erred on the side of the lower one, and extended the baking time.

Like I said, the recipe makes a huge loaf. It didn’t say which size loaf pan to use — I’m definitely glad I went with the larger 9″ x 5″ (vs 8″ x 4″) because the batter filled the pan and it domed up substantially during baking. Do yourself a big favor and be sure to do the toothpick check to be sure it’s completely done inside before taking it out of the oven!

You’re in luck — I’ve done all the translations for you in the recipe below. In addition, Guinness has a quick video for this recipe, which I found helpful (I never would have known to mix the butter and dry ingredients with my fingers, like a pie crust). Enjoy this amazing bread!

Guinness Bread

Adapted from the Guinness Bread recipe on the Guinness website.

Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 50 minutes | Total time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Yield: 1 loaf

INGREDIENTS:

5 cups (600g) whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups (150g) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (75g) rolled oats
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons (40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups (480ml) milk
3/4 cup (200ml) molasses
1 cup Guinness

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the oven to 325°F. Grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan.
In a large bowl, use your fingers to mix the butter with all the dry ingredients until the dough develops the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the milk, molasses and beer and mix, either with your fingers or a wooden spoon, until you have a wet dough.
Pour the dough into the greased loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

5 Comments

Aimee @ Simple Bites wrote:
See Also
Candied Cashews Super fast and super easy recipe.
This looks so dark and delicious, I checked right away to see if there was molasses in it. Sure enough! Can’t wait to try it. 🙂
Posted 3.17.14Reply
Bridget wrote:
I found this recipe thanks to Aimee at Simple Bites. I’m big fan of baking with beer (love the extra flavour boost) so will be sure to give this a try.
Posted 3.17.14Reply
Kate @ Diethood wrote:
I just want to sink my teeth into that loaf! That looks amazing!
Posted 3.17.14Reply
John Ratcliffe wrote:
So, made this exactly as per recipe, used standard sized bread pan. It massively expanded and made a bit of a mess in oven below the loaf pan, no big deal there but the bigger issue was I had to bake it at prescribed temp for about 40 minutes longer (90 minutes total) in order for it to get the clean toothpick. My wife thought it was supposed to be for two bread pans, and that would have likely worked out pretty good. The taste is phenomenal, love it, but have to do something different next time, I believe there was an error in recipe
Posted 12.2.19Reply
- Kathy Strahs wrote:
  It definitely makes a huge loaf!
  Posted 12.2.19Reply

Recipe: Guinness Bread | Cooking On the Side (2024)

FAQs

What is it called when you mix Guinness and harp? ›

Below are the more commonly known mixtures: Guinness + Bass Pale Ale = Black & Tan. Guinness + Harp Lager = Half & Half.

What's a good beer for beer bread? ›

Lighter beers, such as lagers, ales and pilsners, will give your bread a lighter color, and mild taste that just about everyone loves. Darker beers like stouts and porters make a darker-colored loaf and have a stronger beer flavor. Hoppy beers like IPAs will give your bread a more bitter taste.

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What is a Smithwick's with a Guiness head called? ›

What is Guinness and Smithwick's called? Guiness is a stout. Smithwick's, pronounced “smiddicks”, is an Irish Red Ale. A Guiness poured with a Smithwick's is called a “blacksmith”.

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What is a Guinness snakebite? ›

The Snakebite is a layered beer co*cktail made with equal parts beer and hard cider. It gained popularity in the United Kingdom in the 1980's where they primarily use a lager beer. As it grew in popularity in the U.S., it became common to use an Irish stout, like Guinness, in place of a lager.

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Why is my beer bread tough? ›

Overmixing the batter can cause the bread to turn out tough or crumbly. Stir gently and stop as soon as the flour disappears (and any mix-ins are incorporated). Customize Your Bread. This isn't a beer bread mix, so you can have fun with it!

Is blue moon good for beer bread? ›

Mixes in one bowl and makes a lovely rustic and flavorful bread. So far I've only used lighter beer (Blue Moon Belgian White specifically) but am definitely going to be experimenting more with other types of beer (especially Guinness), as well as herb combinations.

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Does the alcohol cook out of beer bread? ›

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), baked or simmered dishes that contain alcohol will retain 40% of the original amount after 15 minutes of cooking, 35% after 30 minutes and 25% after an hour. But there's no point at which all of the alcohol disappears.

What's a Guinness Shandy? ›

Fill a pint glass halfway with Guinness or the stout of your choice. Carefully pour your cold ginger ale or ginger beer on top, being careful not to let the now-extra-foamy head spill over. Enjoy and repeat!

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