Mary's Beer Bread

My mom's good friend, Mary, brought a loaf of warm bread to dinner while we were in Oklahoma during the holidays. It was mouthwateringly delicious. When she told me there were 4 ingredients, I was shocked! I got the recipe and finally pulled it out a couple weeks ago to eat with pasta. Since then I have made this recipe at least 10 times. I've gifted 5 loaves of this bread in the last week alone. It is seriously simple, super quick to pull together, and only uses 4 ingredients we always have. I hope you run to try this recipe and love it as much as we do. My almost 4-year-old daughter deemed me the "very best bread maker in the whole wide world" because of this recipe. =)

Mary's Beer Bread

(adapted by me to lessen the butter)

3 cups self-rising flour (or 3 cups of all-purpose flour plus 3 3/4 tsp baking powder and 3/4 tsp salt)

1/3 cup sugar

1 can of beer - any kind

1/2 stick butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a loaf pan with oil. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and sugar. Pour in the beer, and stir just until it all comes together. The dough will be very stiff and dense. Dump it into the loaf pan, and spread to fill. Bake for 45 minutes, then pour the butter over the top, and bake for another 15 minutes. Serve warm.

In the bread pictured above, I sprinkled the top with parsley, basil, oregano, and garlic powder. It was heavenly, but it is equally heavenly just plain with butter. Yum!