Recipe: Cheddar & Chive Guinness Bread Recipes from The Kitchn

How many Irish ingredients can you mix into a recipe in the spirit of Saint Patrick's day without seeming totally absurd? I may have crossed the line with this recipe for Cheddar and Chive Guinness Bread, but the good news is, it's not green and you don't need anything particularly Irish to make it work.

Beer bread is one of the simplest quick breads to make. If you wanted to be really rogue you could dump every single ingredient into the loaf pan itself, mix, bake and eat. For this take on beer bread, I add sharp cheddar cheese (if you're looking for an Irish brand, I'm a huge fan of Kerrygold's Dubliner), creamy Irish butter, green chives and a bottle of Guinness. It's practically more Irish than Saint Patrick's Day itself.

My mom used to make this bread a lot. I remember the yeasty aroma filling the house and the way the butter-soaked crust attached to the fluffy middle with a coveted middle section of chewy, slightly bitter dough. When I brought it up last week it seemed a distant memory to her, but she was excited to help me test this recipe and even sent me the above photo of her batch.

Mom claims beer bread was a trend in the Eighties but I'm not so sure why it would no longer be in vogue. If you missed the trend thirty years ago, now is the time to make your first beer bread.

One note on the choice of beer: the darker you go, the more bitter the bread will be. In this case, I like it bitter, especially when offset by something sweet. Toasted with a smidge of butter and honey? Now that's a great snack.

To be honest, I never made it with a "nice" beer until this go. I think when I was a kid, it was probably made with a can of Schlitz. While the ingredients really will shine through, don't feel pressure to be spendy on this recipe. It is, after all, beer bread.

Cheddar & Chive Guinness Bread
makes one 8 1/2-inch loaf

2 3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 (12-ounce) bottle Irish stout beer
1 cup grated Irish cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
1/4 cup chopped chives
1/4 cup Irish butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375° F. Line 8 1/2- x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, or coat with butter.

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pour in the beer and mix until the dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Fold in 3/4 cup of the cheese and the chives.

Transfer the batter to prepared pan. Pour the melted butter evenly over top of the dough. Bake about 30 minutes then scatter the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over the top. Return the loaf to the oven and bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

Turn out and serve warm, sliced.

Related: Recipe: No Time Bread

(Images: Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan (1,3) and Karen Gillingham (2))

Comments (28)

Would this also work with whole wheat flour?

It was a can of Bud. On special occasions, maybe a wide-mouth green bottle of skunky Rolling Rock.

Hi from one of your followers from the Emerald Isle :) I've made Guinness Stew before which is delish but I looooove bread so will definitely be trying out this recipe.

Does the rise come from the beer and baking powder? Where does the "yeasty aroma" you described come from?

Question I always ask myself: how can one measure the volume of shreeded cheese? You squish it in the measuring cup? Or you you mean one cup's volume before it's actually grated? Any tips?

@Christine M. 4ounces of cheese grated will yield about a cup. I will add that to the recipe.

@LIEFIE - yes, from the beer.

Any recommendations for a gluten-free version? This looks delicious!

@Sara Kate : Thank you!

Will this work with whole wheat flour? Or partial whole wheat?

I have often made beer-batter bread or rolls. Four cups of baking mix (such as Pioneer or Bisquick) and one can of beer. There are lots of recipes on the internet. My family loved this when we could go camping. Easy to mix up, put into a well oiled cast iron Dutch oven and shove into the coals. Smells divine and tastes delicious.

Nonna, the wide mouthed green bottle was a brand called Mickey Big Mouth, and it was not the finest expression of the brewer's art. Rolling Rock is actually not bad, but for me the ultimate regularly available is Pilsner Uruquell.

Sara Kate, I'll have to try this this weekend. In truth, though, I am more of a wine drinker. Are there any recipes for "wine bread"?

I want to make this with a vegan cheese substitute.

Also wondering about a bit of rye flour mixed in?

Always on the lookout for new beer bread recipes, this one looks great! I feel like for St. Paddy's, you need to use Guinness (or Smithwick's for something lighter), but on other occasions I sometimes shake things up with a blueberry hefeweizen.

Also just to be sure, since its 2 3/4 cups sifted flour, you sift first then measure, correct?

Guinness is less effervescent than other beers I've used to make beer bread, so it'll be interesting to see how dense this loaf turns out. (I find that honey brown makes the best bread. It's light enough that the bread isn't bitter but dark enough to give a beer taste to the bread)

Is the butter on the top just for the sheen? Wondering if I could substitute standard Canadian butter for Irish butter.

Help on what exactly irish cheddar cheese and irish butter are? I guess I'm asking where I would buy such things. :)

I made this for our St. Patrick's Day dinner tonight and it was absolutely divine! I love the deep yeasty flavor from the beer combined with the sharp cheddar and chives. In fact, I think I'll go have another piece now. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!

I made this also today to go with the corned beef and cabbage. I did not use Irish cheddar cheese, but other than that, followed the recipe exactly as written. The flavor was fabulous especially with the addition of the chives. The best part was the Irish butter poured over the top before baking. It gave the bread delicious crispy crunch. It will be a regular at our table - it's that good!

I made this yesterday, and we loved it!
I used 2 cups AP flour and 3/4 cup of sprouted wheat flour.
I'm going to make it again and try using 3/4 cup rye flour instead.
Thanks!

I too made this yesterday for dinner with my fiancee.

I had no trouble finding the Dubliner cheese mentioned, but could not find Irish butter. So I used unsalted whipped butter instead.
Also I had trouble finding a single bottle of Guinness, so I ended up buying a 22oz bottle of "Extra Stout" Guinness, which worked just fine.

It was fantastic, a big hit, and will be made again.

Made the house smell great, too :)

Looks deelish -- Irish cheddar is the best. Now I would have been tempted to dump in a little potato flour just for the novelty...

Made this over the weekend. Made it vegan by subbing Daiya cheese and Earth Balance. Used Guinness Extra Stout. It was wonderful!

So incredibly awesome! I didn't have cheddar cheese, so I subbed what I had--a shredded Italian blend--and regular butter instead of the Irish. I'll probably throw in more chives next time (I eye-balled the amount, so I might not have added the full 1/4 cup). I made this for my co-workers, but my fiance isn't going to let it leave the house. Guess I'll just have to make another loaf tomorrow! Thanks!

I made two loaves of this for a St. Patty's party last weekend and everybody ignored the cake for seconds on the bread. I too, will use more chives next time. What I did do different was instead of grated cheese in the bread, I cut the cheese in 1/4" squares...made great little pockets of cheese throughout. I still put grated on the top. While Irish butter is indeed yummy, this works fine with American butter. I love the rich color the Guinness gives this bread.

Wow, delicious! What a great recipe, this turned out wonderfully.