Zucchini Cheddar Beer Bread

cacheadle

Jul 31

I go through spurts where I deep clean my refrigerator and freezers and take stock of what I need to use up. This stroke of genius happened to come from looking at a can of mango habanero beer and some shredded zucchini. My husband and I are not avid drinkers and sometimes we have beverages that sit in our refrigerator for longer than I care to admit. This happened to be one of those instances and I'm so happy I hadn't used it yet.!

I love how the cheddar cheese in this bread amps up the savory notes. the zucchini helps to make the bread moist but you still end up with that crunchy exterior beer bread has. I used garlic scapes that were still in my produce drawer and some fresh bulbs of garlic from my garden. A quarter cup of freshly chopped chives would be a nice substitution for the garlic scapes. Green onions would also work if you don't have access to fresh chives.

The beer you use will alter the flavor notes of the bread. If you want a heavier, salty traditional beer bread then you will want to use a dark beer or lager. If you want something lighter then I recommend an IPA. I used a wheat based beer that had mango habanero flavor notes in it and it gave this bread an amazing kick. I enjoyed it warm with butter and a little bit of peach jam spread over top.

Ingredients:

3 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 cup of grated zucchini
4 cloves of garlic chopped
2 garlic scapes finely chopped
2 tablespoons of honey
12 ounces of beer
3 tablespoons of melted butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease a loaf pan and set aside.
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.
In a separate bowl mix together cheese, zucchini, garlic, garlic scapes and honey.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until vegetables and cheese are well coated.
Add beer and mix until mixture starts to form into a ball. Be careful to not over mix.
Evenly spread bread mixture into bread pan and brush with butter.
Bake bread for 60-70 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
Allow bread to rest in loaf pan for 10 minutes.
Using a butter knife, loosen loaf from the sides of the pan and gently lift out onto cooling rack.
Slice and enjoy!
Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for three days or refrigerate for up to one week.