There is no better smell than freshly baked bread. Enjoy making this version which uses beer instead of yeast.
- 4 cups of sifted flour
- 3 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 bottle of Guinness Beer or any other dark beer
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 2 teaspoon of baking soda
- 4 tablespoons of butter chilled and cut into little pieces
- 1 egg lightly beaten
Preheat the oven to 200 C.
In a bowl mix the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda.
Add the butter chunks to the flour and with your hands mix it in until the butter is evenly distributed in the flour.
Add the egg and mix.
Add the beer and mix for 4-5 minutes on until the dough comes together and becomes elastic. If you have an electric mixer then use the hook attachment if not then give it a bit of elbow grease.
Place the dough on a floured surface and give it your desired shape. The dough will be very sticky so flour your hands.
Place dough on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
Using a knife, make a vertical indentation and then a horizontal one without cutting all the way through. The top should resemble a cross shape.
Sprinkle flour on the top of the bread.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until you knock on the bottom of the bread and it sounds hollow.
Remove from oven and enjoy!