Adapted from the Fog City Diner recipe for Steam Beer Bread, our recipe is a little bit sweeter and has a bit more flavor thanks to the Jack's Blend. Great for morning toast or a really special sandwich bread.
- 1/2 cup whole milk, lukewarm
- 2 packages active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Jack's Blend Rubarama
- 1 cup beer, room temperature
- 6 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
Pour milk into a large bowl, sprinkle yeast, brown sugar, and Rubarama over milk. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes. Mix in beer and 2 cups of the flour, stirring until it forms a sponge. Cover with a damp towel, plastic wrap, or a Bee's Wrap and let rise in a warm area for an hour.
Using your mixer's paddle attachment, combine 3 cups of flour, salt, and butter. Add butter one piece at a time. Once combined, switch to dough hook attachment and thoroughly mix in the sponge and eggs. Add in remaining flour.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for up to 10 minutes.
Lightly brush a clean and dry bowl with some of the olive oil. Drop in the dough and roll it around in the bowl to ensure that the dough is covered in the oil. Cover bowl again and let dough rise until it doubles in size — approximately one hour — and then punch down.
If you want to use loaf pans to make this bread, brush pans with olive oil, roll dough in loaves, and place into pans. Cover as earlier.
Don't want loaves? Shape the dough as you wish, gently brush with oil and place on cooking sheet. Cover with a bowl large enough to allow the dough to expand. Let sit for an hour.
Be sure to preheat the oven to 375º for 30 minutes before baking* and then put in the loaves for 40-45 minutes. Keep an eye on the loaves and check them once the crust is a golden brown. Tap the bottom of the loaves, if they sound hollow, the bread is done.
What we used: Jack's Blend, our workhorse KitchenAid Mixer, Bee's Wrap, and our good ol' oven thermometer because our oven is, well, it's special and rather fickle.
This is really great with our Whipped Butter as well.