Beer Bread with Green Chiles, Cumin, and Cheese

More chiles! I needed something to go with my stew and decided to make a quick beer bread. These loaves are nice because they take about 2 minutes to mix up and only 45 min. to bake. So you can get home from work and fill the house with the smell of bread within one hour! I added cumin, roasted green chiles, and a Mexican cheese blend to this batch and it turned out deliciously. It really complemented the stew. But you can use any flavors that you want. It's not the most beautiful bread, it's scraggly, but nice, easy, and tasty! Continue for Beer Bread recipe.

Basic Beer Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour ***
2 T sugar
1 1/2 t salt
1 T baking powder
12 ounces beer
Optional seasonings (For this loaf, I used 1 large t cumin, 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese, and 4 chopped green chiles)

***(I used self-rising flour this time, omitting the salt and baking powder)

Top with either an egg wash (1 egg + 2 t water + tiny pinch of salt) before baking, or 2 T melted butter immediately out of the oven.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine all dry ingredients.
Stir in the beer and mix until just combined. (Batter will be thick but add a tad of water if it is very dry--might need to if substituting whole wheat).
Pour into 9 x 5 loaf pan.
Brush with egg wash if using.
Bake for about 45 min.
Remove from oven and brush with butter, if you haven't used the egg wash.

This loaf is so versatile: use part whole wheat, add oats, add any dried or fresh herb, green onions, chives, cheeses, dill, Italian, parmesan cheese, basil, thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, garlic, tomato sauce, black pepper......