Double Chocolate Beer Bread

My brother went shopping for beer the other day while I was over.  He brought back a beer called, "Dirty Blonde"....he likes pale ales, so he thought it would be right up his alley.

It was chocolate beer.  None of us cared for it, deciding it was overly sweet.  Since he bought a six-pack, I decided to take one and experiment.

Beer bread is a favorite of mine, it's quick and delicious. Beer bread is usually 3 cups flour, 3 tsp baking powder, sugar to taste, and a can of beer.  So, taking the basic recipe, I composed a recipe.

Double Chocolate Beer Bread
3 cups white whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 cup chocolate chips
1 can Dirty Blonde chocolate pale ale

Mix everything but the chocolate chips and beer together to combine well.  Add in chocolate chips, mix to combine.  Add beer, fold until wet through.  Bake 350.  I used a large muffin tin and it took 30 minutes, a loaf pan would probably take 15-20 minutes longer.

The compulsory ingredient shot

The dry plus butter

Mmm....cocoa

 

 

Mixing in the chocolate chips

 

Adding the beer

The sticky batter

Dropped into the cast iron mega-muffin pan

Fresh from the oven

Cooling....time to dig in!

 The verdict:  Still hanging somewhere in the middle between beer bread and sweet bread.  After eating half of one of these giant muffins, I'm unsure about them.  The texture is good, the chocolate chips are great, but I'm unsure whether or not this recipe is a keeper.   In the soft chocolatey goodness, there's still that hint of beer, and I can't really decide if I like it.  I think it's good enough that further experimentation is warranted.  Next variation, I'm thinking maybe up the sugar and switch it to brown sugar.  In the meantime, I'm fairly confident my family will polish these off in short order!