Pretzels & Beer Bread

This bread machine loaf is a fun one. Beer replaces most of the water in the dough, and broken pretzel sticks get folded in so every slice has pockets of salty crunch against a soft, yeasty crumb. It’s like a soft pretzel and a pint had a baby.

The recipe is dead simple for a bread machine: ingredients go in, you select the white bread cycle, and press start. But a few details make the difference between a great loaf and a flat one. Vital wheat gluten flour is in there alongside the bread flour, and it’s doing important work. Beer dough tends to be slack because of the carbonation and alcohol, and the extra gluten gives the bread structure and a better rise.

A pinch of ginger goes into the dry ingredients. It’s not enough to taste, but ginger boosts yeast activity. Old-school bakers have used this trick for decades to get a more vigorous rise, especially when the dough has ingredients like beer that can slow things down.

Kitchen Tips

• Use a light beer, not a dark stout. Heavy beers can overwhelm the bread with bitterness.
• Break the pretzel sticks in half, not into crumbs. You want chunky pieces that hold their shape through the kneading cycle.
• Let the beer go flat before adding it to the machine. Active carbonation can throw off the rise and make the texture uneven.

Variations

• Use a pale ale or wheat beer for a hoppier, more complex flavor profile.
• Add a handful of shredded sharp cheddar to the dough for a beer-cheese bread twist.
• Brush the top with melted butter and coarse salt right after baking for extra pretzel flavor.