Orange Ale Bread

The perfectly paired flavors of Blue Moon ale and a juicy orange slice are baked into this slightly sweet beer bread. Quick bread recipes don’t get easier than this!

I have to give full credit to my husband for today’s orange ale bread. While working on perfecting a beer bread recipe I made several years ago, my husband suggested adding orange zest to the batter and using Blue Moon Belgian White Ale as the beer. The iconic flavors of Blue Moon ale with a slice orange baked into a beer bread – brilliant and delicious! There are so many good reasons why I married this man, not the least of which are his incredible cooking skills.

This simple beer bread is essentially a quick bread. It relies on baking powder and baking soda for rise instead of yeast. Just stir together the dry ingredients (whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt), add the beer, oil, and orange zest and gently mix until the ingredients are just incorporated. Pour the batter into a loaf pan, sprinkle the top with old-fashioned rolled oats, and bake. In less than two hours you’ll have a tender, homemade, soft crumb bread with a slightly crispy crust. Serve it alongside your favorite soup, chili, or stew. It’s great toasted with a drizzle of honey or just plain with a thin smear of your favorite buttery spread.

Combine the dry ingredients.

Add the beer, oil, and orange zest. Stir to combine.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, top with rolled oats and bake.

In an effort to boost the fiber content of this ale bread, I used a combination of whole-wheat flour and all-purpose flour. One big health advantage to using whole-wheat flour is it has almost four times more fiber than all-purpose flour. I opted for white whole-wheat flour. While it seems like a contradiction of terms, this is simply whole-wheat flour made from white wheat. The Whole Grains Council describes white whole-wheat flour as a sort of albino wheat. Milled from hard white spring wheat, the bran (outer layer) of this grain is lighter in color and milder in flavor making it more appealing to those accustomed to the taste and texture of all-purpose flour. To be clear, white whole-wheat flour is 100% whole-wheat flour, with all the vitamins, minerals, and fiber of regular whole-wheat flour.

With regard to the beer selection for today’s bread, I used Blue Moon. It’s a Belgian-style wheat ale with a subtle sweetness and citrusy flavor. Bell’s Oberon and Oberon Eclipse would also work well in this recipe or any beer that you enjoy pairing with an orange slice.

To your health,

Darlene

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ORANGE ALE BREAD

Yield: 12 servings

Serving Size: 1 slice

Prep: 10 minutes

Ready: 1 hour and 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• Vegetable oil cooking spray

• 1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour (such as Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 12 ounces wheat beer (such as Blue Moon or Oberon)

• 1/4 cup neutral oil (such as canola or vegetable oil)

• 1 tablespoon orange zest

• 1 tablespoon old-fashioned rolled oats

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, stir together whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and place the beer, oil, and orange zest in the well. With a large spoon, gently stir ingredients until just incorporated.

3. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan, sprinkle top with rolled oats and bake for 45 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool bread in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Nutrition Information per Serving

183 Calories, 5 g Total fat, 0 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 203 mg Sodium, 30 g Total carbohydrate, 2 g Dietary fiber, 5 g Total sugars, 5 g Added sugars, 4 g Protein, 0 mcg (0%) Vitamin D, 13 mg (2%) Calcium, 1 mg (6%) Iron, 2 mg (0%) Potassium

© 2024 RECIPES MADE HEALTHY BY DARLENE ZIMMERMAN, MS, RD LLC

Orange Ale Bread

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