Dutch Oven Beer Bread

Baked beer bread inside a Dutch oven with parchment paper.

4.93 from 63 votes

Dutch Oven Beer Bread is the perfect recipe for a delicious and flavorful artisan bread without the extra hassle. This vegan beer bread has an amazing crust, is super easy to make, and can be customized with the beer of your choice!

Prep Time10

Cook Time55

Additional Time2

Total Time3 5

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Servings: slices

Calories: 136kcal

Author: Tatiana Kamakura

Equipment

Dutch oven

Ingredients

3 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoon instant yeast
350 ml beer room temperature
1 ½ teaspoon sea salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the flour, yeast, beer, and salt.
Using the dough hook on low speed, mix until a dough starts to form and there’s no dry flour left, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.
Once the dough has come together, knead it in the mixer for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 1 ½ to 2 hours, or until it doubles in size.
Line a Dutch oven with parchment paper and lightly dust it with flour.
Shape the dough into a ball by pulling the edges into the center. Place it in the middle of the Dutch oven, seam side down. Let it rest for 40 minutes to 1 hour, or until it looks puffy and light.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Adjust your oven rack to the middle position.
Using a sharp knife or razor, score the top of the loaf with two ¼-inch deep cuts, forming a cross.
Cover the Dutch oven with its lid and place it in the oven. Bake the bread for 25 minutes.
After 25 minutes, carefully remove the lid and continue baking for another 30 minutes, or until the loaf is a deep golden brown on top.
Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and transfer it to a wire rack.
Let the bread cool completely before slicing and serving.

Video

Notes

No stand mixer? No problem: You can still make this bread by mixing the ingredients with a spoon and kneading the dough by hand for about 10 minutes, or until it reaches a smooth, elastic texture.

You can preheat the oven or bake it from a cold oven. If doing the second, it might take 10 minutes more to fully bake this leaf.

A quick tip on scoring: When scoring the dough, make ¼-inch deep slices, and be sure to make them longer than what you might have seen in my video. I didn’t score this loaf well, and it bloomed unevenly.

About the crust: While all-purpose flour will give you a good crust, substituting it with the same amount of bread flour will take it to the next level for an even better result.

Quick note about the metric version: If you’re using the metric measurements, you might notice a slight difference compared to the cup measurements. I’ve made some adjustments since, when using cups, you tend to add more flour than the standard 125g per cup.

What if my dough is too sticky? Simply add ¼ cup of flour and knead until it’s fully incorporated. If needed, add another ¼ cup. It’s always easier to fix a dough that’s a bit sticky than one with too much flour.

Nutrition