This Guinness Bread recipe is perfect for the lockdown bakers out there
Food & Drink

This Guinness Bread recipe is perfect for the lockdown bakers out there

GUINNESS is fantastic, isn't it?

You can add it to almost anything to create a smoother, richer flavour. And its subtle notes of coffee and chocolate make it perfect for puddings.

But we've been going a bit Guinness-mad with dessert recipes recently, so we thought we'd mix things up a little.

Seeing as we're stuck in our houses for the duration *gulp*, and everybody - on social media at least - seems to fancy themselves as something of pro-baker now (be honest, you've tried to make banana bread during lockdown, haven't you? ... be honest now), we thought we'd offer you the chance to try your hand at something a little different. Something a little more ... Irish.

Well, actually, the original recipe is a German one, and the German baker who inspired this article reckons that she makes it better than the Irish do.

Time to prove her wrong, ladies and gentlemen!

Here's everything you need to know:

What you will need:

For the pre-dough

  • 50g whole wheat
  • 50g rye flakes
  • 25g rye flour
  • 1g fresh yeast
  • 200ml Guinness

For the main dough

  • 300g strong flour
  • 45g sourdough starter
  • 15g fresh yeast
  • 12g salt
  • 15g brown sugar
  • 10g oil
  • 150ml Guinness
  • 75g rye flakes
  • 75g oats

How to make it:

  • Combine all ingredients for the pre-dough and mix in a bowl. Cover with cling film and let it rest for 1 hour at room temperature. After that, let it rest for 12-16 hours in the fridge.
  • Pour the pre-dough mix and the main dough ingredients into a mixing bowl, knead the mixture for 6 minutes at a slow speed and then knead for 4 minutes at a faster speed.
  • Brush a bowl with a little oil, then add the dough mixture. Leave it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, then beat one half of the dough over the other half and let the dough rest in the bowl for another 30 minutes.
  • After resting, divide the dough it into three portions of about 30cm long and coat the surface of the dough with water.
  • Roll the dough inwards onto a tray covered with baking paper and leave to rise for 1 hour, covered with cling film.
  • Preheat the oven to 230 C.
  • Bake the bread for about 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 200 C and bake for another 20 minutes.
  • Open the oven briefly about 5 minutes before the end of the baking time so that the remaining steam can escape. This creates a rosier crust.
  • Take out and let it cool completely.