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Breakfast

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer and Peanut Butter Bread

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer and Peanut Butter Bread

I like that we do this. We make a loaf cake, slice it, serve it with coffee and call it bread. But we both know it’s cake. We call it bread, nod along as we both agree to call it that, and happily devour it with our morning latte as if we didn’t just eat frosting-less cake for breakfast. We like to try to trick ourselves, and we are both ok with this.

But THIS not-cake-its-bread-promise is also full of protein because of the peanut butter. So it’s kinda not as bad for you, which makes it good in my book. It’s also perfect for an afternoon snack with a beer, which you totally deserve for having such a good-for-you breakfast.

It also makes a really easy bake-and-take offering if you have to go somewhere to eat food in a social setting. It’s like a peanut butter cup and beer but in bread form. You can’t go wrong, it’s a crowd pleaser. Just like your ability to convince people to eat cake for breakfast, everyone likes that about you.

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer and Peanut Butter Bread

Ingredients
  

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (100g) sugar
  • 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (120g) chocolate chips
  • ¾ cup (180g) half and half
  • ¾ cup (6oz) stout or porter beer
  • ½ cup (128g) creamy peanut butter, slightly heated

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  • In a large bowl stir together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and flour.
  • Add the remaining ingredients, stir until combined.
  • Spray an 8x4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray, add the batter in an even layer.
  • Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and springs back when lightly touched.

Pineapple Hefeweizen French Toast Bake with Rum Whipped Cream

Pineapple Hefeweizen French Toast Bake with Rum Whipped Cream

This is how we lie to ourselves. And we’re really good at it, aren’t we? This is dessert, we know that. It carries all the hallmarks of a post-dinner treat, but we ignore them and call it breakfast. Because we don’t want to wait all day to actually eat it, we don’t have time for that. So we serve it with coffee in the pre-noon hours and call it breakfast. Or maybe we make ourselves a mimosa and call it brunch. Let’s brunch! It’s not an indulgence, it’s an activity!

That’s ok, we’re honest with ourselves about enough, we can afford this lie to make our morning just a wee bit better. Because that’s how we live our best life. We eat dessert first, open a beer before noon, maybe invite a friend over to be that bad influence we know we are.

Mostly because if we eat our dessertfast with a friend, it’s not a bad habit, it’s a social engagement. And that’s good. There’s no way to make this meal healthy, but we can share it with others who love us and call it "mental health food," which is what we all need right now, amiright?

Pineapple Hefeweizen French Toast Bake

Ingredients
  

For the French toast:

  • 1 round loaf 1lbs sourdough bread
  • ½ cup 4oz wheat beer
  • 1 cup 200g brown sugar
  • ½ cup 100g white sugar
  • 1 cup 230g pineapple chunks
  • 1 ½ cups 367g half and half
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt

For the whipped cream:

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon rum
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
 

  • Cut the bread into bite-sized pieces. Add to a greased 8X8 baking dish.
  • In a blender add the wheat beer, brown sugar, white sugar, pineapple, half and half, eggs, salt, and vanilla. Blend until smooth.
  • Pour the mixture over the bread, pressing to make sure all the bread cubes are submerged. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the liquid, or cover and refrigerate overnight. 
  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes or until the center has puffed and the bread has started to toast on the top. (you can also make in 6 individual ramekins, start checking for doneness after 18 minutes)
  • Add all the whipped cream ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer, beat on high until soft peaks form. Serve the French toast topped with whipped cream.

Beer Cornbread Biscuits

 

Beer Cornbread Biscuits

This was really born out of necessity, at least the first time I made it. I’m not very organized, open any of my cabinets and you’ll see it (you’ll be horrified). My house is more or less clean but my life is messy. Anything that I can put in a closet, out of site, gets the shove allowing me to continue to pretend like my house is clean.

This quality extends far past my pantry and into all parts of my grown-up life where it becomes startlingly apparent that I’m not very good at adulting. And even though I go to the grocery store nearly every day, I still found myself without eggs, bread, and any other breakfast-related items early one morning. I need breakfast, this isn’t negotiable.

Instead of just going to the store I decided to make biscuits. It was just easier to write a recipe than it was to get out of my pajamas and head to the store. I’m not a "pajamas at the store" kind of girl, I can’t look as messy as I feel. I like to put on a good show, and trick people into believing that I’ve got my shit together. Spoiler alert: I don’t.

This hatched my Beer Cornbread Biscuits recipe, so tender and melt-in-your-mouth I obviously had to make them again, and then share it with you.

I also think I need to make them one more time, but add some cheddar cheese. And maybe some bacon.

Beer Cornbread Biscuits

Servings 6 -8 biscuits

Ingredients
  

  • 2 ½ 300g cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • ½ cup 96g brown sugar
  • 1 ½ cups 240g cornmeal
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoons salt
  • 10 tablespoons 142g cup butter cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 2/3 cup 160 heavy cream
  • ½ cup 116g beer (pale ale, pilsner, wheat beer)
  • 1 tablespoon 14g melted butter
  • ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425°F.
  • Add the flour, cornstarch, brown sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a large bowl, stir to combine.
  • Add about half of the mixture to a food processor along with the butter, process until the butter is well combined with the dry mixture. Return the mixture to the mixing bowl, stir into the remaining dry ingredients.
  • Add the heavy cream and beer, mix with a fork until just combined.
  • Add to a lightly floured surface, press into a rectangle about 1 inch thick.
  • Cut into 6-8 circles with a biscuit cutter.
  • Add to a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
  • Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with sea salt.
  • Bake until the tops are golden brown, 18-20 minutes.
  • Allow to cool before removing from the baking dish.

Chocolate Stout Brownie Waffles

Chocolate Stout Brownie Waffles, beer for breakfast! 

This is a PSA. In the light of everything else that will fly at you from your computer this week, all the sad-terrible-no-good-very-bad-news that will be inflicted on you, I’ve got some good news. Waffles aren’t just for breakfast. Breakfast has just been hoarding them.

Breakfast can be a selfish jerk sometimes, claiming coffee, doughnuts, pancakes and pajamas as it’s own. That’s not true, don’t listen. Of course, we love breakfast, it’s our adorable little brother of meals. But it’s about time we stand up for dinner and put on some pajamas at 6 pm and make some waffles.

You can also drink a coffee stout instead of just regular coffee with those Brownie Waffles and taunt breakfast with it. You and dinner will be very happy this weekend.

Chocolate Stout Brownie Waffles

Servings 8 waffles

Ingredients
  

  • 3 eggs separated
  • 150 ml 5 oz stout beer
  • 360 ml 12 0z milk
  • ½ cup 114g butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups 360g all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup 40g cocoa powder
  • 3 tablespoon 27g cornstarch
  • 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup 200g sugar, plus 2 tablespoon for egg whites

Instructions
 

  • Set out three mixing bowls.
  • Add the egg whites to one bowl, yolks to another.
  • Add the beer, milk, melted butter, and vanilla to the yolks, beat until well combined, light and fluffy.
  • In the third bowl (make sure this is the largest bowl, all ingredients will end up in this bowl) stir together the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1 cup sugar.
  • Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, beat in the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
  • Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the yolk mixture, stir until well combined.
  • Gently fold in the egg whites. Cook in your waffle iron according to manufactures specifications (make sure to use cooking spray or melted butter if indicated).

 

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer Bread

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer Bread, in your oven in five minutes, in your face in one hour!

One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer Bread

Fall baking isn’t as much about the food as it is about the fact that we can turn the oven on again. Just days ago, it seems, we were all googling "no-cook dinners" and hoping the triple-digit heat would pass soon.

Then, as if overnight, the weather calmed, we awoke to rain on a garden that still held the last gasps of summer produce, and we’re again free to wear sweaters and pull on the wellies.

Let us bake again, slow down for a second as out lives orient to the pulse of this part of the year. Just slow down, take a day away from the obligation we force on ourselves and just be.

Just a reminder that the world will still be there when you rejoin, that it’ll be fine without you for a bit, and making something just because you want to has a way of healing the chips that the daily grind works into your soul.

A day in the kitchen, an audiobook and the smell of things baking in the oven has a way of calming a storm inside us, bringing calmer waters and even has the added bonus of warm baked goods to give as a peace offering to those in our lives that love us even when we’re difficult.

 


One Bowl Chocolate Chip Beer Bread

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients
  

  • 3 ½ 420g cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup 150g sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup 240g full-fat sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons 30g vegetable oil
  • ¾ cup 6oz beer (wheat beer, brown ale, nothing hoppy)
  • 4 ounces dark chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  • In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar.
  • Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, oil, and beer. Stir to combine.
  • Stir in the chocolate chips.
  • Pour into a large (10x5) loaf pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray or greased with butter.
  • Bake until the top has puffed and turned golden brown, about 55 minutes.
  • Allow to cool, remove from pan, slice and serve.

Blackberry Sweet Rolls with Beer Dough


Blackberry Sweet Rolls with Beer Dough, like cinnamon rolls just WAY better. 

It finally happened. Out of nowhere, and without my consent. I’m not even sure when it started, really. But now, it’s official.

I’m a Pacific Northwesterner, authentic and legitimized and I was finally given proof. I am, after all, a California girl born and raised. Heat seeking, lizard-on-a-rock always looking for a terrarium to spend time in. Summer was always my favorite season, and I need sunshine like I need air. But then, it happened.

After weeks of near triple-digit heat squeezing the breath out of  Seattle area, I woke to a light rain, air sweet and soft, and a dew covered garden.  "Thank God," I thought, "It finally rained," and there it was. A delicate summer rain was welcomed into my life like aloe on a sunburn.

I’m a Pacific Northwesterner. I even found myself aching for the fall, the sweaters, the smell of a fireplace, the color of the leaves as they say goodbye like the finale of a fireworks show.

I won’t be drinking any pumpkin spice lattes any time soon, so don’t get any ideas. I will, however, be picking as many blackberries as I can before they leave for the year. Freezing the excess for winter baking, and take full advantage of these charming weeds that overtake the Seattle area side roads and unkempt lots.

Just about 20-minutes of picking yielded 4 pounds of fruit, so obviously I needed to spend Sunday afternoon baking some Blackberry Sweet Rolls, and settling into the idea that for the first time in my life I’m not really sad to see the summer come to an end.

Blackberry Sweet Rolls with Beer Dough

Servings 12 servings

Ingredients
  

For the dough:

  • 4 cups 480g all-purpose flour
  • 2 ½ teaspoons 1 envelope rapid rise dry active yeast
  • ¼ cup 50g granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon 2g lemon zest
  • 1 cup 8oz beer (Hefeweizen, pale ale, pilsner)
  • ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 teaspoons 10g vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon 6g salt

For the filling:

  • ½ cup 114g butter, softened
  • ½ cup 100g granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon 6g salt
  • 1 teaspoon 5mL fresh lemon juice
  • 1 ½ cup 220g blackberries

Frosting:

  • 1 tablespoon 15mL lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon 6g lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon 5g vanilla extract
  • 4 ounces cream cheese softened
  • ½ cup 114gsoftened butter
  • 2 cups 240g powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon 3g salt

Instructions
 

  • Stir together the flour, yeast, sugar, lemon zest, in a stand mixer.
  • Heat the beer to 120°F (Always defer to the liquid temperature listed on the package of yeast, regardless of what the recipe says. Your yeast package says 105°F? Heat the liquid to that temperature!)
  • Add the warmed beer to the stand mixer, mix until incorporated.
  • Add the butter, vanilla and salt. Continue to beat until the dough is no longer sticky and gathers around the hook, about 8 minutes.
  • Add dough to a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  • Add dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a large rectangle about 9x13 inches in size.
  • Add all filling ingredients (except the blackberries) to a bowl, mix until well combined.
  • Spread the filling evenly across the dough, sprinkle evenly with blackberries.
  • Starting with the long end, roll the dough tightly into a long log. Cut into 12 rolls about 1 ½ inches wide.
  • Add the rolls tightly into a baking dish, cut-side up.
  • Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
  • Bake at 350°F until golden brown, about 40 minutes.
  • Beat together the butter and cream cheese until well combined. Add in the remaining ingredients, then beat until light and creamy.
  • Frost before serving. Serve within 10 hours of making.

 

Family Beer Waffles (that I wasn’t planning to share)

Family Beer Waffles: It Took 3 Years To Get This Recipe Right 

I decided ten minutes ago to share this recipe. It’s of the personal sort, the "not for a client, just for me," sort. It’s the recipe I’ve been tweaking for years trying to get just right.

It’s the recipe I make for family, or for people who feel like family, or for those I wish were my family. To be honest, I don’t always use beer. I’ve used La Croix, I’ve used Pelligreno, I’ve used sparkling apple juice. Really, it’s more about the bubbles than anything else.

So why now? Why decide to share this with you? I want to give you something I didn’t develop for any other reason than just to eat and enjoy. Most recipes I share here start with you in mind.

What will you like? What do you want to cook? What will you click on? This recipe started differently. It’s a simple recipe. Nothing sparkly or trendy, just my own fascination with perfecting my own version of classic dishes.

I remembered it this morning and wanted to share it with you. So that you can make them for your own family, or your own "I wish we were family," crowd. And I hope you like them as much as I do.

To be really honest, these aren’t even pictures of the waffles in this recipe. They’re just waffle photos I took 3 years ago and thought looked similar. I’m sure yours will be much prettier, the recipe I’m sharing is way better than what I used to make the waffles pictured.

 

Perfect Family Beer Waffles (that I wasn’t planning to share)

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 3 eggs separated
  • 150 ml 5 oz pilsner beer (can sub sparkling water)
  • 360 ml 12 0z milk
  • ½ cup 114g butter, melted
  • 2 teaspoon 4g vanilla extract
  • 3 ¼ cups 380g all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoon 27g cornstarch
  • 1 ½ teaspoon 5g baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon 5g baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon 6g salt
  • 1/3 cup 68g sugar, plus 2 tablespoon for egg whites

Instructions
 

  • Set out three medium mixing bowls.
  • Add the egg whites to one bowl, yolks to another.
  • Add the beer, milk, melted butter, and vanilla to the yolks, beat until well combined, light and fluffy.
  • In the third bowl (make sure this is the largest bowl, all ingredients will end up in this bowl) stir together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1/3 cup sugar.
  • Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, beat in the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
  • Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the yolk mixture, stir until well combined.
  • Gently fold in the egg whites. Cook in your waffle iron according to manufactures specifications (make sure to use cooking spray or melted butter if indicated).

 

British Columbia Ale Trail Trip and Cheddar Rosemary Beer Scones

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of BC Ale Trail and Tourism New West, Discover Surrey and Tourism Delta. All opinions and text are mine.

 

I started to fall in love when I saw they’d named their fermenters after the Golden Girls. Blanche, Rose, Dorothy and Sofia stood in the corner of Steel & Oak Brewing Co., protecting the beer as the yeast began to work it’s magic. The beer, most of which are traditional German lagers, is fantastic. It was my fourth stop on an out-of-the-way tour of a small section British Columbia that I’d otherwise never go to. A small part of the country, just minutes from Vancouver, that I’m glad I was able to spend a few days exploring, glad to find the hidden gems that haven’t crossed my awareness until now. Steel & Oak left an impression and gave me a reason to drive the two hours north again soon.

My suggestion: Black Lager

As an off-the-beaten-path sort of traveler, I was thrilled to discover the places otherwise left off the touristy agendas. The places you remember far after you’ve returned home, the people and experiences that weave themselves into your traveler’s soul.

My two-day journey along BC Ale Trail’s New Westminster/Delta/Surrey Ale Trail began at a brewery that’s rapidly collecting awards and taking names, a force to be reckoned with in the BC beer scene: Four Winds Brewing. As an LA girl and self-proclaimed Taco Snob, I side eyed the offerings before I was completely blown away with how outstanding the tacos actually were, and how well they paired with the well-crafted beer.

My suggestions: Prawn Mousse Tostada and a Nectarous Dry Hopped Sour.

 

From there I followed the river, past rolling fields, to end up on a delightful little farm in Delta. Westham Farms is a stones throw but a world away from the busy city center of Vancouver.

My suggestions: raw honey, and ask what produce is in season.

I spent the evening in New Westminster, a section of town that’s had an inspiring rebirth that spawned a charming river front park. Just a block away from the adorable Westminster PierRiver Front Park I wandered through Columbia StrEAT Food Truck Festival, the largest one-day food truck festival in Canada, a great place for any food lover to spend a few hours. Craft beer? Homemade ice cream? Wood fire Pizza? Curry and Naan? Yes, yes I will have all of that.

Sitting at a table along the sidelines of the festival, sipping a beer and enjoying the food truck offerings, the city seemed to meander past me. The heat of the day had died a bit, and the warm breeze became a beautiful soundtrack to one of my favorite traveler activities: wandering through a new City.

Want to know what happened on the second day? Come back next week, I have so much more to share with you.

Until then, I decided to make a scone I’d found in a little café on the second day, and make it with Steel & Oak’s Royal City Ale I’d stowed away in my suitcase.

Cheddar Rosemary Beer Scones

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients
  

  • Ingredients:
  • 2 cups 240g all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon 6g salt
  • 2 teaspoons 8g baking powder
  • ¼ cup 35g shredded cheddar (plus additional for topping)
  • 1 teaspoon 3g chopped fresh rosemary (plus additional for topping)
  • 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • ¼ cup 72g sour cream
  • ½ cup cold blond ale I used Steel & Oak Royal City Ale

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425F.
  • Add the flour, salt, baking powder, cheddar and rosemary to a food processor, pulse to combine.
  • While the food processor is running, add the butter cubes one at a time until well combined with the flour. Add the sour cream and beer, pulse until just combined.
  • Add the dough to a floured surface (it will be soft), gently pat into a circle about 1 inch high. Cut into 8 wedges.
  • Add the wedges to a baking sheet, top with remaining cheddar and rosemary.
  • Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges are just starting to turn golden brown. Serve warm.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of BC Ale Trail and Tourism New West, Discover Surrey and Tourism Delta. All opinions and text are mine.

 

Beer and Bacon Biscuits

Beer and Bacon Biscuits, the flakiest, most addictive biscuits ever!

I know what you’re thinking.

It’s almost Cinco de Mayo and I’m posting about Beer and Bacon Biscuits. But bear with me, this makes sense. This isn’t just hangover food. It’s THE hangover food, it’s carbs, and greasy bacon, and hair of the dog, all in one. It’s like a delicious magical hangover elixir, masquerading as brunch food.

I’ll let you in on a little secret, one that always surprises people: I’m a total lightweight. I don’t drink nearly as much as people think (the beer goes into the food!), and I get drunk quicker than most. Which sparked my love affair with session IPA’s, it was out of necessity not trend.

I’m also not a party when I’m hungover, I get a bit surly. I’m like a wet cat. I will, however, make some killer biscuits, using the fold-and-roll technique I learned a decade ago. It makes the most insanely flakey and light biscuits, you’ll want to steal it and pass it off as your own. That’s fine. Just make sure to buy me a beer for showing it to you. And make me biscuits the day when I’m hungover.

Beer and Bacon Biscuits

Servings 6 biscuits

Ingredients
  

  • 3 1/2 cup 420g all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon 12g baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoon 9g baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon 3g salt
  • 2 teaspoons 12g sugar
  • 8 tablespoon 88g cold bacon fat or unsalted cold butter (114g) cut into cubes (or a combination of both)
  • 1/3 cup 80g sour cream
  • 2/3 cup 5.5oz wheat beer
  • 2 tablespoon 28g melted butter
  • 6 strips of bacon cooked and chopped

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425F.
  • In a processor add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
  • Pulse to combine. Add the bacon fat (cold) or the cold butter, and sour cream, process until well combined.
  • Add the beer, process until just combined.
  • Add to a well-floured flat surface, pat into a rectangle. Using a cold rolling pin gently roll into a large rectangle, about 1 inch in thickness, using as few strokes as possible.
  • Sprinkle with chopped bacon.
  • Fold the dough into thirds as you would a letter about to go into an envelope. Roll lightly, once in each direction to about 1 inch thickness, sprinkle with bacon, fold in thirds again. Gently roll into about 1 1/2 inch thickness (this will give you flakey layers).
  • Using a biscuit cutter, cut out 6 biscuits. Place in a baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
  • Brush biscuits with melted butter, sprinkle chopped bacon.
  • Bake at 425F for 10 to 12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

 

Breakfast Empanadas and 24 Hours in Grand Rapids Beer City USA

Breakfast Empanadas and 24 Hours in Grand Rapids Beer City USA

 

I stood, unprepared, in what was rapidly becoming a snowstorm outside the gates of an outdoor beer festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan. On a day that locals swore would be met with “spring like weather,” only to have the weather Gods laugh in the face of anyone naïve enough to believe that (me), with howling winds and quickly expanding snow banks. Although the natives hardly seemed to notice the sub zero temperatures, I shivered in my thin, ripped jeans, and shoes there weren’t even enough to keep my feet dry. I had a choice to make. After all, I was only gifted a little more than 24 hours in this fine city, and I needed to make the most of it.

I left. I left the festival, the lines, the tents, the pretzel necklaces, and mini tasting mugs. I left to find the beer. I left to formulate an agenda for those who want to squeeze as much as they can out of Beer City, USA in just one day.

Start on the outskirts, work your way into the city.

First stop:

Perrin Brewing. Perrin is under the same ownership as Cigar City and Oskar Blues, and with a water purification system so advanced they are the only location authorized to brew both Dales Pale Ale and Jai Alai, exciting for those who have yet to sample those classic brews. With a line up of impressive beer all their own, and a staff as friendly as you’d hope for in the Mid West, this is spot that’s worth the drive.

Address: 5910 Comstock Park Drive Comstock Park, MI 49321

Hours: Monday – Thursday: 11am – 11pm, Friday – Saturday: 11am – Midnight, Sunday: Noon – 8pm

Food: Full menu

What to drink:

  • PYP Chocolate Bock
  • 98 Problems
  • Kingdom of Tonga
  • You Bretta Run

Second Stop:

Greyline Brewing. Greyline is small but mighty, with a respectable line up of solid beer. The people are friendly and the beer is good, more than worth the trip over to the tap room for a pint or two.

Address: 1727 Alpine Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

Hours: MON-SAT: 11 am- Midnight SUN: 11am-10pm

Food: Appetizers and sandwiches

What to drink:

  • Mosacca
  • Kona Brown

 

Third Stop:

The Mitten Brewing. The Mitten is what you want when you’re weary and in need of friendly staff, a cozy space, and sustenance. Craft beer and pizza in a restored Victorian-era firehouse creates a vibe that makes you want to hang out all day, and into the night.

 

Address: 27 Leonard St NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

Hours: Sunday-Thursday: 12pm to 10pm, Friday-Saturday: 12pm to 11pm

Food: Pizza

What to drink:

  • Triple Crown Brown
  • The Stretch Cream Ale
  • Country Strong IPA

 

Fourth Stop

Tired yet? I hope now, we’re not even close to being done! Of all the location in Grand Rapids, The Knickerbocker, New Holland Brewing’s pub, is the Don’t Miss stop. It’s not just a gorgeous space, the food menu is quite possibly some of the best food I’ve ever had at a brewpub, and the beer, of course, is fantastic.

Address: 417 Bridge St. NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

Hours: Monday – Thursday, 11:00 am – 12:00 am, Friday – Saturday, 11:00 am –1:00 am, Sunday, 11:00 am – 10:00 pm

Food: A full menu, with very impressive food 

What to drink:

  • Dragon’s Milk
  • Any variation of Dragon’s Milk
  • Hoptronix

 

Fifth Stop

Founders Brewing. It’s impossible to travel all the way to Beer City, USA and not stop in to this iconic pub for a pint. Founders is one of the most well known, and well respected, breweries in Grand Rapids. You’ll have to battle the crowds of beer fan boys who travel from the outer reaches of the world for a Dirty Bastard, but it’ll be worth it.

 

Address: 235 Grandville Ave. SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Hours: Monday to Saturday: 11am to 2am, Sunday: 12pm to 12am

Food: Full menu

 

What to drink:

  • Nitro Breakfast Stout
  • Watermelon Gose
  • Grease Monkey IPA

Last Stop

Brewery Vivant. When enlisting the help of locals, friends, and random internet people, this was the brewery that came up most often. This was hands down the most recommended place in all of Grand Rapids. With a gorgeous space, housed in a refurbished historic funeral home, dare-I-say elegant food, and beautiful crafted beer, it’s easy to see why.

Address: 925 Cherry St, Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Hours: Mon-Thurs: 3pm-11pm, Fri: 3pm-midnight, Saturday: 11am-midnight

Food: Full menu

What to drink:

  • Paris
  • Tree Bucket
  • Stone Fruit Sour

I also made you a recipe. Because I do that sort of thing. I was inspired by the breakfast empanadas I fell in love with at San Chez.

Breakfast Empanadas

Servings 12 -14 empanadas

Ingredients
  

Dough

  • 3 cups 350g Masa Harina (corn flour)
  • 1 cup 120g all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon 6g salt
  • 1 cup 235g warm water
  • 1 cup 235g wheat beer (or pale ale, or pilsner)
  • 2 tbs 32g oil

Fillilng:

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • ½ lbs 1 large, or two small red potatoes, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper diced
  • 8 wt ounces sausage raw, removed from casing
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • 4 oz cheddar cheese grated
  • Canola oil for frying

Instructions
 

  • Add the masa, flour, water, beer, and oil to a bowl, stir until a soft dough forms. If the dough is too wet, add additional flour. The consistency should be similar to Play-Doh. Cover the bowl and allow to rest while you prepare the filling.
  • Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook the potatoes and bell pepper until softened, about ten minutes. Remove from skillet, set aside.
  • Add the sausage, cooking until browned, breaking up into small pieces.
  • Remove from heat, add to the potatoes and red peppers, toss to combine.
  • Form dough into balls about the size of golf balls.
  • One at a time place between two sheets of parchment paper (parchment works better than plastic wrap, the dough removes more easily) and using either a tortilla press or a rolling pin, press/roll into 6 inch circles.
  • Add about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center, top with a pinch of cheddar cheese. Using the parchment, fold over the dough to form a crescent shape. Peel back the parchment and press the dough to seal the edges. Repeat for all dough balls.
  • Add about 2 inches of the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until hot.
  • A few at a time, fry the empanadas until golden brown, turning over halfway through cooking, about 3 minutes on each side.
  • Allow to drain on a stack of paper towels.

10-minute Beer Bread Cinnamon Rolls

10-minute Beer Bread Cinnamon Rolls: Takes ten minutes to get these in your oven! 

It started years ago, when, for a brief moment, I was trying to be less weird and figure out if "normal" was my bag. For some reason, cinnamon rolls seems like something normal people did on Christmas. I grew up with a weird family, I had a weird job before I started my current weird job that necessitates that I do things like this.

It was during a conversation with my older sister (the one I was with when I almost died in Morocco), in the midst of a life crisis. For some reason, the answer seemed to be cinnamon rolls. It seemed to me, at the time, that normal-people traditions would mend a part of me that I figured was broken. She, being the type of person to love others more than she has ever found a way to love herself, sent me a cinnamon roll pan in the mail along with a "secret ingredient" which turned out to be dry milk powder. The pan broke during a move when I was living in Los Angeles, but the milk powder still finds its way in my traditional yearly cinnamon rolls. In fact, that conversation was the basis for the first recipe in my first cookbook.

I’ve messed with the recipe for cinnamon rolls a few dozen times, mostly because Christmas and cinnamon rolls feel like home to me. This recipe doesn’t use the milk powder that I reserve for the versions that use a yeast dough, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a quick and easy way to get that fix that brings me an odd comfort.  Even though there is no longer a part of me that seeks to change any of my abnormal qualities, I seek out the odd in other people. But it doesn’t matter who you are: cinnamon rolls and beer are just good.

10-minute Beer Bread Cinnamon Rolls

Takes ten minutes to get these in your oven!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings 10 -12 rolls

Ingredients
  

Cinnamon rolls:

  • 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 12 ounces winter ale or wheat beer

For the filling

  • ½ cup butter softened
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup white sugar

Icing:

  • 4 tablespoons butter softened
  • 4 tablespoons cream cheese
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon whole milk

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350.
  • In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, salt, and beer until a ball of dough forms. Add to a lightly floured surface, (if the dough is excessively sticky, cover with a generous amount of flour, kneading until it's no longer sticky, adding more flour when needed) knead lightly until the ball comes together. Gently roll into a large rectangle.
  • In a small bowl stir together the butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown and white sugar until a paste forms.
  • Spread the paste in an even layer on top of the dough rectangle. Roll along the long edge to form a long log.
  • Cut into 10-12 rings. Place cut side up in a baking dish that has been lightly greased.
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
  • In a small bowl beat together the butter and cream cheese until well combined. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk, beat until well combined.
  • Pour the icing over the cinnamon rolls in an even layer, serve immediately.

Notes

*To make ahead: make the cinnamon rolls, place in the pan, cover and refrigerate until ready to bake, up to two days. Do not bake until ready to serve, cinnamon rolls do not keep well. The icing can be made up to three days in advance, keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Mascarpone Winter Ale Stuffed French Toast

Mascarpone Winter Ale Stuffed French Toast

mascarpone-winter-ale-stuffed-french-toast-8

Winter ushers in a new crop of hard-to-get-your-hands-on beers, and they are just starting to poke their heads out the pumpkin saturated beer crowd.

Winter ales have flown under the main-stream-beer-radar for a while, getting a bit lost as beer drinkers trample from the squash-spice section over to the barrel aged section, but they deserve their time to shine. Every pocket of beer lovers have their own set of winter ales they wait for, counting down the days until the Holiday Ales start to show up in bottle shops. In my circle of beer nerd (based mostly on the distribution zone I’m in), this is what we are waiting for:

Fremont  // Winter Ale (and then the BBomb version that’s barrel aged)

Sierra Nevada // Celebration (a classic, and a reminder that hops are invited to the holiday party)

HUB // Abominable  (Malty and hoppy, well balanced and full of flavor)

Deschutes // Jubelale (Tastes like Christmas: notes of cocoa, toffee, spices)

Avery // Old Jubilation (A crowd pleaser, warm, malty, with nut and candy notes)

21st Amendment // Fireside Chat (they describe it as: "a kick in the ass and a hug at the same time")

Widmer // Brrr (robust red ale with candy notes and a nice balance or malt and hops)

The Bruery // 12 Days of Christmas Series 

Maritime // Jolly Roger

What are you looking forward to? Any Winter Ales that you’ll pick up that I can’t get my hands on?

mascarpone-winter-ale-stuffed-french-toast-4

Mascarpone Winter Ale Stuffed French Toast

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • For the Filling:
  • 8 wt ounces mascarpone
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons winter ale
  • pinch salt
  • For the French Toast:
  • 1 large loaf French bread Brioche, or Challah
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup cream
  • ½ cup winter ale
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons butter

Instructions
 

  • In a medium bowl add the mascarpone, powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons winter ale and salt. Beat with a hand mixer until well combined.
  • Slice the bread into 3-inch slices (about 8 total).
  • Using a sharp knife, make a slit in the center of the bread slices, forming a pocket for the filling.
  • In a medium bowl add the eggs, cream, ½ cup winter ale, vanilla, and sugar, whisk until well combined.
  • Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.
  • One at a time spoon the filling into the bread slices. Dip in the egg mixture, making sure to coat well. Remove from the bowl allowing the liquid to drain off the bread.
  • Place the French toast in the hot pan, cook on each side until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side.
  • Serve warm.

mascarpone-winter-ale-stuffed-french-toast-7

Beer Dutch Babies Oven Pancakes with Peaches and Cream

Beer Dutch Babies Oven Pancakes with Peaches and Cream

Beer Dutch Babies Oven Pancakes5

This was the first recipe I ever memorized.

I was 16 and I’d driven 3 hours to stay at a house on the lake with a few friends. Five guys shared a dirty, old, charming, huge, lakeside craftsman house and were very clearly expecting me to cook breakfast.

The weekend prior I’d spent the early morning hours making Dutch Babies with my friend, pretending we’d just woken up rather than just snuck back into her house. I remembered the recipe. I remembered that it was simple, easy, and really, really good. I made a double batch for the guys, poured it into two very hot glass baking dishes, and baked until they puffed in a way that made me look like a breakfast genius. Other than scrambled eggs, it was the only breakfast recipe I knew.

I served it with powdered sugar and some blackberries that grew wild in the backyard. I pretended like this was just another dish, I hid the oh-my-god-I-can’t-believe-that-worked expression that was begging to get out.

I still love it. It’s simple, quick, beautiful and makes you look like a breakfast genius. Even if you are serving people who are not hungry frat boys who are probably hungover.

Beer Dutch Babies Oven Pancakes2

Beer Dutch Babies Oven Pancakes with Peaches and Cream

Servings 2 -4 servings

Ingredients
  

Dutch Babies

  • ¼ cup wheat beer
  • ¼ cup milk
  • ½ cup flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Topping:

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract*
  • 2 large peaches sliced (or diced)
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Instructions
 

  • Heat the oven to 450.
  • Add the beer, milk, flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla and butter to a blender. Blend until smooth.
  • Add the butter to a 9-inch cast iron skillet. Place in the oven until the skillet is very hot and the butter is melted. Swirl the pan to distribute the butter evenly.
  • Pour the batter in and place in the oven.
  • Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the center has puffed and the sides curl inward.
  • Add the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a bowl, beat with a hand mixer until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes.
  • Add the peaches to a bowl, sprinkle with sugar, toss to coat.
  • Slice the Dutch Baby into 4 equal pieces, top with peaches and whipped cream.

Notes

*for a stronger beer flavor replace the 1 teaspoon of vanilla with 1 to 2 tablespoons of beer.

Beer Dutch Babies Oven Pancakes4

Pure Delicious Free Beer Waffle Sundaes (egg free, dairy free, gluten free, nut free)

Pure Delicious Cookbook: Free Beer Waffle Sundaes (egg free, dairy free, gluten free, nut free)

Pure Delicious Free Beer Waffle Sundaes (egg free, dairy free, gluten free, nut free)11

For more about gluten free beer, watch this

A few years ago I sat in the back of a press dinner failing at my attempts to hold back tears in the midst of the biggest personal life crisis I’ve ever faced. Talking quietly with Heather Christo, explaining to her what I’d been keeping so private, the tears came fast. At that moment, she was exactly what I needed. This woman with endless talent, an old Hollywood glamor that makes her seem unreachably beautiful, is also incredibly kind hearted with a realistic matter-of-fact approach to life, and a mouth like a sailor. She was exactly who I needed to talk to. Although she’d never faced the same storm that was tearing through my life, she somehow had an empathy that made me feel understood.

After the topic shifted off me, she told me what she’d been dealing with. Her daughter was facing a health condition that had been the source of many sleepless nights, ER visits and panicked phone calls to the doctors as she watched her little girl writhe in pain. Once the problem was finally diagnosed, the solution was dropped in Heathers lap like a grenade. Debilitating and potentially hazardous food allergies. It seemed like her little girl was allergic to nearly everything, the list of foods she could eat seemed smaller that what she couldn’t. Looking back, I realize that I never heard her complain about it once, she seemed to immediately go into problem solving mode.

Pure Delicious Free Beer Waffle Sundaes (egg free, dairy free, gluten free, nut free)13

She didn’t just solve the problem, she attacked it right back. First up: recipes. Not just a few recipes, an entire book of incredible dishes that anyone can eat. Next up: she developed a line of allergy friendly food, now being sold at Costco, called Heathermade. After all, she isn’t just a food writer, she’s also a trained chef.

Pure Delicious is a must for anyone facing food allergies. The food is so delicious, none of the recipes feel "without," exploring so many culinary options it’ll never occur to you that there is anything missing.  It’s also a resource for tackling the issues people face when the problem of food allergies enter their lives. I just hope I can tackle my next life crisis the way Heather handles hers. Or at the very least, I find myself at dinner with her in the midst of it.  Pure Delicious Free Beer Waffle Sundaes (egg free, dairy free, gluten free, nut free)12

 For the ice cream, I recommend:

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream- (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Peach and Cinnamon Caramel Ice Cream (Vegan, Gluten free, Nut Free)

Free Beer Waffle Sundaes (egg free, dairy free, gluten free, nut free)

Recipe used by permission from Pure Delicious, by Heather Christo
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup beet sugar
  • ½ cup rolled oats*
  • 2 cups gluten free flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ cup coconut oil melted
  • ¾ cup beer**
  • Vegan ice cream see note above

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the waffle iron.
  • Add the coconut milk and vinegar the bowl.
  • In a separate bowl stir together the sugar, oats, flour, baking powder, and salt.
  • Add the coconut milk, coconut oil and beer to the flour mixture, stir to combine.
  • Spray the waffle iron with cooking spray (I used coconut spray). Cook the waffles according to manufactures specifications (I found these cook best at a higher temp setting).
  • Serve topped with ice cream.

Notes

*While oats are inherently gluten free, many companies use machines that are contaminated with flour. If you need gluten free waffles, make sure the package states the oats are gluten free.
**Use gluten free beer for gluten free waffles.
***Waffels can be frozen easily. Add to a large ziplock freezer bag, freeze for up to two weeks. Bake at 350F on a baking sheet until warmed, about 10 minutes.

Pure Delicious, Heather Christo 

Pure Delicious Free Beer Waffle Sundaes (egg free, dairy free, gluten free, nut free)6

I was given a copy of Pure Delicious without expectation or obligation. I was not financially compensated for this post. All opinions are my own. 

Buttermilk and Beer Beignets

Buttermilk and Beer Beignets

Buttermilk and Beer Beignets1

I have this detrimental habit of undercutting my price, or doing work for free, in exchange for a plane ticket and a hotel reservation. Last year I nearly committed to writing an entire menu just for the opportunity to go to Uganda for the weekend. The timing ended up being too last minute and (fortunately or unfortunately, I can’t decide which) I had to back out.

Buttermilk and Beer Beignets4I also have a habit of obsessively bookmarking restaurants across the world if they sound interesting, just in case I’m ever in that area and looking for a place to eat. Most of which will go unvisited, but the few times I’ve found myself within walking distance of bookmarked business, I’m more thrilled than is appropriate.

The majority of my pre-trip plans include figuring out where I want to eat once I get there. Last year in Panama it was ceviche in the fish market. In Bogota it was Abasto. When I finally make it to New Orleans it’ll be beignets at Cafe Du Monde.

This recipe is the closest I’ve come to the real thing. Light, airy, slightly chewy and completely addictive. The beer gives it a beautiful lightness that I haven’t found in the classic recipes that call for evaporated milk.

These were so good, in fact, that they now replaced my beer doughnut holes as my go-to recipe for bring-a-dish gatherings.

Buttermilk and Beer Beignets2

 

Buttermilk and Beer Beignets

Yield: 20-24 Beignets
5 from 2 votes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 envelop 2 ¼ tsp/7g rapid rise yeast
  • ¼ cup 54g sugar
  • 4 cups 480g bread flour
  • ½ tsp 2g baking soda
  • ¾ cup 180g wheat beer
  • 1 ½ cups 360 g buttermilk
  • ½ tsp 3g salt
  • oil for frying canola, peanut, or grapeseed oil
  • Confectioners sugar for dusting

Instructions
 

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer stir together the yeast, sugar, bread flour, and baking soda.
  • In a microwave-safe bowl combine the beer and butter. Heat until the mixture reaches between 120-130F on a cooking thermometer (mixture may curdle, this is normal).
  • Add the liquid to the dry ingredients, mix on medium speed until all the flour has been moistened.
  • Add the salt, turn the mixer on high and beat until the dough forms a soft sticky ball that gathers around the blade, about 8 minutes.
  • The dough will be very soft and loose, but if it’s too loose to hold together add a few pinches of flour.
  • Transfer to a large, lightly oiled bowl. Loosely cover with a towel or plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm room until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  • Add dough to a well-floured surface, dust with flour. Pat into a large rectangle about ½ inch thick. Avoid using a rolling pin in order to preserve the air bubbles in the dough.
  • Add 3 to 4 inches of oil to a pot over medium-high heat. Clip a cooking thermometer onto the side making sure the tip doesn’t hit the bottom of the pot. Heat oil to 350F to 375F, adjust heat to stay in that temperate range.
  • Using a bench knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 2-inch squares. A few at a time (don’t crowd the pot) fry the beignets on both sides until golden brown and cooked through, about 2 minutes.
  • Remove and allow to drain on a stack of paper towels or a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.

Adapted from Epicurious

 

Pale Ale Crumb Cake + Loving Craft Beer People

Pale Ale Crumb Cake

Black Raven111

Walking in the bay doors, they all seem to look the same. There are always the mingling smells of hops, malt and fickle high-maintenance yeast hard at work. There’s a brewer in rubber boots nearby, working out a problem behind a furrowed brow. There is inevitably a tank being cleaned, water from a thick hose being sprayer to cleanse the vessel to ready it for the next batch.

Pale Ale Crumb Cake22

Music played from unseen speakers. Drums and bass melting into the sounds of the equipment, mostly being ignored. I’m always greeted warmly, always welcomed in and offered a beer. In the past year most of my visits to breweries have been to write a story, or take photos. You can make the argument that there are more beautiful subjects than fermenters and bright tanks. You can tell me how shitty the yellow fluorescent light is in a brewery. You could, but I’d tell you how much I want to show you the beauty in what is there.

Black Raven112

Have you seen fresh hops right from the bine? Have you seen the look on a brewers face when sampling wort? Have you seen how gorgeous the color of beer can be? Maybe I’m starry-eyed over the craft beer community, maybe I focus more on what’s right than what’s wrong, but I won’t stop. Maybe it was the years of teaching anger management to gang members in South Central Los Angeles but I’ve learned that people tend to repeat the behavior you focus on. Let the others tear down people, behaviors, and semantics, I’m here as much for the people as I am for the beer. Of course there are changes that can and need to be made, we are, after all, a bunch of humans who drink too much. But let’s do it together. And let’s talk more about what we’re doing right. Because, craft beer, I love you. Flaws and all.

Pale Ale Crumb Cake21

Have some cake, drink a beer, and let’s talk this out. I won’t stop loving craft beer, and I won’t stop focusing on how much I love the people here and what they are doing right.

Pale Ale Crumb Cake2

Pale Ale Crumb Cake

Servings 9 squares

Ingredients
  

For the Crumb Topping:

  • 1/3 cup 73g sugar
  • 1/3 cup 73g brown sugar
  • 1 tsp 3g ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp 3g salt
  • 8 tbs 113g unsalted butter melted
  • 1 ½ 180g cups flour
  • 2 tbs 20g cornstarch

For the Cake:

  • 1 cups 120g all purpose flour
  • 2 tbs 20g cornstarch
  • ½ cup 117g sugar
  • ½ tsp 2g baking soda
  • ½ 3g teaspoon table salt
  • 6 tbs 83g unsalted butter, cut in cubes, softened
  • 1 large egg plus 1 yolk
  • 1/3 74g cup pale ale
  • 2 tbs 26g olive oil
  • 1 tsp 4g vanilla extract
  • powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions
 

  • In a small bowl stir together the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and butter. Add the flour and cornstarch, stir to make a soft dough, set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer add the flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking soda and salt. While the mixer is running add the butter mixing until the butter is cut in and the mixture resembles coarse meal with no uncombined lumps of butter.
  • Add the eggs, yolk, beer, olive oil and vanilla, beat until light and fluffy and well combined.
  • Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper with the paper hanging over the sides. Pour batter into prepared pan in an even layer.
  • Crumble the topping and gently sprinkle it over the batter in an even layer. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Allow to cool for ten minutes, remove from pan using the parchment overhang. Cut into squares, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Pale Ale Crumb Cake3

One Bowl Cinnamon Sugar Beer Muffins

One Bowl Cinnamon Sugar Beer Muffins

One Bowl Cinnamon Sugar Beer Muffins

There is a feeling in the depths of winter that the quiet will swallow you whole if you don’t keep moving. As if you’d just be that misplaced bracelet that never gets found, disappearing behind furniture and then just ceasing to exist.

I’m not used to this. Born and grown in California, the winter was hardly different from the summer other than a lower flow of tourist, grabbing a sweater for Cinespia, and the absence of Vin Scully’s voice. You’d have to stop and think, just for a second, when you wanted to reference what season you were in. Like being on a vacation where the actual days of the week lose meaning and you have to stop to figure out if it’s Tuesday or Wednesday. Winter just meant a different set of activities, not an entirely different wardrobe and lifestyle.

Winters up North are different. There is a beauty in those clear crisp days when it feels like your voice and the sound of your footsteps on wet pavement will travel forever. The perpetually dewy trees, the misty morning fog, the light and unobtrusive snow fall, even the rain. It’s all majestic in a way that feels intensely calming. What they don’t tell you, when you plan to move a thousand miles North, is that it’s dark. Really dark. The cloud cover mid-day that blocks the sunlight from ever hitting the grass out front, and the sun finally calling it quits around 4PM.

Baking has become a winter activity. It fits in the culture of this newly acquired season in a way that makes me appreciate it so much more than the sun filled, warm day baking I used to do. Just the smell and the warmth from the oven seems like a missing piece of furniture finally being put back into place . Spring is on it’s way, and I’ve a few trips planned between now and then, but for the next few months I’ll be warming the days with baked goods.

One Bowl Cinnamon Sugar Beer Muffins

One Bowl Cinnamon Sugar Beer Muffins

Ingredients
  

For the muffins:

  • 2 cups 248g all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp 4g baking powder
  • 1 tsp 4g baking soda
  • 3/4 cup 150g granulated sugar
  • ½ tsp 3g salt
  • ½ tsp 2g cinnamon
  • 1 tsp 4g vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup 150g wheat beer
  • 1/3 cup 75g whole milk
  • 2 large eggs

For the topping:

  • 2 tbs 15g cinnamon
  • ¼ cup 50g granulated sugar
  • 3 tbs 42g butter, melted

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt and cinnamon.
  • Make a well in the center, add the vanilla, wheat beer, milk, and eggs. Stir until just combined.
  • Line muffin tin with muffin papers, spray lightly with cooking spray.
  • Place the muffins in the oven, lower temperature to 325. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Allow to cool.
  • Stir together the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
  • Dip the muffin tops in melted butter, then roll gently in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

One Bowl Cinnamon Sugar Beer Muffins6

Peanut Butter Belgian Ale Waffles with Blackberry Gose Syrup + Four Secrets to the Perfect Waffles

Peanut Butter Belgian Ale Waffles with Blackberry Gose Syrup + Four Secrets to the Perfect Waffles

Peanut Butter Belgian Ale Waffles with Blackberry Gose Syrup + Four Secrets to the Perfect Waffles

I have a couple waffle secrets to share with you.

Because I like you and my obsessive food geek research should be of some use to someone other than me.

Carbonation. This isn’t a closely held secret, it’s been used for years to make tempura batter light and pancakes rise a bit higher. Lucky of us, beer is a wealth of carbonation with a little kick of yeast for good measure.

For the beer, look for something with a nice level of carbonation and more malt than hops (think brown ale flavor rather than IPA hoppiness). For best results with your carbonation secret, make sure the carbonated liquid (even if you decide to forgo the beer and use seltzer water) is ice cold.

Peanut Butter Belgian Ale Waffles with Blackberry Gose Syrup + Four Secrets to the Perfect Waffles

Cornstarch. This one came from well respected recipe developer Pam Anderson (no Baywatch jokes please, she’s heard ’em all). I’ve long been a fan of how cornstarch thickens my sauces, adds amazing texture to chocolate chip cookies, as well as keeps my beer cheese sauce velvety and prevents it from separating, now we have a new reason to stock the cabinets with this magical secret ingredient. It makes your waffles crisp on the outside while the inside stays light and tender.

 Meringue (egg whites PLUS sugar). Whipping egg whites separate from the batter and folding them in has long been a staple of the perfect waffle. If you don’t take the time for this extra step you’re just making pancake batter.

Which results in soggy dense waffles, so you might as well just make pancakes. As I’m sure you’ve noticed egg whites deflate in seconds, meringue doesn’t. Add some sugar to those whipped whites and you’ll have something that holds up.

Oven resting. If you’re making breakfast for a crowd there is a good chance there will be a long delay between the first waffle being born and the last. Preheat the oven to 200, add the cooked waffles to a baking sheet and keep them warm in the oven while you finish making the feast. It will also help to keep the waffles crisp.

There you go, all the beer-geek-waffle-knowledge you can handle on a Monday morning. Now go out there, open a beer, and make yourself some crispy waffles.

Peanut Butter Belgian Ale Waffles with Blackberry Gose Syrup + Four Secrets to the Perfect Waffles

For the blackberry syrup I used Brombeere Blackberry Gose from Odell brewing. I love this beer, it accomplishes something very few other sours can: balance. It hits that perfect mark that gives you the beautiful funk you look for in a sour while still rounding out the flavors with a bit of malt and grain that often get lost with wild ales.

You can taste the berries nicely but it’s dry rather than sweet, giving it an insane drinkability.

Peanut Butter Stout Waffles with Blackberry Gose Syrup

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

Syrup

  • 2 cups 230g frozen blackberries
  • 1 cup 200g sugar
  • 12 ounces sour ale gose, lambic, wild ale, Flanders

Waffles:

  • 1 ¾ 210g cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup 100g sugar, divided
  • 2 tsp 8g baking powder
  • 1 tsp 4g baking soda
  • ½ 3g tsp salt
  • 2 tbs 1 oz cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup 56g unsalted butter, melted, plus more for waffle iron
  • 1/3 cup 85g creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup 240 buttermilk
  • 1 cup 226 Belgian ale beer (see note)
  • 1 tsp 4g vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs

Instructions
 

  • Add the blackberries, sugar, and sour ale to a large pot (larger than you think you’ll need, it will bubble to 4X it’s volume) and boil, stirring frequently until slightly thickened and the blackberries have broken down, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly. (if jam is too thick once it has cooled add more beer and simmer until it has loosened up). Jam can be made several days in advance.
  • Preheat a waffle iron.
  • Set out three bowls, one large and two small.
  • In the large bowl stir together the flour, half the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cornstarch.
  • In one of the small bowls add the melted butter and peanut butter, stir until smooth (microwave slightly if this is difficult). Add the buttermilk, beer and vanilla, stir until well combined.
  • Separate the eggs putting the yolks to the peanut butter bowl and the whites to the third bowl. Stir the yolks into the peanut butter until well combined.
  • Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form, addd the remaining sugar and continue to whip until speaks return.
  • Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the peanut butter mixture, stir until just combined. Gently fold in the egg whites.
  • Brush the waffle iron with melted butter, add the batter and cook according to manufactures specifications. Place in a 200 degree oven to keep warm until ready to serve.
  • Serve warm with syrup.

Notes

Look for a beer that is fairly malty but with some nice carbonation like an Abby ale or Farmhouse ale or a Dubbel. Stay away from IPA's or high hop beers. A malty pale ale will work as well, or a well carbonated brown ale..