Honey Wheat Hard Cider Beer Bread Muffins |Cooking With Amanda

Honey Wheat Hard Cider Beer Bread Muffins Photo

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Boulder Organic Foods. All opinions are the contributor's own. She was provided with ingredients and compensated for recipe development.

Busy nights call for easy dinners. A bowl of comforting soup and no-knead, yeast-free Honey Wheat Hard Cider Beer Bread Muffins will you have to sitting down to dinner in 30 minutes.

Honey Wheat Hard Cider Beer Bread Muffins Picture

Is there anything more comforting than the smell of bread baking? Every Wednesday I take a cardio kickboxing class and somewhere on the same block as my gym is a facility that bakes bread around the same time I arrive each week.

The aroma just fills the entire street with its warm yeasty smell - sometimes it's cinnamon raisin, other times it's the smell of brioche or a hearty white or wheat bread.

In the year that I've belonged to this gym I have yet to figure out where the scent is coming from or this mystery bakery. It drives me crazy and it almost always leaves me craving fresh bread.

Honey Wheat Hard Cider Beer Bread Muffins Image

I may be a baker, but bread is not my forte. I bake a loaf here or there, but I just don't have the patience that it takes to craft fine bread. Luckily someone out there came up with quick breads, a quarter of the time and much less effort with just as satisfying result.

Most quick bread recipes have a tendency to lean towards the sweet instead of the savory side, but my most favorite of them all is beer bread. At most, all you need is five to six ingredients, which you likely have sitting in your pantry ready to go.

There's no added yeast, no rising, no kneading and all it takes is one bowl and one pan to satisfy those fresh bread cravings. Perfectly doable for a weeknight if I do say so myself!

Honey Wheat Hard Cider Beer Bread Muffins Pic

The yeast that makes these muffins light and fluffy comes from the added cider, just like traditional beer bread gets its rise from the yeast already in beer. Magical chemistry, I tell ya.

Of course, one cannot live of beer bread alone, which is why I usually like to pair it with soup for an easy and comforting weeknight meal. I recently discovered Boulder Organic soups in the refrigerator section at my grocery store and decided to give it a go with these Honey Wheat Hard Cider Beer Bread Muffins.

The calendar says January and I'm making that effort to make a good healthy start to the new year, which is why I appreciate that Boulder Organic soups are made in small batches and are all certified organic, certified gluten-free and non-GMO.

Honey Wheat Hard Cider Beer Bread Muffins 1

The soups are produced locally in its own facility in Boulder County, CO and they are never frozen – they arrive at your local store fresh and delicious. There's a soup for everyone too with vegan, vegetarian and dairy-free options.

The Chicken Vegetable Chili really called my name. Full of vegetables, legumes, chicken and a little bit spicy, it was the perfect match for these beer bread muffins.

Back to the muffins - I went ahead and miniaturized them for two reasons: 1) it cut the baking time in half to get dinner on the table faster and 2) you can easily freeze the leftovers for another meal!

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Now, you might be wondering why I chose hard cider versus another beer. Hard cider is a great pairing for chili and the subtle sweetness with the honey and whole wheat in the bread complements the slight heat from the soup.

If cider isn't your thing, try going for a German-style wheat beer or pilsner instead, or even a pale ale in the recipe!

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Honey Wheat Hard Cider Beer Bread Muffins Recipe

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Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
12 ounces hard cider
1/4 cup honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup rolled oats, to top - optional

To Serve:

! boulder organic chicken vegetable chili

Directions

Heat your oven to 350°F, grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
In a medium bowl combine the flours, baking powder and salt.
Pour in the cider, honey and melted butter and mix until completely combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cups in the muffin tin and top with about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of oats. If desired, drizzle a little bit of honey on each muffin.
Bake for 25 minutes and remove from the oven to let cool slightly before serving.
Serve with your favorite Boulder Organics soup or chili.