Cheddar, Ham and Rosemary Guinness Bread

I’m not the biggest Guinness fan. I went to the Guinness Store House last year, tasted Guinness for the first time and this was my impression of it

However, it being almost St. Paddy’s Day, I keep seeing lovely looking recipes (sweet and savoury) which include Guinness as an ingredient. And I must admit I was curious about trying some. So I decided to go with a savoury bread and some chocolate brownies, which I will post later today (sneak peek here).

I got the idea for this recipe from theKitchn, where they posted a Cheddar and Chive Guinness Bread. Not having any chives on hand, I substituted in some rosemary and decided to amp it up a bit by adding in some ham (bacon would do too or you could omit it if you want). This is a very simple bread, easily prepared in 5 minutes!

Cheddar, Ham and Rosemary Guinness Bread

Adapted from theKitchn

Ingredients

370g (2 3/4 cups) plain flour

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

355ml (12 oz) Guinness

115g (4oz/1 cup) Cheddar cheese, grated

2 slices of ham, torn into pieces

Small handful of fresh rosemary, chopped finely

57g (1/4 cup) butter, melted

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190° C(375° F). Line loaf pan with parchment paper or grease with butter.

2. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a bowl and mix. Pour Guinness into bowl and mix until evenly distributed. Fold in 3/4 of the cheese, the rosemary and the ham.

3. Transfer into the pan. Pour the melted butter over the top evenly. Bake for 30 mins, then scatter the rest of the cheese on top and bake for a further 10-15 mins, until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Also to cool in pan for 5 mins before removing.

Next time I might leave out the rosemary and add in some caramelized onions. Needless to say, I am obsessed with this right now, it’s amazing!

Close up for that melty cheese and ham goodness!