Baking with herbs and florals has been a passion of mine. I love using herbs in unexpected ways like in cakes, cookies, and cocktails. Proof of this obsession can be seen in my first book, Savoring Sweet. I spent a whole year researching and experimenting with basic herbs, typically used in savory dishes, and how they worked and paired with sweeter applications. One of my favorite discoveries was the versatility of bay leaves.
Bay leaves were a baker’s flavoring of choice before trade routes opened up, giving Medieval Europe access to vanilla beans and cinnamon. This factoid led me down an interesting path of baking with bay leaves. This recipe is a fall favorite of ours. It combines the earthy and sweet flavors of bay leaves with beer for a sweet quick bread that pairs well with an Earl Grey tea, a book, and a chilly afternoon.
Consider using bay leaves in place of vanilla, and see what transpires. If you need advice on how to infuse bay leaves into recipes, I have a series on my youtube channel. Dried bay leaves are a perfect candidate for infusing into warm liquids, like milk, melted butter or juice. Or simply placed as whole leaves, in a pan under batter, like this recipe.
Get creative with herbs and see where the unexpected takes your baking.
Bay Leaf Honey Beer Bread
Preheat oven to 375.˚
In a large bowl, mix the two flours with baking powder, salt, and sugar. Set aside. In a small pan, melt the butter over medium heat. (If you wish to get a touch more bay leaf flavor, place a couple of bay leaves in the butter as you melt it. As it cools, let the bay leaves sit. Then discard the bay leaves before using.) Add the melted butter and beer into the flour mixture, and combine using a spatula or whisk. Add the honey, and mix well.
Spray 2 bread pans generously with nonstick cooking spray. Lay 3 bay leaves along the bottom of each pan. Gently pour the batter into each pan. Then lay 3 more bay leaves along the top of each pan, right on the batter.
Bake the breads on the middle rack for up to 45 minutes, or until the tops are golden. Let sit in pans for 10 minutes, then pop them out of the pans and let cool completely on wire racks. Peel bay leaves off the bottom and tops if you wish. I like to keep the leaves on the tops, they are prettier that way. I just peel them off as I cut into the bread.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 375.˚
In a large bowl, mix the two flours with baking powder, salt, and sugar. Set aside. In a small pan, melt the butter over medium heat. (If you wish to get a touch more bay leaf flavor, place a couple of bay leaves in the butter as you melt it. As it cools, let the bay leaves sit. Then discard the bay leaves before using.) Add the melted butter and beer into the flour mixture, and combine using a spatula or whisk. Add the honey, and mix well.
Spray 2 bread pans generously with nonstick cooking spray. Lay 3 bay leaves along the bottom of each pan. Gently pour the batter into each pan. Then lay 3 more bay leaves along the top of each pan, right on the batter.
Bake the breads on the middle rack for up to 45 minutes, or until the tops are golden. Let sit in pans for 10 minutes, then pop them out of the pans and let cool completely on wire racks. Peel bay leaves off the bottom and tops if you wish. I like to keep the leaves on the tops, they are prettier that way. I just peel them off as I cut into the bread.
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