The Unexpected Beers You Need To Use In Your Baked Goods

Beer is thousands of years old (in general, not the bottles in your fridge), and while it's popularly used in cooking as part of batters for frying and can be incorporated into cooking, it might not have crossed your mind to use it in baking. But cross your mind it should, according to master cicerone, certified sommelier, and former brewmaster Rich Higgins. "Baking is all about delicate chemistry, and beer brings some unexpected chemical traits to the mix," he told Food Republic. And while darker beers, like porter and stouts, might seem like the obvious choice (we're looking at you Guinness-braised beef short ribs), Higgins had an unexpected suggestion.

"Fruited sour beers would be great in fruit popovers or muffins," he explained. "Dogfish Head SeaQuench margarita muffins or Boulevard Berry Noir popovers, anyone?" Bakers are cautioned to try new recipes with the sweetest sours they can find, and those fruity flavors of the beer work particularly well with chocolate-forward desserts — after all, cherries, strawberries, and raspberries get paired with cocoa all the time. If all you have on hand are drier fruited beers, you might try mixing them in with less sweet baked goods, like bread.

Fruited sour beers aren't the only surprise that Rich Higgins had up his sleeve. "And there's nothing wrong with spilling a bit of your honeyish Tripel Karmeliet or banana and clove-y Weihenstephaner Vitus into some pastry cream," he noted. "Those cream puffs or croissants won't mind." Tripel Karmeliet is a golden Belgian Tripel; this is considered one of the best versions, and it's made by Bosteels Brewery, with flavors that call to mind creamy vanilla and lemon, making it perfectly complementary to the cream Higgins mentioned. Try similar Tripels like that from Westmalle, La Fin Du Monde, or St. Bernardus for different fruit notes.

Weihenstephaner Vitus is also fruit-forward — though it's technically a wheat beer (which also makes it ideal for warm-weather sipping). It's malty, spicy, and has a citrusy scent upon inhalation. In addition to Higgins' suggestion, you could also use it in an apricot cheesecake where the malty flavors pair beautifully with the creamy texture, or lemon or orange cupcakes. Other great fruited wheat beers you might consider using include Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat, Lord Hobo Brewing Angelica, and Kona Brewing Wailua Wheat.

Whatever type of beer you use in your batter, unexpected or not, Higgins emphasized his warning: "...[B]aking with beer can unpredictably shake up baking chemistry." He explained, "Beer is acidic, alcoholic, and carbonated, and has a variety of sweetness and bitterness levels, so it brings a lot of potential, but also a lot of baggage, to baking." One tip for taming the carbonation of beer? After opening it, pour it into a glass (or bowl) and let it sit for a few minutes to get rid of some of the bubbles. You don't want to get rid of them entirely, though — they will, after all, offer an assist when it comes to giving your baked goods a lift.

Also, if you're replacing some of the liquids in your recipe with beer, you will want to ensure that, if your recipe also calls for solid dairy items (like butter or sour cream) you are using the full-fat versions. This is not only because baked goods need as much fat as possible to stay soft and moist, but lighter versions might end up separating when the acid from the beer combines in.