tipsy carbs

My staunchly Baptist nanny eschews alcohol without a second thought. And yet, she recently gave me a recipe for a dish that includes an ENTIRE CAN OF BEER.

(tsk, tsk, Nanny. I'm e-mailing your Sunday School teacher to alert him to your sinful ways!)

Now, she might insist that a 400-degree oven blasts away any trace of mind-altering substance, but I think we both know she's living large. Pushing the limits. Dangling off a precipice. And all under the guise of "beer bread."

This stuff is quite delicious and extraordinarily easy, though of course, if you prepare it, it means a trip to the liquor store. And in Smith County, where Nanny's from, it means a trip over the county line. (See how devoted she is to this supposedly innocent food?) But it's divinely buttery and redolent of a sweet, yeasty taste that will have you coming back for more.

Non-Alcoholic Beer Bread

3 cups self-rising flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 can beer (we like Shinerbock)

Mix ingredients; it'll be sticky. Spray pan, pour in dough, bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Pour 1/4 cup melted butter over top. Bake 15 more minutes. Yummmmmm.