Bacon Beer Bread

“Wow.” That’s all He Who Must Be Fed said when he bit into a warm slice of Bacon Beer Bread, a new recipe I got from The Novice Chef blog.

As soon as I saw the recipe, I knew it was going to be a winner. After all, it has the three b’s – bacon beer and butter – and we weren’t disappointed.  Since I knew it was going to be special, I made two loaves, so I could share one with my friend James and his family. They liked it, too.

Ingredients:

• 5 strips of thick-cut bacon (I used Oscar Mayer)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 ounces of beer
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cook your bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Pour the bacon grease into a heat-proof bowl and let cool. Once bacon is cool enough to touch, rip it into little pieces and set aside. If you used your fingers instead of chopping the bacon with a knife then you can rub a little dab of the “bacon essence” behind each ear to make yourself irresistible to your significant other. 🙂

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add your pieces of bacon. Using a wooden spoon, stir the beer into the dry ingredients until just mixed.

Pour the melted butter into the bottom of the loaf pan. Then spoon the batter into the pan. Pour the cooled bacon grease on top of the batter.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve immediately with a generous bit of more butter.

It’s also delicious the next day, toasted with some more butter.