Beer & Bacon Bread

It's that time of year again: St. Patrick's Day. Time to drink a lot and eat a lot of Irish food. Given the success of my Beer, Bacon, & Pecan Bars, I decided to try the combination again, this time with just the beer and the bacon in bread form. Yes, that's right. This is acceptable breakfast food.

In terms of difficulty, this bread couldn't be easier. Usually you have to proof and knead and proof again, but for this one you just mix the ingredients together and bake it off. It takes less than an hour, and you'll be glad it's so fast because it smells SO good.

First, you get the bacon aroma; I recommend making some extra because you'll find yourself eating a lot of it and you want the full amount in the bread. Then, when the bread is baking, it smells boozy and yeasty and even more bacon-y. It's so hard to wait the full 40 minutes, but it's much better if it cooks all the way through. Trust me, you'll be making this constantly, even if it's not St. Patrick's Day.

1/4 lb Cooked & Crumbled Bacon, Fat Reserved
3 Cups Bread Flour
1 T Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Sugar
12 oz Beer
1 T Butter, Melted

Heat oven to 375F and grease a loaf pan.

Whisk the butter and 1T bacon fat together.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Stir in the bacon bits, then whisk in the beer.

Press the dough into the prepared pan. Drizzle with the butter and bacon fat mixture and bake for 40 minutes or until golden.

Makes 1 Loaf
Recipe Adapted from www.thepastryaffair.com