Bacon Batter Bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 5-inch x 9-inch loaf pan.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, turning as needed, until crisp. Remove the bacon from the skillet and place on paper toweling to drain. Let cool to room temperature then crumble. You can crumble it coarsely if you want larger chunks of bacon in the bread, or finely if you want it evenly distributed. Alternately, you can chop the bacon before cooking it if you wish.

Reserve 1/3 cup of the bacon drippings in the pan. Discard any remaining grease.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Stir gently to mix the ingredients.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the reserved bacon drippings, eggs, smoke flavoring, and milk. Mix well to combine.

Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture with a spatula or wooden spoon, just enough to moisten the batter and evenly distribute the ingredients. Do not overmix.

Gently fold the crumbled bacon into the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Place the pan in the oven and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the bread cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Store the bread in an airtight container for 2-3 days.