Cheesy Bacon Quick Bread

This recipe is easily doubled, as long as you have a pound of bacon to toss into the mix. Fortunately, we tend to cook up lots of the stuff in advance, during the summer, so that, whenever we want, we can assemble a quick BLT using the lettuce and tomatoes from Pop's garden.

If you don't have all of that lying about, though, you can probably substitute the pre-cooked bacon bits from the store. For that, you'll need to adjust and adapt according to your own tastes. I'd estimate approximately one ounce of the pre-cooked stuff per slice in the recipe, and add about 1/8 tsp more oil to the recipe.

Also, as this is a chunky batter, I recommend leaving your whisk in its drawer, or wherever you store it. This is a job for a spoon or a heavy-duty spatula.


Cheesy Bacon Quick Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cheese, oats and bacon in a large bowl. Set aside. 

Combine the eggs, milk and oil in another bowl and add to the first mixture, stirring just enough to moisten the dry ingredients (do not overmix. This is like a muffin or pancake batter, so you don't ant to over-activate the gluten, or it will become dense and rubbery). Spoon the batter into a greased and floured 8-1/2" x 4-1/2" x 3" loaf pan. 

Bake at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven, then remove from loaf pans. Let cool on rack for 10 minutes before slicing.