Bacon Bourbon Banana Bread

While my extended bout of unemployment should have inspired me to bake more, I quickly realized that there is one ingredient necessary for EVERY recipe: money.  Without that seemingly unimportant element, your baking options become freakishly limited.  Luckily I've found a couple of recipes that you can make mostly with things you (hopefully) already have in your house.  And so my baking adventures as an unemployed girl begin...

A couple of notes on this recipe:

• If you like a stronger bacon flavor: reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon grease to add directly to the batter in step 4
• If you like a stronger bourbon flavor: add no more than a total of 2 tablespoons of bourbon to the batter, otherwise you'll end up with straight Jim Beam bread
• If you'd like a richer/heavier/more complex flavor for the bread: use dark brown instead of light brown sugar.  I don't like the molasses flavor of dark brown sugar, so I stuck to light
• If you like a less sweet bread, use 3/4 cup brown sugar instead of the brown/granulated mix

Enjoy :)

Bacon Bourbon Banana Bread (adapted from iluvpork.com - yes... seriously)

Ingredients
5 strips of bacon, roughly chopped
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 ripe bananas, smashed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon (I used Jim Beam)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 scant cups flour

Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 4x8 inch loaf pan
2. Cook your bacon until crisp.  Drain on paper towels and set aside
3. In a large bowl, mix your melted butter and mashed bananas
4. Add the sugars, egg, vanilla, and bourbon.  Mix to combine
5. Add the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir to combine
6. Stir in the flour and then fold in your bacon
7. Pour the batter into your greased pan and bake 40-50 minutes or until tester inserted comes out clean
8. Cool in pan on rack for 15 min.  Remove the loaf, cool completely on rack