Ingredients

• 5 strips Bacon
• 2 to 3 jalapeños depending on heat level -- ours are pretty hot right now so I used 2
• 3 cups Unbleached White Fine Pastry Flour
• 1 Tbsp Baking Powder + 3/4 tsp
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 cup finely shredded sharp cheddar
• 1/4 cup Maple Syrup preferably grade B
• 12 oz Beer I used Abita Amber which gave it a nice but not overpowering beer flavor
• 4 oz Cream Cheese
• 4 Tbsp Melted Unsalted Butter
• 2 Tbsp maple sugar

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350° F. Crisp the bacon in a skillet. When the bacon is cooked, drain it on paper towels and pour 3 tablespoons of bacon fat into a loaf pan (to be honest, I didn't measure, I just dumped. Five strips center-cut bacon produced what looked like about 3 tablespoons of fat). This bread is not for the faint of heart: Did I mention that?
2. Roughly chop the bacon. Remove the stems and seeds from the jalapeños and roughly chop them.
3. Put the flour into a mixing bowl. Mix in the cheddar cheese. Now make a well in the middle and pour in the maple syrup and the beer. Mix together until everything is moistened and combined (a few lumps are okay).
4. Break the cream cheese into small chunks (I just pulled it apart by hand, but you can also cut the block into smaller pieces) and drop them into the dough. Add the jalapeños and bacon and fold them in until everything is uniformly mixed. Now scoop the dough into the loaf pan and spread it evenly. Pour the melted butter on top (yeah, I know) and put the pan on a baking sheet and into the oven. Set the time for 20 minutes.
5. At 20 minutes, sprinkle the sugar on top of the loaf, then bake the bread for another 40 minutes, or until a toothpick test comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool for about 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan.
6. There. Breakfast.