Savory breakfast skillet bread (or scones)

Ingredients

• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon cheese powder
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat
• 1 heaping cup of cheddar cheese, crumbled or shredded
• 0.33 cup fresh chopped chives or 3 tbsp dried chives
• 0.5 lb bacon, uncooked and finely cut up
• 0.75 cup heavy whipping cream
• enough milk to make the dough cohesive (~0.25 cups)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Dice uncooked bacon and cook in a 10” cast iron skillet until crispy and all fat is rendered. Drain the bacon fat and reserve. Put bacon bits in a small bowl to cool. Do not rinse or wash the pan - it’s what we’ll use to cook the bread in.
3. Whisk together the dried ingredients, then fold in the wet ingredients. Add milk in small pours until the dough is cohesive and there’s no pockets of dry flour.
4. Rest the dough for 15 minutes or so.
5. Pat the dough into the (still warm) 10” skillet. Brush with a bit of fat (any type) or egg to encourage the crust to brown.
6. Bake for 25 minutes at 400°F, or until cooked through and crust is browned.
7. Remove from skillet to cool, serve.

Notes

• For scones, reduce baking time to 20 minutes or so. Work into small wedges of uniform thickness, then bake on parchment paper.
• If you don’t have chives, you can substitute green onions or scallions.
• Bacon fat can be substituted with butter or oil.
• Resting the dough allows the whole wheat flour to hydrate some, preventing it from tasting too dry.
• Adapted from the King Arthur Baking Company recipe for bacon cheddar chive scones .