With all the excess sodium in prepackaged foods and hidden, dangerous preservatives, it’s smart (as well as delicious) to make your own snacks from scratch. In Salty Snacks (Ten Speed Press, 2012), chef and author Cynthia Nims offers seventy-five recipes for homemade snacks such as veggie chips, cheese straws, toasted nuts, pita chips, herb crackers, savory cookies and snack mixes that put a fresh, crunchy spin on homemade nibbles.
You can buy this book in the Mother Earth Living store: Salty Snacks.
Bacon Bread with Goat Cheese and Chive Recipe
Makes 12 to 16 servings
• 6 slices thick-cut bacon
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or flaky or coarse sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups (about 6 ounces) finely crumbled fresh plain goat cheese
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh chives
1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon slices and cook, turning the slices over every couple of minutes, until nicely browned and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain and cool. When cooled, crumble or cut the bacon into small pieces; set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour an 8- or 9-inch round cake pan.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl and stir well to mix.
4. Combine 1 1/4 cups of the goat cheese and the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until smooth. Add one of the eggs and beat until fully incorporated, then beat in the second egg, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Gradually add the dry ingredients with the mixer at low speed, alternating with the milk. Take the bowl from the stand and stir in the bacon and chives by hand, just until incorporated. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of goat cheese over the top.
5. Bake until the top is lightly browned and the bread pulls away from the sides of the pan, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly in the pan, then turn the bread out onto the rack to cool completely, inverting the bread so that the goat cheese topping is upright.
6. Cut the cooled bread into 12 to 16 wedges, arrange on a platter or large plate, and serve. The bread will keep for 1 day, well wrapped in foil.
Additional Salty Snacks Recipes:
• Parsnip and Carrot Chips recipe
• Grainy Mustard Soft Pretzels recipe
This excerpt has been reprinted with permission from Salty Snacks by Cynthia Nims and published by Ten Speed Press, 2012. Buy this book from our store: Salty Snacks.