Pineapple-Bacon Loaf with Hot Honey Glaze

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray or softened butter. Line the bottom with a long sheet of parchment paper that extends up and over the two long sides of the pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the milk, oil, honey, and eggs. Sprinkle in the baking powder, salt, and pepper, one at a time, vigorously whisking to combine after each. Fold in the bacon with a flexible spatula. Add the flour into the bowl, but before you mix it in, toss in the pineapple right on top of it and then fold in the two together just until the last of the flour disappears. Doing this allows most of the pineapple to get coated in a little flour prior to being folded into the wet ingredients and thus precludes it from sinking while baking.
3. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway point, until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with a moist crumb or two. Remove from the oven and let cool until you can easily lift the loaf out of the pan by its parchment handles (about 10 minutes), running a knife around the two short ends if it resists.
4. Make the glaze: When the loaf is almost done cooking, heat the honey, pepper flakes, and hot sauce together on the stovetop in a small saucepan over medium heat, until the mixture just starts to bubble. Once the loaf is finished cooking and you’ve remove the warm loaf from the pan, brush it with the hot honey, and sprinkle with some flaky sea salt, if you so desire. Serve warm with salted butter and an additional drizzle of hot honey. The loaf will keep up to 3 days on the counter tightly covered in plastic wrap.