Bacon Bourbon Brownies
I know, right?!? Bacon + Bourbon + Brownies = sounds amazing. Too bad these brownies were a bit disappointing… I wanted to post this recipe because I think it has a TON of potential and should be perfect for the upcoming Superbowl. For whatever reason, when I think of Superbowl food, my mind goes straight to bacon.
I was really excited about these Bacon Bourbon Brownies. I followed Dan’s advice and poured some bourbon directly onto the brownies while they were still warm. The brownies definitely smelled like bourbon as you went to take a bite. The problem was that once you took a bite… They just tasted like a brownie. And a cakey brownie at that.
I was disappointed when I took my first bite, but waited to see what others thought of them. After a few people, including Hubby, tasted them, everyone agreed that they didn’t taste like bacon. If you closed your eyes and took a bite you wouldn’t even guess there was bacon on them. And look at them! There’s a LOT of bacon on there.
Now I am not just going to bash this recipe without some suggestions on how I’d do things differently. The first issue in my book is how tall they are. There’s just too much brownie to bacon there. I took one brownie and cut the bottom off and took a bite. I could actually taste the bacon! To fix that, you could just bake this recipe in a 9×13 pan instead of an 9×9 pan.
My other main issue was the texture of the brownie. I’m biased against cakey brownies, so if you like cakey brownies, you might be happy with this one. But I just felt like a bacon brownie should be more fudgey and gooey. To fix this issue, I’d use my go-to brownie recipe as it’s written and just add the bourbon to the batter and top with bacon and pecans. That would also solve the first issue since those brownies are not very thick. I’d also be sure to pour the bourbon on top while they’re still hot.
I was hoping to make these brownies again before posting them, but I just didn’t have time. If anyone tries these suggestions, please let me know how they turn out!
Bacon Bourbon Brownies
Yield: 25 brownies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup pecans, toasted
1/2 pound sliced bacon
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick plus 2 Tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp bourbon
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup bourbon
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray the paper with vegetable spray.
In a skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat, turning once, until crisp, 6 minutes. Drain on paper towels and let cool; reserve 3 tablespoons of the fat. Finely chop the bacon.
In a saucepan, combine both chocolates with the butter and stir over very low heat, until melted; scrape into a large bowl. Beat in both sugars with the reserved 3 tablespoons of bacon fat. Beat in the 3 Tbsp of bourbon. Add the eggs and salt and beat until smooth. Sift the cocoa and flour into the bowl and beat until blended.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the bacon and pecans on top. Lightly press bacon and pecans into batter.
Bake for about 50 minutes, until the brownies are set around the edges but slightly wobbly in the center; a toothpick inserted into the center should have some batter clinging to it. Immediately pour 1/4 cup bourbon over top of the brownies.
Transfer the pan to a rack and let the brownies cool completely. Cut into squares or rectangles and serve.
Recipe from Food in my Beard, originally from Food and Wine
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Jen, I totally love your blog. You always ahve the BEST treats! I LOVE the picture with all the cookies resting on the m&ms. GREAT idea!
Looks beautiful as always!
perfect use of pink! So interesting about how the cookies reacted to the way you rolled them! Thanks for the heads up!
Your cookies look great and that’s a good tip about getting them to look their best too. My kids and all their friends love these cookies. I’ve made them a few times since I first posted them and they never last long.
thanks for the link!
~ Michelle
Those are beautiful and perfect for such a great cause
What an adorable picture! Also helps that they are for a great cause!
M&Ms are my favorite treat and I love that during this month everything is PINK! The cookies look fantastic.
I am bummed I missed your Power of Pink contest as I was utilizing October to raise awareness around breast cancer too! I made some cookies and have a post on my site: http://katskitchenplace.blogspot.com/2009/10/october-is-breast-cancer-awareness.html
I like the chocolate cookie base of your cookies! Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to checking back and seeing all what people make towards your challenge
A chocolate cookie topped with chocolate candies? What could be better? Perhaps a tall, ice cold glass of milk to go with them! They look divine. I’m wondering if you might skip the rolling and flattening by creating a wide log of dough (without M&Ms), slicing to the thickness desired, then pressing candies on top? Seems like the dough might be fairly easy to shape into a log. A quick pop into the fridge before slicing would help firm it up. Just a thought! I can’t wait to try them.
Best,
Casey
http://www.tastestopping.wordpress.com
P.S. Not sure if I’ve invited you before, but I’d love to publish any of your photos that FoodGawker and TasteSpotting decline! Thanks.
I love the dark chocolate and pink M&M contrast. What fantastic cookies:)
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I just made your recipe for these cookies yesterday and took them to church. The kids went nuts and they’ve never turned out as pretty as they did this time. Thanks for the helpful tips because my m&m cookies have never turned out prettier! 9 minutes was also perfect timing as well.
Both pretty and I’m sure delicious! I love how you showed the comparison between batches to give better suggestions for prettier cookies. The final batch are definitely the prettiest of the bunch. I love that the pink pops w/the chocolate cookie.