Bacon Caramel Brownies

My first post deserves to be one of the more creative and yet delicious things I have ever made to kick things off right!  William’s house warming party was October 20^th and he was smoking 40lbs of pork shoulder for the occasion.  Desserts and sides were asked to be brought by others so of course I decided to bring a dessert.  Now with that much meat I figured I should also include meat in the dessert.  I have heard rumors about bacon being delicious with chocolate so I thought I would give it a try.  After searching for awhile I decided on Bacon Caramel Brownies.  They ended up wonderful and a huge hit!  Be adventurous and try them, they will surprise you!

Bacon Caramel Brownies (original recipe from Savour-Fare)

Ingredients:

For the bacon caramel:

• 3 slices bacon
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter

For the brownies:

• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, sliced into pieces
• 6 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a saucepan, fry bacon until crisp.  Remove bacon, set aside onto a paper towel, reserving bacon grease in the pan. Add the cream to hot pan and let cool. When bacon has cooled, chop finely.
2. In a larger pan, heat the sugar over high heat until the mixture is liquid and a deep amber color. Add the butter and the cooled bacon cream all at once, and stir until the butter is melted. Add the chopped bacon and let the mixture cool thoroughly.
3. Line an 8 inch square pan with two sheets of aluminum foil that covers the bottom and sides of the pan. Grease the foil with butter or cooking spray.
4. In a large microwaveable bowl, melt the butter and the chocolate together in the microwave (start with 30 seconds, and stir thoroughly, then microwave for 10 seconds at a time, stirring between each, until the chocolate is melted and incorporated into the butter). Add the cocoa and whisk until smooth, then add in the eggs, one at a time, and the sugar, vanilla and finally the flour. Stir only until combined.
5. Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan. Then drop about a third of the bacon caramel, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter in the pan. It doesn’t have to cover the whole batter and should instead be in splotches. Spread the remaining brownie batter over the top, then drop spoonfuls of the remaining caramel sauce over the top of the brownies and swirl.
6. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely. The caramel will be pretty gooey still, so you might want to wait to cut these until just prior to serving, and/or store in the refrigerator.