Bacon Bourbon Brownies

by Kat Kinsman, Posted Dec 22nd 2008 @ 10:00AM

Sure, many folks go to an Alice B. Toklas place when creative brownie making is mentioned, but for a goody two-shoes like me (with a cop pal as my afternoon's company to boot!), there's much swoony satisfaction in a recipe that highlights some of my favorite legal vices. I'm hardly the first to alight at bacon brownies, but I decided to borrow a step from the bourbon balls I'm often rolling up 'round this time of year for holiday party purposes. A double-soak -- once pre and once mid-toasting of a half cup of pecans in bourbon, and a swap-in of the nut-infused bourbon for the traditional vanilla brings a slightly tipsy edge to a deeply fudgy brownie. A grind of fresh black pepper (inspired by a Chanterelle Staff Meals brownie recipe, which credited the technique to Maida Heatter) strums the palate to life; a subtle note of smoked salt lets the bolder bacon sing.

Had there not been half a foot of snow atop my grill cover, I'd have seen what came of an attempt to tobacco-smoke the pecans and chocolate, but for now, these are more than sufficiently wicked.

Recipe for Legal Vice Brownies is after the jump.

Legal Vice Brownies

1/2 lb bacon
8 oz butter
10 oz baking chocolate*
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
5 large eggs
Freshly-ground black pepper
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp smoked salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Bourbon**

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Cook the bacon until it is very crisp, drain off the grease and set aside. Pat the bacon dry with paper towels, crumble into tiny pieces, chopping in food processor if possible. Set aside.

Place the pecans in a bowl and just cover with bourbon. When roughly half of the bourbon has been absorbed, scoop out the pecans with a slotted spoon, arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until nearly toasted. Reserve one teaspoon of the bourbon, pour the remainder over the pecans, and let them finish toasting. Remove them from the oven and set aside.

In a double boiler, over simmering water, combine the butter and chocolate. When the mixture is nearly melted, remove it from the heat and stir together until blended. Pour the mixture into a medium-sized bowl and let it cool to room temperature.

Once the chocolate mixture is cool, add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, several grinds of black pepper, smoked salt, eggs and reserved bourbon and whisk well to combine.

Add the cocoa powder and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Then stir in the flour 1/2 cup at a time, making sure it is thoroughly incorporated before adding the next portion. Stir in the bacon and pecans.

Use the reserved bacon grease to lightly coat an 8x8 baking pan, and pour in the batter. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the edge comes out dry, but inserted near the center, comes out lightly coated in batter. Let the brownies cool, and cut into squares to serve.

*I used a haphazard mix of 2 oz of a Dagobah organic unsweetened 100% cacao baking chocolate, 6 oz of Dagobah organic semisweetened 59% cacao baking chocolate, and 2 oz of Callebaut dark baking chocolate.

**Jim Beam in this case, but it's not set in stone.

Filed Under: Guilty Pleasures, Ingredients, Drink Recipes, Methods
Tags: bacon, baking, bourbon, brownies, chocolate, comfort food, dessert, guilty pleasures, kat kinsman, KatKinsman, pork, whiskey, whisky

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-22-2008 @11:08AM Josh said... These look amazing... might have to bake them for Christmas dessert...
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12-22-2008 @12:04PM Monika said... Smokey Bacon Bourbon Sauce is one of my favorite things, but I have never imagined tasting it in brownies!
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1-04-2009 @10:50AM Lynn said... What an interesting combination! I think I'll have to give this one a try.
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1-10-2009 @12:42AM erfo said... this recipe looks delicious! i bought a bottle of bourbon to incorporate into a bunch of dessert recipes and thought i'd see whether anyone had combined bourbon, bacon and brownies!

i love the recipe but want to know why you used five eggs. are you a fan of cake-like brownies rather than the dense, fudgy kind? if i utilize your recipe but reduce the number of eggs would it turn out ruined?
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1-10-2009 @12:46AM Kat Kinsman said... Hi Erfo - as it happened, the brownies turned out to be incredible dense and chewy. I think the egg reduction would be just fine, and would love to know how it turns out if you make the swap. I'm going to make them again this weekend while I'm supposedly going to be snowed in, and will let you know if any tweaks happen on this end.

Take pix if you can!
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7-23-2009 @9:34AM Dana Vigilante said... These brownies were incredible. I added one other thing to the mix - fresh, finely chopped Jalapeno peppers. I bought them to a party and everyone loved them :) Dana Vigilante
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8-27-2009 @10:29AM Lynda said... should I use all purpose flour or self-rising?
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8-30-2009 @10:14AM Shannon said... Yhe first time that I had these was last year, from Dana Vigilante who runs Brown-Eyed Girl Cakes in NJ. Her comments are listed here and I thought I'd ad my own. She made these for a showing my friend was having at an art gallery in NYC. These brownies were outrageously delicious! I happened to be pregnant at the time and these hit every craving that I was having. They disappeared within minutes of being put out. These were possibly one of the best desserts I've ever tried (and I am a chocolate fanatic). I love the mixture of salt and chocolate. I've made these afew times since, but cannot replicate Dana's recipe. Mine came a bit dry but Dana suggested adding some of the bacon grease to the cake mix and it does indeed make fudgier brownies. Still not as good as hers, but these are so great!!!
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7-27-2011 @8:09PM Dee said... The ones of Dana's that were delicious, were they the ones with jalapenos?? I would like to try this recipe, but afraid that it won't turn out. Can you or anyone offer any suggestions other than adding bacon grease to the mix (BTW, how much to add?)? We like fudgier brownies too.. Thank you!!