Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Bacon Bourbon Brownies - Perfect Football Snack

Recently I had seen these bacon bourbon brownies floating around the internet.  It being the AFC Championship Game this weekend, I figured it was the perfect time to put these to the test.  Really, how else could you make a brownie better for football viewing?

Bacon Bourbon Brownie
Jen from Beantown Baker had some great recommendations when she attempted this recipe so I decided to take some of her suggestions and see what happened.  I wanted to take my go-to brownie recipe and adapt it to the fun football (read - manly) additions.  I would recommend that you take your favorite recipe and do the same, it's such an easy adaptation.

The Ingredients
To get going I cooked up about 10 pieces of bacon in a non-stick pan and set it aside in some paper towels for later, allowing it to crisp up.  I also made sure I held onto all the leftover bacon grease to use in the brownie batter.

Cooking Bacon
Between not blogging a recipe for awhile and the game starting earlier than I expected, I was a bad blogger and did not grab too many "step-by-step photos." I started off by combining the sugar and half of the called-for vegetable oil, and rather than adding a 1/2 cup of water, I added a half cup of Jim Beam!  This was much more than the recommended amount but I thought "go big or go home" - it all cooks off, right?!.

Sugar, Bourbon, and Some Oil....
I went ahead and added the remaining ingredients called for in the recipe I was using, and instead of adding the other half of the veggie oil I added about a third of a cup of bacon grease (literally poured out of the pan).  I didn't say these would be healthy!  Once fully mixed and all the flour clumps were gone I poured the batter into a greased, 9 x 13 inch pan.  At this point the bacon was cool and crispy so I chopped it up nicely, scattered it over the top of the brownie batter and placed the pan in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

Ready for the oven
Extreme Close-up
Right before these finished cooking a lovely brownie smell started to take over and it was amazing!  The brownies were finished right at about 15 minutes - crisp around the edges with a good crackle on the top.  As this is a fairly fudgy recipe, I like to let them cool and set a bit before cutting in.

Cooling....
The thin and fudgy brownies were the perfect way to set up these added ingredients.  There was a definite bourbon flavor, and while not a strong bacon flavor, I got a nice salty crunch in each bite.  The typical sweetness of this dessert was cut nicely, making it the perfect beer companion.  To get a stronger bacon flavor you probably could mix some of the crispy bits into the batter.  You could also get a little heavy (or heavier) handed with the bourbon to really change the flavor up some more.

Bacon Bourbon Brownies
Regardless, these are a great treat to enjoy with a beer in hand to watch a football game - February 5th perhaps?!?  Go Patriots!!!!

5 comments:

  1. Mmm, I saw these on Dan's blog. If I encountered them at a party, I would most likely try them, despite there being bacon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh woah. These are quite the brownies. My husband would scarf these up... even though he "doesn't like desserts"!

    ReplyDelete
  3. hello jim beam brownies! these sounds great.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Goodness they look good. I absolutely love chocolate and bacon!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree - go big or go home when it comes from bourbon in brownies! So glad my suggestions worked out for you :)

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...