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. 
this cake screams a lot of things!
eat me comes to my mind!
lol
beantownbaker — February 8th, 2014 @ 11:57 am
It does definitely scream that 🙂
Gorgeous Bundt, Jen! It looks amazing. Love the butter and cocoa tip and the raspberries!
beantownbaker — February 9th, 2014 @ 8:58 pm
Thanks 🙂
Who needs a tunnel of love when you have a tunnel of fudge! This looks fantastic!!
beantownbaker — February 11th, 2014 @ 12:14 pm
So true!
This cake looks glorious 🙂 I am dying to get a slice, maybe two 😉
The original recipe called for a box of Pillsbury’s frosting mix and was much, much better than the current recipes. There was a tunnel of gooey soft fudge in the middle that you just can’t get with today’s recipes for this cake. But it’s still a great cake!
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One of my favorites! Thanks for the reminder..I need to make this – soon!
I just tried this yummy recipe from your blog and it has come out really yummy!! 🙂
This is my first tunnel of fudge cake and I am quite happy with the outcome…
Thanks for sharing this easy recipe 🙂
Gorgeous!!! I’d love to try to make it for my family soon. Your recipe is so detailed, but to a clumsy person like me, Hopefully I won’t mess everything up haha.
Looking at the picture of your cake I just wanna try it immediately. It looks really good. It is good to make it at home and serve on some special occasions like birthday parties or a party with friends on weekends. Thanks Jen for sharing this recipe with us!
Nice recipe Jen! Hope that I can do it the way you make your cake. Always love chocolate. Thank you for sharing it!
oh my god, I fell in love with it at the first sight. So yummy and nice at the look. Thanks Jen for sharing wonderful recipe!
Awesome, you make it like an artist. It looks so delicious, I will try your recipe to make it for my kids. Thank you so much for sharing this!
This cake recipe looks very sweet and delicous. I will try it soon. Thank for share this great post.
This looks amazing, I will try this out tomorrow, thank you for sharing!