And now onto the recipe...
It's the holidays~ so lets put on the yoga pants, leg warmers and sweatshirt and cozy up next to the Christmas tree with one or two of these indulgent treats.
Bourbon Bacon Blondies
These are thick. You could half the recipe and spread them thinner but I find a thick brownie or blondie cut into smaller squares is more my style. Sprinkling the top with course sea salt makes these really "pop" with flavor.
3 cups Dark Brown Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
4 Eggs
3 tsp Vanilla
3 sticks melted Butter
1 cup Chocolate Chips (optional)
1 cup pecans or walnuts (optional)
Topping
2 packages of Applegate Sunday Bacon
Course Sea Salt
1/2 cup good quality Bourbon (I used one of my favorites~ W.L.Weller)
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 by 9 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Whisk the melted butter and brown sugar in a bowl or stand up mixer until combined. Add eggs (4 of them...not just the 2 pictured) and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, or on slow speed,fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture~ just until combined. Don't over mix.
Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using and turn the batter into the prepared 13 by 9 pan, smoothing out the top with the spatula. Set aside.
4. Fry bacon until crispy and chop into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle the bacon on top of the batter and use the palm of your hand to gently press the bacon into the batter.
5. Sprinkle with course sea salt.
6. Bake until the top is cracked and the middle is no longer wet (around 35 minutes).
7. Using a pastry brush, immediately brush the top of the blondies with the bourbon, using the entire 1/2 cup (or more if you're wanting the ultimate boozy blondies)
8. Cool completely on a wire rack. I like to then chill them but you could eat them without that step.
Enjoy!! And don't forget to enter the giveaway by Sunday night~
