Welcome, one and all, to the beginning of Bacon Week 2013!  Let’s not dilly-dally: let’s begin.

It seems that bacon and bourbon routinely go hand-in-hand.  This recipe is no different – but holy COW does it truly exemplify both.

This recipe is a small adaptation of a recipe from Food & Wine; I was particularly excited to see it when I was trolling around the internet for bacon-related ideas.  Not only was it exactly what I was looking for, but brownies (as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before) are the absolute pinnacle of slacker-baking.  They don’t require a mixer or waiting on butter to soften; they’re a complete dump-and-bake dessert.  Myyyy favorite!

Naturally these took a few extra steps since, obviously, I had to fry up some bacon to add on top as well as collect grease to add to the batter itself.  Additionally it required melting of chocolate as opposed to just cocoa powder, but all in all it was still a wonderfully simple process.

The brownies are thick and dense, and the bourbon flavor really comes out well, even after baking for almost an hour!  I probably could have baked them a little longer – if you look at the final pictures you can tell the insides are almost fudgy – but a lot of people like their brownies that way.

The lovely chunks of bacon topping the brownies are a great salty contrast with the sweet chocolate and bourbon-y flair. They’re very tasty and definitely novel…but not unlike a lot of bacon recipes I’ve made, I don’t see myself making these on a regular basis.  Worth making a pan for a party, though, or to share with friends for a laugh.

And you?  How has your first day of Bacon Week been?  Productive?  Bacony?  One can only hope.

Tell your friends!  Make some bacon!  Share the badge!  And please, let me know if you have a bacon recipe too…I’d love to do a Bacon Post Roundup!

Bacon Bourbon Brownies

Loosely adapted from Food & Wine.