BACON BOURBON BROWNIES

By CheeseDiva

Ingredients

• 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**

Preparation

Step 1

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.