Looking for a dessert that captures the taste of bacon that has been inadvertently (or maybe deliberately) covered with the maple syrup runoff from your pancakes or waffles? Look no further. I put together this sweet, salty treat to enjoy while watching some Sunday afternoon football.
Blondies are an infinitely diverse dessert. You can include any number of additions (chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, toffee, etc.) to the batter to create a good blondie. I found a basic recipe and substituted pecans to offset some of the sweetness from the blondie itself and the maple frosting. The end product is reminiscent of pecan pancakes.
ingredients:
The Blondies:
This recipe is adapted from Taste of Home.
1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c salted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt*
1/2 c chopped pecans
The Frosting:
This recipe is adapted from Taste of Home.
1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c salted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt*
1/2 c chopped pecans
The Frosting:
I have a go-to family recipe for butter cream frosting, which I use often and have adapted for many flavor profiles. Here I substituted some of the sweetness and liquid (usually milk) with maple syrup.
1/2 c salted butter, softened
1/2 c crisco, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt*
3 c confectioners sugar
1/2 c maple syrup
5-6 slices of bacon
*Usually I wouldn't add salt since I tend to use salted butter but given the sweetness factor in this recipe I went ahead and included the salt.
preparation:
Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan (I lined my pan with foil and then greased it so that I would be able to easily take the bars out to cool, cut and frost) and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl mix together brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla until just combined. Gradually add the dry ingredients. Fold in pecans.
Spread the batter into the greased pan and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Cut into bars (small or large).
Mix together the butter, crisco, vanilla and salt. Gradually add in the confectioners sugar. Once well combined slowly add in the maple syrup.
Bacon...cook 5-6 slices of bacon (crispy but not burnt). Drain and cool bacon on paper towels. Once cooled chop bacon into bits.
Frost the blondies and then sprinkle with bacon. If for some reason these don't disappear immediately be sure to store them in the refrigerator because, you know, there's bacon on them.
Enjoy!
