AKA the breakfast brownie!
This one is going to have you firmly divided – you will love it or hate it! Andrew rather un-poetically described these maple bacon brownies as meat and chocolate! I, however, think they are something of a sweet and salty sensation. And I have tried them out on a few people and the response has been brilliant!
Bacon is no stranger to having a sweet bedmate – bacon, maple and pancakes are a brunch institute. So adding dark chocolate to the mix and baking into brownies isn’t too much of a leap…is it?
If you love sweet and salty popcorn, I think that you are going to like these brownies. I’ve used smoked streaky bacon from Marks and Spencer – we have been having it on top of their ‘ultimate’ burgers, along with smoked cheddar, for BBQ nights. It is great bacon, full of flavour and you can get it nice and crunchy.
There are maple-roasted bacon’s out there, so feel free to go ahead and use it if you see it. But make sure that it has some fat on it because you need to get it nice and crunchy in order to make what is basically bacon funfetti!
The idea here isn’t to cram it full of bacon, but rather just have little salty nuggets dotted throughout.
I have also made the brownie itself a bit more ‘savoury’ than usual. I have added coffee and vanilla salt. It all comes together in one glorious mouthful: fudgey middle, crisp top and very satisfying flavours. Honestly, don’t knock it until you try it!
So here you go, my maple bacon brownies. I would absolutely love it if you made these and let me know what you think – are you a bacon baking convert, or are you sticking to your bacon on butties?
A sweet and savoury sensation – these maple bacon brownies are taking bacon to the next level!
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 275 g dark chocolate chopped
- 250 g soft dark brown sugar
- 3 eggs medium / large
- 80 g 0% Greek yoghurt
- Splash vanilla extract
- 80 g plain / all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch vanilla salt
- 1 tsp instant coffee
- 6 slices smoked streaky bacon
- Maple syrup
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Heat oven to 170c and line a brownie tray.
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Make an espresso-sized coffee and leave to go cold.
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Cook your bacon until it is crispy. I dry fry, but you can grill if you prefer, Pat on kitchen paper to dry and let it cool. Then break it up into little nuggets.
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Melt the butter and chocolate – either in a bain marie or in a bowl over some barely simmering water. set aside to cool for five minutes.
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In a food processor, mix the sugar, eggs, yoghurt and pinch of vanilla salt until light and fluffy. Add the cooled chocolate and butter and mix again. Add the flour and baking powder and pulse until just mixed.
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The mixture needs to be a dropping consistency so judge how much of the cold coffee to add – I added just under half an espresso cup. Do it little by little as you can't undo what you add! Give one final pulse to mix.
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Mix the bacon bits in with a spoon – don't use the processor or you will blitz them. Pour half the mixture into the brownie tray, drizzle maple syrup and cover with the rest of the mixture. Smooth over the top and drizzle with a couple of teaspoons of maple syrup.
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Cook for 40-45 minutes until just cooked through. Cool on a rack and cut when cold. Cut into 12 pieces or 24 bite-sized morsels!
My baking tray is 27cmx18cm. If yours is smaller, the mix will be deeper/need more time. If yours is bigger, the mix will be shallower/need less time. Adjust the times as you see fit.
My ultimate guide to brownies contains loads of tips and recipes – not all as bonkers as this one!
I’m linking up…
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