Bacon and brownies, what do you think?

I ask you, “Who doesn’t like those two yummy foods?” Well my friend Kim, proprietor of The Healthy Café Food Truck in Albany, NY is our guest blogger today.

Kim and crew of the Healthy Café Food Truck pull into downtown Albany each day loaded with fresh and delicious healthy food. From wraps to salads tossed with a joke or two:

“If two vegetarians get into a fight, is it still called a beef?”

So how does the Bacon Brownies dessert get a spot on the healthy menu? Who cares, they rock! Kim obviously makes her brownies for the hungry masses in Albany so I will pair it down for a small batch. My original blog for Weekend at the Beach Brownies follows below.

Please note that a perfectly good box brownie mix also does the trick.

What you need:

• Cooked chopped bacon – amount is up to you!
• 2 sticks of butter
• 8 ounces of semisweet chocolate or some combination thereof. I used what I had in the cabinet- a combination of semi-sweet and bittersweet.
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Then line it with buttered parchment paper. I use binder clips to keep the parchment in place when filling the pan and through the baking process.

Using a double boiler over simmering water melt the butter, chocolate, and sugars together. Cool slightly. You can microwave it but not too high, it will scorch the chocolate.

In a large bowl or mixer, whisk eggs then add/whisk in salt and vanilla. Slowly whisk in the chocolate mixture.

Gently fold in flour just until combined.

Ready? Fold in cooked chopped bacon. (as much as you want!)

Pour mixed batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle a few more pieces of bacon now, if you wish.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. My oven is fast, and they were done in 25.  Cool in pan on rack.

They are spectacular both slightly warm or at room temperature.

Now grab a nice ice-cold glass of milk and enjoy. Thank you, Kim, for your dedication to all that’s healthy yet not leaving out the fun part!