A pound of chocolate and a pound of bacon? Add a half pound of nuts? Sounds good. So, with shopping list in hand, this little piggy went to the market.

Sweet And Salty Chocolate Bacon Fudge

Ingredients:

4 (4 ounce) semisweet baking bars, chopped
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 pound bacon, cooked until crisp
2 cups chopped toasted pecans

Directions:

1. Line an 8 x 8 inch baking pan with foil. Grease the foil with cooking spray.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the chocolate, milk, butter and cream. Cook over low heat and stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.

3. Crumble bacon (see below for a nifty method to cook bacon in the oven) and reserve 1/4 cup. Stir pecans and remaining bacon into chocolate mixture. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Smooth top with spatula.

4. Sprinkle reserved 1/4 cup bacon over chocolate mixture, pressing down gently. Cover and chill for 4 hours or until set.

5. Cut into squares to serve.

Makes about 64 pieces

Recipe from Cooking With Paula Deen Magazine

Oven Cooked Bacon

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with foil.

2. Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven. Close oven door. Turn oven on to 400°F.

3. Cook for about 20 minutes. As soon as the bacon is golden brown, but not excessively crisp, it’s done. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the bacon slices, and also on how quickly your oven reaches the target temperature.

4. Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer the bacon to another sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb the grease.

Tips:

1. Don’t pre-heat the oven. Make sure the oven is cold when you put the bacon in.

2. Keep your eye on the bacon during the final few minutes of cooking to make sure that it doesn’t burn. Also, remove the cooked bacon from the hot pan right away. The heat from the pan and the hot bacon fat will continue cooking the bacon.

Bacon cooking method from Danilo Alfaro on About.com

Did you know:
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even- toed ungulates.

Ungulates. Yes, ma’am.
Michael Hall-Put Down That Pig

Admiral Fallow-Squealing Pigs

That’s All Folks

Cheers!

Note: Post edited on 12/12/12 to include an omission in the original directions.