I am a bacon fiend and I will put it in EVERYTHING!
Sorry not sorry.
Seriously though, bacon has this impossibly brilliant way of working with sweet caramelly flavours that I just love… and am powerless to.
Ingredients
For the shortbread layer:
185g butter, room temperature
75g caster sugar
150g plain flour
75g cornflour
For the bacon caramel pecan layer:
8 slices of streaky bacon (completely optional!)
100g unsalted butter
75g honey
100g light brown sugar
20ml double cream
250g pecans, roughly chopped
Method
Preheat oven to 180ºC.
Place the slices of bacon on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and cook in the oven for 15 minutes until crispy. Leave to cool, then break into small pieces.
Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Mix the flour and cornflour into the butter and sugar mixture until it just starts to come together as a dough.
Line a 20x20cm baking tin with greaseproof paper and press the dough evenly into the tin.
Bake for 20 minutes, then allow to cool.
For the topping, place the butter, honey, and brown sugar into a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook on a low heat until the butter has melted, using a wooden spoon to stir. Increase the heat, and bring to the boil for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Stir in the double cream, pecans and bacon.
Pour over the shortbread layer and spread along the surface.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into bars and serve.
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