CHOC. CAYENNE, BACON, PEANUT BUTTER, CARAMEL BAR

TRICK ?...OR TREAT ?!...

the trick is....not to tell anyone what in the treat before the first bite...

seems like the second they hear bacon or cayenne the nose turns up. well, mine would have to untill i started experimenting with candy...meet my first candy bar concoction..

THE CRAZY NUTTY BACON BAR?

yeah, yeah, yeah...you might all be sick of the bacon and chocolate invasion. i know something has run it's course when they have it all over the Food Network. it seems like it's no longer an exotic strange phenomenon when everybody has seen it or heard of it.

well, sorry to say, i haven't lost the obsession for it yet. i guess i'm still on that "BACON MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER" train.

this is just one of many different little gems i came up with. how can ya go wrong with these main ingredients

bacon, bacon, more bacon...thick is always prefered

chocolate...i just used dipping chocolate (haven't really explored good chocolate yet)

caramel...homemade is prefered

peanut butter...chunky (choosy moms choose JIFF)

cayenne or arbol ground chili

how it works...

first i nuked the bacon. watch it closely if you do it this way. i like this method because the paper towels suck up all the fat and they come out in nice flat strips with less grease. sometimes i have to go the extra mile and pop them in the toaster oven to get them even crispier. crispy-crunchy is key.

next is the caramel...dipp the bacon. i cut the slices in half. let those cool and harden on a silpat or lightly buttered wax paper. 1st time i made the mistake of using plain wax paper...woops is all i can say about that.

then...dip the caramel strips in chcolate. i used th double boiler method. i think it makes it easier to keep the chocolate dippable for a longer period of time.

now...you might want to stop here. these are already quite tasty, but the second time around i wanted more and i wanted peanut buttter in the mix so i slathered one side with peanut butter and i even sprinkled extra chopped salted peanuts on top.

finally...dip, or carefully with a knife, get this whole thing covered in chocolate. it gets a bit messy and it's best not to get the peanut butter mixed into the chocolate while your working, so keep your knife clean. i must say, the addition of the salted peanuts is great.

oh..and don't forget the cayenne. i think i sprinkled that on after the caramel dipping.

the end result is a pretty ugly, but incredible candy bar. i know i will soon learn about tempering and all that goes along with candy making, but for now i'm having fun just learning as i go.

so, anyway you try this will come out delicious. you really can't go wrong with the main ingredients. as a matter of fact, i justbought another slab of bacon that i'm going to work with tomorrow. some of it might have to go into peanut brittle and the rest?...we'll see.