Bacon Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark

Recipe by Stephane at www.LegumeLoyalist.com. Adapted by Sara Lewis.
This recipe makes 1 sheet of bark.

Ingredients:

1 package of Boss Hog’s Maple Bacon
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 regular size bag of mini pretzels
12-oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds (optional)
sea salt (optional)

Preparation:

Wrap two baking sheets with tin foil. Lay out the Maple Bacon on one sheet and set the other aside. Place the bacon tray in the oven, then preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook bacon for 17-20 minutes then remove from oven. Cut up a few slices (however many you’d like) into small chunks. Don’t turn off the oven as you’ll use it again to cook the caramel.

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. As it melts, cover the other baking sheet in an even layer of mini pretzels. (You may not use the entire bag.)

2. Once the butter is melted, add the sugar and stir to incorporate. Allow the sugar and butter to softly simmer and bubble, but don’t let it boil. Stir occasionally. The browning process should take about three minutes from when it starts to bubble.

3. Once the sugar and butter have caramelized, there are a few ways that you can add your bacon in: You can mix your bacon chunks into the caramel, layer it in between the caramel and chocolate, mix it into the chocolate, or all three options. If you want to include the bacon in the caramel, mix it in then pour the mixture evenly over the pretzels on the baking sheet. Strafing it back and forth down the length of the sheet works well. The caramel hardens pretty quickly so it’s important to pour it as evenly as possible from the start. If you end up with any clumps, just use a spatula to spread the caramel as best as you can. Bake the pretzel-caramel mixture in the oven for 5-7 minutes.

4. In the meantime, set up a double boiler. Fill a saucepan about a quarter full of water. Place the pot over a medium flame. Take a large, heatproof bowl and set it on top of the saucepan. Be sure that the water in the pot will not touch the bottom of the dish, otherwise your chocolate will burn! Pour the chocolate chips into the bowl and stir constantly until they’re completely melted. If you’d like to add the bacon to your chocolate, go ahead and mix in some chunks after your chocolate is completely melted.

5. By this time the pretzel-caramel mixture should be done and out of the oven. If you want to layer bacon in between your caramel and chocolate, sprinkle your chunks onto of the caramel, then pour the chocolate over the pretzel-caramel mixture evenly, again careful to spread chocolate back and forth down the length of the sheet.

6. Spread any remaining thick spots of chocolate with a spatula. The bacon will add a bit of salty flavor to your bark, but if you want an extra little bit of salt, sprinkle sea salt evenly over the bark. Alternately, you can sprinkle some finely chopped almonds over the chocolate to add that extra nutty texture. Place it in the fridge to cool and harden for about an hour. Once it’s done, the tin foil should pull off easily and you can break the sheet into smaller, bark-like pieces.

Categorized in: Bacon Recipes