Saturday, February 26, 2011

Saltine Toffee Bacon Bark - Simple Saturday

Sometimes you need a sweet treat, and you need it in a hurry. I'm not one for buying a box of cookies - where's the fun in that? That's where these salty, chocolate, caramel, and bacon.......(HOLD IT, WHAT?), yes bacon bark treats come in.
SALTINE TOFFEE BACON BARK

This post came from my sweet/sour relationship with having a bunch of teenagers over to my house. The sweet part is: I know where my son is and what he's doing every moment. The sour part is: I know where 19 other teenagers are because you can't miss the racket and mess they are leaving in every place they breathe. My son is part of his High School Comedy Sports Team and they have rehearsal twice a week...in homes. And, I'll admit, it's so fun to watch these talented, intelligent and truly funny personalities attacking word games, spoofing cultural icons and satirizing political rhetoric. But they're teens and that means hyper-everything, from drama to spraying the counters every time they turn the water on, to somehow changing the direction the area rug is facing.

When they rehearse at our house, I like to prepare a sweet treat and usually I have a few days to play and create something - who knows, even sneak in something healthy.This week, I got 1 hour notice~ It was a called rehearsal because they had a chance to perform in a benefit, so it was understandable and my son "volunteered" our place. I love that he feels comfortable with us to want his team over here, but it doesn't give ya a lot of time to prepare.

I'll be serving these to adults, now that they've passed the hardest focus group around: Teens.

Dash to the cupboard and throw this together:RECIPE: Saltine Toffee Bacon Bark

1 pack of saltine (or like) crackers
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup cream
9-12 ozs. dark chocolate (disks, chips or chunks)
1/2 cup (or more) toasted chopped pecans (or other nuts)
2-3 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled (*obviously this is optional, but it gave it that extra special salty bite)

1) Line the crackers facing up, side to side in a lined baking pan.
2) In a saucepan, heat the brown sugar and cream to boiling and simmer gently for about 5 minutes, stirring.
3) Carefully pour the brown sugar toffee over the crackers in your pan and bake in the oven on preheated 350F for about 5 minutes.
4) Remove the pan from the oven and immediately sprinkle the chocolate all over the toffee. Let rest for a few minutes, then using a spatula, spread the melted chocolate out evenly.
5) Sprinkle with chopped nuts and bacon and allow to cool for 15 more minutes.
6) Place in the refrigerator to help set the chocolate for about 20 minutes or more.

Break into pieces and serve, or you can hold in an airtight container or freezer for a couple days.

I haven't tried this, but I bet it would be great with graham crackers as a bottom, or butterscotch chips on top. Hmmm, let me go check the cupboard again. :D Thanks for stopping by!

4 comments:

chow and chatter said...

wow so gourmet and you made it look so easy i bet they gobbled it up

Anonymous said...

my only questions are, do you think they'd notice if you crushed the tiniest bit of valium in amongst the porcine goodness..and does it make me a bad mother because I don't think this is an entirely bad idea?
looks beautiful

Susan said...

neat recipe.

oneordinaryday said...

I love this stuff! We've topped it with mini m&ms, marshmallows, etc. but bacon never crossed my mind. Genius! :)