It's OK to indulge every once and and a while.

Pat's Note: I wrote a post on September 22, 2016 for Smoky Espresso Brownies. As delicious as they were, this round 2 version of this recipe is, in my opinion, even better. They both incorporate our Bacon Donut Bonanza baking blend, but this recipe really gets the salty/sweet flavor we were going for.

Pat and I started Wayward Gourmet with an eye toward combining our desire to maintain a healthy lifestyle with our passion for really tasty food.  As a result most of our products are unique, low calorie/salt blends and rubs that you can use to add instant flavor and health benefits (spices and herbs contain an astonishing nutrient value) to your everyday meals.  However, I do not have quite as healthy of a palette as Pat does and it’s a constant challenge for him to keep me from eating like I did when I was five.  To traverse this, he does most of the cooking in our home.  

From time to time though I like to offset his crazy healthy meals with a baked treat.  Hence  the creation of our two baking blends: “Bacon Donut Bonanza” and “Apple of my Pie”.  By the way, “from time to time” equates to about every other day in my sweet treat vocabulary.  And I have a theory that Pat secretly doesn’t mind so much.  For example, I made these bacon donut brownies the other day.  Pat comes home to the sweet smell of warm chocolate, sees me in the kitchen covered in flour, and says “what are you doing making brownies!?”  You know, like he disapproved or something.  Fast forward a couple of hours and Pat eats two brownies.  Two.  Back to back.  No healthy food in between. Or workout for that matter.  Just two glorious salty, sweet, fudgy brownies down the hatch.  And it gets better.  After our dessert we started talking about what we wanted to do over the weekend.  

We’ve been pretty cooped up with snow and frigid temperatures these past few months so we wanted to get out of the house (nevermind that it turned out to be approximately 11 degrees and blustery all weekend).  Pat suggested that we go see “Hairspray” at our local theater.  I can’t even make that up.  This grown man whose favorite pastimes are (1) grilling and (2) doing stuff to his Jeep, suggested that we go watch “Hairspray” at the theater.  I credit the brownies.  There is no other explanation.  And I just can’t keep this recipe from you.

These brownies are so simple to make and they will rock your world.  Grab yourself a jar of our Bacon Donut Bonanza and try them out today!  By the way, one jar goes a long way so when it arrives you will have pan after pan of these delightful chocolatey treats in your sights.

Brownie Batter Ingredients

• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder OR cacao powder (for a richer brownie)
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons Bacon Donut Bonanza
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder

Frosting Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder OR cacao powder (for richer frosting)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 Tablespoon milk, if needed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease and flour an 8 or 9 inch square or round pan
3. In a large saucepan, melt ½ cup butter (be careful not to burn). Remove from heat, and stir in sugar.  
4. Allow the butter and sugar mixture to cool for a couple of minutes.  Beat in the eggs once the mixture has cooled as well as 1 teaspoon vanilla.
5. In a separate bowl, combine ¼ cup cocoa or cacao, ½ cup flour, 2 tablespoons Bacon Donut Bonanza, and ¼ teaspoon baking powder.  Gently fold into wet mixture just until combined and mostly smooth.
6. Spread batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. If you’re using a 9 inch pan, check right at 25 minutes.  If you’re using an 8 inch pan you may need to bake them for the full 30 minutes.  But whatever you do, be careful not to overbake.  The brownies are done when a toothpick or knife blade inserted to the center of the pan of brownies comes out clean.
8. While brownies are baking, make frosting as follows:  Combine 3 tablespoons melted butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa or cacao, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Stir until smooth. If frosting is too thick, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency.  
9. Frost brownies while they are still warm.  Allow to cool completely before serving.

Let us know how it turned out, we love to see your creations on Instagram #WaywardGourmet and Twitter @WaywardGourmet. Send em to us and we'll post your deliciousness on our site.