Bacon-Peanut Truffles and a Giveaway {CLOSED}

Bacon and chocolate?  That's right, baby!  So we live in Oregon and have a place downtown called Voodoo Donuts.  It's pretty well known and popular and the line to actually buy donuts is always out the door and practically around the corner.  I kid you not!  It's known for it's crazy donuts (amongst other things).  One of the hubs favorite donuts there is the maple-bacon bar.  Yep, a donut bar glazed with maple and topped off with bacon.  It's actually pretty darn good.  Don't knock it 'til you try it. : ) In Seaside, Oregon, there are all these candy shops that sell chocolate covered bacon.  Just plain ol' bacon (which I admit can be delicious) dipped in chocolate (which can stand on it's own pretty securely).  I feel like bacon has been rediscovered again, but as a dessert...so of course when I got the Southern Living Magazine, I had to try the Bacon-Peanut Truffles. 

So we had some friends over and I made these little Truffles babies without the bacon on top.  I thought it would be fun to have everyone try one and guess the secret ingredient.  The bacon has a very subtle taste in these.  These truffles were good and fun to eat and very easy to make.  They have a perfect amount of sweetness.  They are not super sweet like a lot of truffles, just sweet (as opposed to lots of sweet, does that make any sense?)

Bacon-Peanut Truffles

Ingredients:  
2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup honey-roasted peanuts
8 thick bacon slices, cooked and divided
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Directions:
1.  Process first 3 ingredients and 6 bacon slices in a food processor 20-30 seconds or until finely ground.  Stir together bacon mixture and peanut butter in a small bowl until smooth.  Cover and chill 2 hours. 

2.  Shape rounded teaspoonfuls of bacon mixture into 3/4 inch balls.  Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet; chill 1 hour.

3.  Chop remaining 2 bacon slices.  Microwave chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals.  Dip chilled bacon balls into chocolate.  Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  Immediately sprinkle tops with bacon.  Chill 30 minutes before serving. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks. 

Makes:  about 2 dozen

Recipe Source:  adapted slightly from Southern Living Magazine, March 2011

Linked to:
Sweets for a Saturday hosted by Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Friday Potluck hosted by EKat's Kitchen, Sweet Tooth Friday hosted by Alli 'n Son, Potluck Sunday hosted by Mommy's Kitchen, Mouthwatering Mondays hosted by A Southern Fairytale, Tuesday Night Supper Club hosted by Fudge Ripple, Totally Tasty Tuesday hosted by Mandy's Recipe Box


For your information:  Pillsbury is calling all cooks to enter their 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off contest.  Entries of original recipes are being accepted now through April 18th to compete for the grand prize of 1 million dollars.  Wow, huh?  100 finalists will be flown to Florida to compete for the grand prize.  I don't know about you, but I could use a trip to Florida. : )  There are tons of other great prizes too!  You can enter a recipe in one of four categories: breakfasts and brunches, appetizers, dinner made easy, and quick and easy treats.  If you are interested in submitting a recipe, check out all the information at http://www.bakeoff.com/.

Now for the giveaway.  This giveaway is for a Pillsbury prize pack including a:

• Pillsbury apron
• Pillsbury recipe book (I just received mine, and there are so many delicious things to try!)
• Pillsbury pen

How to enter (3 ways):
1.  Leave a comment.
2.  Be a follower or become one of my blog. -Leave an additional comment telling me so.
3.  Facebook, Blog, or Tweet about this giveaway. - Leave an additional comment telling me so. 

This giveaway will end on March 5, 2011.

This giveaway prize pack was provided by Pillsbury through MyBlogSpark.