Where Bacon and Bakin' Meet

My OG* Neal is not a fan of sweets. He is, however, a voracious bacon lover. These facts have become legend around the workplace, so we recently killed time waiting for a meeting by tossing around the idea of bacon desserts with a couple of our fellow worker bees.

Out of this came the preliminary recipe for bacon/maple cheesecake. The more I thought about it, the more I mentally worked out the concept. I became obsessed. Then I made one. It didn't really work out as well as I had hoped.

I learned some lessons; I'd make a few changes if I tried it again, but mostly I was just disappointed and disillusioned with the whole idea. Luckily I used the leftover ingredients to create something wonderful, easy, and delicious, which I would definitely make again. Not wanting to be a failure, I offer the world:


Bacon Dumplings

You need:
     1/2 cup candied bacon** (chopped into very small pieces)
     4oz (half pkg) softened cream cheese
     Pie crust dough
     Mixture of equal parts egg whites + pure maple syrup

Mix together bacon and cream cheese in a bowl
Roll out pie dough and cut into squares, about 2" by 2"
Place a spoonful of bacon/cheese mix in the center of each dough square, and fold up the sides so the filling is completely covered
Place dumplings seam-side down on a parchment lined baking sheet
Brush all exposed areas of the dumpling with egg/syrup mixture
Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes
Serve warm or room temperature

There are so many variations that could be made: savory version using plain cooked bacon and no syrup; Italian-inspired with garlic and a little fresh basil... so many ideas. I love these little snacks. I wish I had some right now!

It's so nice that something good came out of the sad cheesecake. And now everyone knows what appetizers I'll be bringing to their parties! If I was ever invited to parties. I mean. Um.

Nevermind.


*Original Gay
**There are lots of methods to create candied bacon, the link is just one. It doesn't really matter what you do, as long as the end product is cooked bacon coated with caramelized sugar