Coffee Bacon Sandwiches
You guys! Um… everything is seriously BONKERS right now!
a) there’s coffee on my bacon.
b) there’s a TON of you at my first book signing.
c) i’m out in the world wearing a blazer and pretending that I’m not shy.
And things have only just begun to get crazy. I’m about to get crazy (and totally wear a blazer) in a city near you!
But first, Coffee Bacon… yet another recipe from the Joy the Baker Cookbook, and one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever shoved into my face.
Here’s a peek at my very first book signing! Whoa, dudes. Standing room only? How is this a thing that’s even possible!?
Thank you for coming out. Thanks for all the hugs and laughs. I’ll post more of your smiling faces soon!
Bacon is good. Bacon certainly doesn’t need any help from little ol’ me.
But. Well. Why not give it a little face-lift just for fun?
I mixed together ground coffee beans, brown sugar, molasses, chili powder, and a bit of water, and created a loose paste.
You know how bacon comes in a package layered and staggered? I poured the coffee mixture over the staggered bacon and let it marinate for a few hours. After some time, I removed the bacon from the fridge, and removed just some of the coffee marinade. I baked it up crisp… and it’s almost sandwich time!
This fancy-ish sandwich would not be complete without a homemade spread.
Goat cheese is the start. I placed goat cheese in a bowl and mashed it together with dates, lemon zest, lemon juice, and chili flakes. Mashing requires just a bowl, a fork, and a good amount of pressure. Totally technical. I know.
Here’s what’s happening here:
a) lightly buttered and toasted bread.
b) fresh spinach.
c) bright, tangy, and sweet goat cheese spread. The sweetness is a nice compliment to the salty bacon.
d) coffee bacon! If you’re not excited about this… if you’re still looking at me with a strange face, let me explain. Coffee marinated bacon doesn’t bake up with a strong coffee flavor. The coffee bakes out a bit and lends a depth and richness to the coffee. Molasses give the bacon some deep sweetness, and chili powder adds some quality kick. If you’re skeptical… I totally get it. I just think t hat smashing breakfast items together is cool. Give it a try. I really do think you’ll be surprised!
I’m out in the world being weird with my cookbook, White on Rice Couple, Cristina Ferrera, and Kitchen Aid. I don’t even want to tell you:
a) how many carbs I have to consume to eat my way out of shyness.
b) how truly excited I am to meet you out in the world.
c) just how much I want you to make coffee bacon, because you might think me creepy.
photo from momfluential.net
Coffee Bacon Sandwiches
makes 8 pieces of bacon and enough spread 4 sandwiches
coffee bacon recipe from Joy the Baker Cookbook
For the Bacon:
8 slices uncooked bacon
1/4 cup freshly ground coffee
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon water
For the Spread:
4 ounces goat cheese
4 medjool dates, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
For the Sandwich:
fresh baby spinach leaves
crusty, toasted bread
Lay cascading bacon slices atop one another so that the fat is on top. Place bacon on top of a piece of plastic wrap or brown butcher paper.
In a small bowl, stir together ground coffee, chili powder, brown sugar, molasses, and water. Spread the mixture on top of the bacon slices, pressing with the back of a spoon. The coffee topping will only be on the top, fatted rim of the bacon. Wrap the bacon and coffee in the plastic wrap or butcher paper and place in the fridge. You may want to put the mixture in a large sealable back to prevent any leaking. Let sit for 2 hours of overnight.
When ready to bake, place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pay separate bacon slices on the paper in a single layer. If you prefer, you can wipe some of the ground coffee marinade off before baking. The majority of the coffee will only be on the top layer of the bacon slice.
Bake until browned and crisp, 14 to 17 minutes, or until bacon has reached your desired crispiness. Remove from the oven, allow to drain on a piece of paper towel and assemble goat cheese spread.
To make the Spread: In a medium bowl, place goat cheese, pitted dates, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and red pepper flakes. Use a fork to mash the ingredients together. Mash until well incorporated. Add a touch more lemon juice or olive oil to reach your desired consistency.
Spread goat cheese mixture on buttered and toasted bread. Top with coffee bacon and fresh spinach. Serve immediately.
151 Comments Add A Comment
Joy , I am so happy for you, I knew that your book signings would go above and beyond what you ever imagined.
God Bless You! , Iam sure He’s mighty proud :)
Dear Joy,
Your cookbook arrived Friday…I went off to the ballet, but all I could think about
as I watched Giselle (very sad) was your cookbook awaiting me on my kitchen
counter and that made me very happy!
Joy, you’re adorable (blazer and all). I’m excited to see you when you come to St. Louis. Thanks as always for your wit and warmth…and delicious recipes of course. Happy travels!
Joy-
I got your cookbook in the mail 2 days ago and I’ve really been enjoying reading through all of your notes at the beginning of the recipes (my dad puts molasses on waffles also, too weird!). I’ve already tried the Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie pies. They were de-lish!
I cannot wait to see you and Tracy in Seattle!
Judging by the amount of goat cheese spread I’ve eaten with a spoon, I’d say that these sandwiches will be a success. :-) Thank you for your brilliance, Joy!
Joy! I stumbled on your blog right before your book release. Can I just say HOW EXCITED I WAS when I found out that you were releasing a book!?!? Can’t wait to be locked in my kitchen exploring new recipes! :) thanks again!
I just got your cookbook in the mail and I am so excited. It is absolutely gorgeous! You did such a beautiful job. Can’t wait to start baking some of these delicious items!
So nice to meet you today at your Huntington Beach book signing! My daughter was happy to meet a ‘real baker’ and I enjoyed learning about your Aunt Dee Dee too. Thank you for retaking my photos again and again. I swear I’m not a weirdo, just a bonafied blinker! It takes me a while to get my Picts right… Please thank Michael for wanting to get me the perfect picture. Please forward to my email whenever you can.
really so wonderful to meet you! thank you for coming out! such a sweet family!
I’ve been making a variation of this. Adding sweetness, coffee and even cocoa to meat give it a rich flavor. People never notice that the flavor is “coffee” or “chocolate”. I’ve always thrown a dash of brown sugar into my bacon while cooking.
The sandwich I make is also very similar, including using goat cheese, except I used basil instead of the spinach (and obviously not so much).
I would love to print out the Coffee Bacon sandwich recipe, but I’ve tried every way possible, and nothing prints. Has anyone else had this problem?
should be fixed!! so sorry about that!
Thank you! Got it!!
Congrats on the new cookbook! How exciting! Love your blog and this wonderful sandwich looks amazing!
OH. MY. WORD. I love your cookbook… and…sniffle… I know I’ll never meet you because I’m stuck in the Northwoods of upper Wisconsin,,, NOBODY ever comes here. But I know your book is going to set some kind of record for sales. Seriously. I only JUST discovered you (thank Ree Drummond) and couldn’t be happier to have done so! And don’t sweat being shy. Seriously. So am I. But I was in sales for 30 years and was at the absolute top of my gig and nobody ever knew how much I was “putting on my people face”. So go get’ ‘em, Joy!!
I made this sandwich this weekend. Actually the bacon was the very first thing from the cookbook I made. (I was limited to one thing a day by my hubby in order to preserve our waistlines.) I must tell you it was the most amazing combination of flavors. Over the course of our Saturday, my husband and I finished a loaf of bread and the entire package of bacon. We then used the last bit of spread swirled into mac and cheese.
Thank you for having amazing recipes and I can’t wait to meet you in Chicago.
I made this last night for the family and they were devoured…luckily, I saved back some bacon for my breakfast and lunch today. So good, can’t wait to make it again for guests.
YUMMM. bacon :)
Best. Sandwich. Ever. Truly! I posted my review here, with a plethora of credit coming your way (naturally): http://pineatreview.com/2012/03/06/coffee-bacon-sandwiches-joy-the-baker/
I made this last week for breakfast–so delicious! Also, i JUST placed the order for your book!
You had me at coffee bacon. Cheers!
does this need to be finely ground coffee? or just regularly ground (semi-coarse)? thanks!
Hello,
I didn’t see the recipe which combines bacon and coffee so far. It’s really interesting.
Omg this looks absolutely delish!! Gonna nudge my husband to do this for me one day :)
Somehow you packed just about every food I love into one sandwich, bless you for putting this together! Just re-found your blog and I’m so happy to have done so!
I’m cooking for one here, and I’m wondering how long the bacon will keep after cooking. Can’t wait to make them!!!
Oh yes, yes, yes! I love a good bacon sandwich for breakfast. This look so good.