Candied Whisky Bacon Grilled Cheese Dippers

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350F. While the oven is heating, mix the whiskey (or bourbon) w/1 cup brown sugar & the cayenne pepper in a sml saucepan over med-high heat. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil & then reduce to a simmer for 10 min. Remove from heat & set aside.

Step 2: Place ea strip of bacon directly on a baking sheet, allowing a bit of space between them. This is a video about oven-baking bacon w/tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr4Zv840kys. Brush both sides of the bacon w/the whiskey reduction & then sprinkle the top w/the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar.

Step 3: Place bacon in the oven & cook for 20 min, ck'ing after 12 min. Ovens vary, so you want to be sure the bacon doesn't burn. (Becky Hardin said hers took the full 20 min.

Step 4: Take bacon out of the oven & allow to sit on a paper towel to cool & drain.

Step 5: When ready to make your grilled cheese, heat a lrg skillet over med-high heat.

Step 6: Butter 1 side of ea slice of bread. Lightly sprinkle ea buttered side w/garlic powder.

Step 7: Place ea slice of bread onto the hot skillet, butter side down. Add 1 slice of cheddar cheese & 1 slice of mozzarella to each slice of bread & allow to melt while bread toasts. Cook ea slice of bread for approx 2 min or until the outside is fully toasted & browned to your liking.

Step 8: Place 2 slices of bacon onto 4 pieces of the bread, side-by-side. Top w/the remaining 4 slices of bread = 4 cheesy sandwiches. Sprinkle ea hot sandwich w/a little shredded cheddar (optional). Cut ea sandwich in half (between the bacon slices) to create 8 dippers.

Step 9: SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Yield is 8 dippers, so as a lunch item, serve 2 dippers per person w/a bowl of tomato soup. As an appy or starter course, serve 1 dipper per person w/a sml dish of tomato soup or marinara sauce. If having a Mexican or Tex-Mex meal & you need an appy or starter course for it, try serving 1 dipper per person w/a sml dish of salsa or guacamole.

Step 10: COMMENTS FROM ME: I haven't made this recipe yet, but 2 things occur to me: 1) The amt of whisky (or bourbon) & the amt of brown sugar seem to exceed the need for just 8 slices of bacon, so expect leftovers or adjust as you see fit ... 2) Re the optional topping of extra cheddar cheese - Frankly, we're already on "cheese-overload" by the time we get to that option, so I'd be skipping it w/o hesitation.