Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

I love coming up with special recipes for Derby week and these two snack items would be perfect to put out for guests at your Derby party or tailgate this weekend!

The cheese wafers are inspired by a Kentucky hot brown, which is always topped with a white cheddar sauce and bacon. They are easy to make in advance and smell amazing while baking away in the oven. Good Foods Market & Café carries beautiful local bacon and white cheddar, which make these wafers even more delicious.

The Bourbon Pecan Trail mix combines the pecans, chocolate, and bourbon that I love so much in Derby pie, but adds in dried fruit for a tasty snack. Pick up pecans in the bulk foods aisle at Good Foods and try out some of their fair trade chocolate chips and assorted dried fruits.

White Cheddar and Bacon Wafers

1 stick butter, softened
8 ounces grated white cheddar cheese
¼ cup bacon bits, finely diced
Dash cayenne pepper
Pinch salt
1 ¼ cups flour

In a mixer, combine the butter, cheese, bacon bits, cayenne, and salt until well combined. Add in the flour and mix to form a dough. Divide the dough into two portions and roll into logs. Wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the dough logs into thin wafers and place on baking sheets. Bake until lightly brown and crisp, about 14-17 minutes.

Bourbon Pecan Trail Mix

1 egg white
2 tbsp bourbon
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp salt
3 cups pecans
1 ½ cups assorted chocolate chips (dark or milk chocolate, white chocolate, butterscotch, etc)
1 ½ cups dried fruit (raisins, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, etc.)

Whisk the egg white, bourbon, sugar, brown sugar and salt until thick and slightly foamy. Toss pecans in egg white mixture until they are covered and transfer onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, stirring with a spatula every 5 minutes, until nut mixture is dry and nuts are toasted. Cool completely, then mix with chocolate chips and dried fruit.