Get Your BJs at The Swinery

​Bacon Joys are just one of the many bacon-filled sweet treats offered at The Swinery. There are also bacon caramels, bacon chocolate chip cookies and bacon shortbread (which I'll get to later). The Bacon Joys are moist little nuggets of coconut, almonds, chocolate and bacon. I realize as I write this that I just paid $9 for 6 of them, when in fact, there is a sign in their case that advertises 12 for the same price. Either way, they're really delicious and worth the extra dough. I tried a prototype last summer and thought they were a little disgusting -- too crunchy, too smoky, not enough sweet. But something happened in the kitchen between then and now, making these candies beyond edible. Bacon Joys, while not new, are no longer an official Swinery product; they are made by the Swinery's baker, Johnny Legs, who has opened his own business, Sugar & Salt.

​The Bacon Joys, which are baked fresh daily, come nestled in a pretty little box covered with a sheet of paper. You won't notice any bacon bits or strips of bacon peering out at you when you chomp into one; instead, you'll see strands of coconut and a large almond. The bacon taste is subtle, which makes for a nice contrast to the mildly sweet coconut and chocolate.

​For bacon that is way less subtle, try these little guys: Bacon Shortbread ($4.50). You can smell the waves of bacon being released as soon as you open the bag. The hearty bacon-flavor works well with the copious amounts of butter used to make these things; the entire cookie literally melts in your mouth. Unlike the Bacon Joys, there are chewy bits of bacon in these cookies which you'll still be gnawing on after the shortbread portion is gone.

I was also told the caramels were a must-try item, but at $7.50 a bag, and my lukewarm feelings about caramel, I skipped them. What I would return for is one of Johnny's giant brownies. Baconless. The way brownies should be.