I always get so many positive comments - I felt like giving something back. And the best thing I can give - is this recipe. Bacon and cheese shortbread.  It...will probably kill you. Try and share.It's so, so, so good.  If you don't have the smoked paprika, I think, I'll let you make this recipe just once without buying some. But, before you make it again --and you WILL make it again -- I insist that you go get some. 

Paradise Lost Bacon-Cheese Shortbread

4 tablespoons butter, cut up into little chunks

4 strips of bacon (more if it's lean - you'll see why)

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

1 cup flour. (Please, not Gold Medal brand. It smells bad.)

1 teaspoon smoked paprika. (If smoked paprika does not live in your house, smoked paprika should live in your house. It makes everything better. Correction - everything that DOESN'T contain chocolate.)

1/2 teaspoon salt.

Parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 375. 

In a heavy saucepan with a little bit of butter on the bottom, cook your bacon super-crispy. Super, super, super crispy. Try and do it as slow as you can, so you can get it crispy without burning it. 

Remove bacon. Reserve fat. Seriously. There should be at least 4 tablespoons, maybe a bit more. Let it cool for a bit. This is a good time to shred up your cheese, if you haven't already. 

Put the cheese in a large bowl, with the chunked up butter, flour, salt and paprika. Using a pastry blender, or a pair of knives, cut the butter, cheese, and flour together, then add the cooled bacon fat.  A dough should form fairly quickly. If it doesn't, add a bit more butter - and if that doesn't work, squeeze it together with your hands. 

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, and drop the dough in rounded, quarter-sized balls. Flatten with the bottom of a shot glass. If that's not handy, I don't know...find something else to flatten them with. 

Crumble your reserved bacon into tiny bits, and press a bit or two into the top of each round. 

Bake at 375 10-12 minutes until vaguely solid.