Peach Habanero Pig Shots Recipe
As featured in our July/August "Sticky Situation" Box
Some bites are dangerous, and these are the good kind of dangerous. Peach Habanero Pig Shots take crispy cups of thick-cut bacon, pack them with a creamy sausage-and-cheddar filling, and finish them under a glossy glaze of Kosmos Q Peach Habanero BBQ Sauce. The result is smoky, rich, and sweet up front with a slow-building habanero heat on the back end. They come together in about 25 minutes of prep and reward you with two hours of patience at the smoker.
The flavor foundation here is a generous pinch of Bless Yer Heart BBQ Rub by The Spice Guy worked right into the cream cheese filling. Its honey, hickory, and ancho notes give the sausage a sweet Southern backbone that plays perfectly against the peach-and-pepper glaze. Run your smoker at 275°F and lean on fruit woods like apple or cherry, which echo the peach in the sauce and keep the whole bite tasting bright rather than heavy.
The one trick that makes or breaks a pig shot is keeping the bacon cup intact through a 90-minute cook, and this is where a set of GrillPinz earns its keep. Unlike toothpicks, they won't burn out or loosen as the bacon renders, so your cups hold their shape from the smoker all the way to the plate. Wrap each sausage round, pin it, fill it just above the rim, and let the smoke do its work for 60 to 75 minutes before you brush on the sauce and let it caramelize for a final 15 to 20.
A couple of pro tips before you fire up: set your filled cups on a wire rack or mesh grilling mat (available in the Pitmaster Shop) for even bacon rendering and painless cleanup, and top each shot with a fresh jalapeño round before the final cook if you want a little extra heat and a sharp-looking finish. Just remember to pull the GrillPinz before serving.
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Share Your CookWatch: Wrap, Pin, Fill
Pin the bacon before it renders and the cups hold their shape start to finish.
8-12
25 minutes
1 hours 30 minutes
Crispy bacon cups stuffed with a creamy, cheesy sausage filling and glazed with the sweet heat of Kosmos Q Peach Habanero BBQ Sauce. These little bites are smoky, rich, and dangerously easy to eat.
Directions
Preheat your smoker to 275°F. Fruit woods like apple or cherry work especially well here, complementing the peach notes in the sauce.
Slice the smoked sausage into rounds about ¾-inch thick. These will form the base of each pig shot.
Wrap a strip of thick-cut bacon around the outside edge of each sausage round, forming a cup shape, and secure with a GrillPinz. Unlike toothpicks, GrillPinz won't burn out or loosen during the cook, so your cups stay intact all the way through.
In a mixing bowl, combine softened cream cheese, shredded cheddar, diced jalapeño, garlic powder, and a generous pinch of Bless Yer Heart BBQ Rub by The Spice Guy. Mix until fully incorporated. The filling should be thick and scoopable.
Spoon or pipe the filling into each bacon cup, filling it just above the rim. A piping bag or zip-lock with the corner cut makes this step clean and fast.
Arrange the filled cups on a wire rack and place on the smoker. Cook for 60 to 75 minutes, until the bacon is rendered and starting to crisp up around the edges.
Brush each cup generously with Kosmos Q Peach Habanero BBQ Sauce, making sure to coat the filling as well as the bacon.
Continue cooking for 15 to 20 minutes until the sauce caramelizes and the bacon is fully crisped. Optional: top each shot with a fresh jalapeño round before the final cook for a finishing touch that matches the heat.
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