These bacon-wrapped treats don't just look good from the outside, wait until you see the delicious stuffing inside

Cooktop Cove: These bacon-wrapped treats don't just look good from the outside, wait until you see the delicious stuffing inside

By Kate Elliott

Bacon-wrapped, cream cheese-stuffed chicken is the stuff your chicken dreams are made of! The tender chicken gives way to cream cheese that is chock-full of fresh herbs, and it's all wrapped in crisp bacon. Because after all, bacon does make everything better. And the following recipe proves that to be very, very true.

The cream cheese in this recipe must be softened first, or it's going to be too difficult to get into the chicken breasts. Dried herbs can be used here, but this recipe really does pop when fresh ones are included. Lastly, while some prefer to cook their bacon to ensure that it's crisp and heavenly, it's really not necessary. If the bacon isn't fully cooked by the time the chicken is, just turn the broiler on for a few minutes to finish the job.

Bacon-Wrapped Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
12 slices thick-cut bacon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F, and place a wire rack on top of a baking sheet.

2. Using a sharp paring knife, make a slit into the thick part of each chicken breast. Insert the knife further into the chicken breast, and move it along the sides, creating a pocket inside of each chicken breast.

3. Mix together the cream cheese, chives, parsley, dill, salt and black pepper.

4. Place the cream cheese into a piping bag, and squeeze the bag to remove air. Insert the tip of the piping bag into each chicken breast, squeeze the cream cheese filling into each breast.

5. When each of the chicken breasts have been filled, wrap three pieces of bacon around each chicken breast, overlapping them if possible. Place each chicken breast on the wire rack, bacon seam-side down, as it's finished being stuffed and wrapped.

6. When all chicken breasts have been prepared, place the baking sheet into the hot oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until bacon is crisp and chicken is cooked through.

7. If the bacon is not crisp when the chicken is cooked through, turn the broiler on for a few minutes.