Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease and line a 9 inch square tin with parchment paper. Do use parchment paper and not butter paper since the butter paper tends to stick and is not really food grade. If you don't have parchment paper handy, one can use good quality aluminum foil and grease it a little with butter.
Heat a heavy bottom pan, add the streaky bacon bits and cook, stirring occasionally until it starts to crispen a little. Add the honey, stir again and turn off the heat. Spread the fried bacon bits on a plate to cool, if you doing the optional topping in the end you fry that along with this step as well.
Sift the flour and cocoa powder together. Keep aside.
In a glass bowl, melt the butter using the microwave or on the stove top in a heavy bottom pan on low heat. Let it cool for a couple of minutes.
Add the brown sugar and stir well. Let it cool again for 3 minutes. In the meanwhile open and slit the vanilla pod and take out the vanilla seeds. Add them to the sugar and butter mixture. (I prefer to use the vanilla pod seeds in baking but if you find it tedious here is a good quality vanilla extract one can use)
Add one egg at a time, stirring well after each egg. Now add the sifted flour mixture, along with sautxe9ed bacon bits and chopped dark chocolate and if using the chopped walnuts.
Stir will mixed well. Pour the brownie mixture in the prepared tin and bake for 25-30 minutes in a preheated oven. The centre of the brownie should be slight gooey so that you have the perfect brownies.
Let them cool before slicing in neat squares and use a wet knife for cleaner squares.
And oh ya take a bread from the fridge and wipe out the plate in which you had kept the sauted bacon bits and then go back to the bacon brownies. Double heaven!