Yea, I don’t think it will work. You could pre-cook and partially fry the bacon until it is semi crispy, yet still pliable, and wrap the cheese with that then dunk in the batter and deep fry, but I suspect that the results will be less than desirable. You want a nice crispy bacon explosion, not some limp rubbery bacon dud. You can go two ways with this. The solution is to incorporate crispy fried bacon into either the batter or the cheese.
Here is a recipe I found by way of the batter solution… it sounds very tasty.
Fontina Bacon Fritters {Serves 6}
1 cup milk
½ cup unsalted butter, diced
1 cup flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup grated fontina cheese
About 3 eggs
6 slices bacon, diced and cooked until crispy
Salt and cracked black pepper
To prepare the fritters, place the milk and butter in a saucepan and cook until the butter is melted and the mixture comes to a boil. Add all of the flour at once and mix until smooth and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Lower the heat and cook for about 2 minutes to dry the mixture out. Remove from the heat and place in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle. Add the garlic and cheese and mix until smooth. With the machine running add the eggs one at a time just until a soft dough forms. Remove from the mixer and fold in the crispy bacon. Season with salt and black pepper. Set a side until ready to use.
Heat about 3 inches of vegetable oil until it reaches 350 degrees. Drop the batter in a spoonful at a time. Add only as much of the batter that will fit without overcrowding. Cook until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sea salt. Finish with remaining batter. Serve warm
And here’s my recipe improvisation by way of the cheese incorporation solution…
Cheezy Bacon Balls
1 package of bacon (12-16oz.)
1 pound of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 pound of grated Cheddar Cheese
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
Fry the bacon until crispy*, add the coarsely crumbled bacon to the softened cream cheese along with the grated cheddar. Stir or knead this mixture until all ingredients are well incorporated and one homogenous, sticky, cheeze product.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the eggs and milk. Mix until smooth. Add more milk for a thinner batter.
Make one inch balls from the bacony, cheezy goodness (or you could make cheeze sticks) and roll in a bit of flour. Dip the cheeze into the batter and deep fry for about 5-6 minutes at 350F.
Drain on paper towels and serve.
*You could baconate your cooking oil by deep frying the bacon in the vegetable oil, crisco, or lard, or whatever you might use. Then use that oil for frying the Cheeze balls.