Will the third time be the charm for Lenore Klass? The folks in Koloa are crossing fingers and toes that their friendly neighborhood baker will leave Kauai in October and return home in November a millionaire.

Klass’ Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Bacon Tartlets earned her a finalist spot in the 47th Annual Pillsbury Bake-Off, the grand prize of which is $1 million. The annual competition draws bakers from across the country, and 100 are selected to compete for the top prize. The finals take place Nov. 3 in Nashville, Tenn.

Klass, 79, is no stranger to baking contests. She learned to bake at age 9 and hasn’t stopped since. Over the decades, she’s earned a stack of blue ribbons, and in the Pillsbury contest, became a finalist on her first try in 2010 with a banana-peanut butter tart. In fact, the dessert earned her a Jif Peanut Butter prize of $5,000.

But just cracking the top 100 was quite a feat: Many bakers enter year after year without making a dent. In 2012, Klass was again named a finalist for her Orange Cream-Chocolate Tarts.

This year, Klass capitalized on that magical mixture of chocolate and peanut butter, boosted by the deliciousness of bacon, for her latest entry.

"Chocolate is sweet but bitter, peanut butter is smooth, and bacon’s saltiness brings out the flavors of both," she said. "Anyway, bacon is the hot ingredient right now."

Klass says new parameters in the contest initially posed a bit of a problem for her. Accustomed to baking from scratch, she was concerned about the seven-ingredient limit and 30-minute preparation time limit.

"That shrinks what you can do with a recipe," she said.

Then she discovered Pillsbury’s prepared crust, which simply needs to be unrolled and baked, and precooked bacon that requires just a bit of reheating. She used Jif peanut butter and a pre-made chocolate fudge frosting, so the rules were no longer a problem.

Plus, "it tastes good," she added.

This is Klass’ last chance at the million-dollar prize; contestants can be finalists no more than three times.

But whatever happens, Klass will no doubt continue to bake. And she will enjoy it.

"It’s my way of relaxing," she said. "Even when I’m tired, I can always find the energy to bake."