Best Candied Bacon Recipes

CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix brown sugar, rice vinegar, maple syrup, and black pepper in a small bowl.
• Place bacon slices on cooling rack set over a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, turn slices, and bake another 5 minutes.
• Remove bacon and brush both sides with brown sugar mixture. Return bacon to the oven and bake another 5 minutes. Repeat basting every 5 minutes until bacon is browned and crisp, about 35 minutes.

CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Put bacon slices in a bowl, season them with pepper and toss with the brown sugar. Cover a baking sheet with parchment or foil and arrange the bacon in a single layer on top. Sprinkle any sugar left in the bowl over the bacon. Top with another layer of parchment or foil and top it, squarely, with another baking sheet. The baking sheet will flatten the bacon as it cooks.
• Place the tray in the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Check the bacon by lifting the top tray and parchment. If it is not golden brown and fairly crispy, resist the temptation to turn up the oven temperature, and cook it for 10 to 15 minutes longer. Check it again. Keep in mind that when you remove the tray and transfer the bacon to a serving platter or individual plates, the bacon will "crisp" up a little more. Be patient!

MAPLE-CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy foil. Place a baking rack over the lined sheet tray and arrange the bacon slices across the rack next to each other, not overlapping.
• In a small bowl, whisk the maple syrup and mustard. Generously spoon over the top of the bacon, and bake 12 to 15 minutes. Turn the bacon over and baste with syrup mixture. Bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until the bacon has reached desired crispiness.
• Carefully remove the pan from the oven. Sprinkle hot bacon with a scant pinch of finely ground black pepper. Let the bacon rest on the rack for 5 minutes.

CARAMELIZED MAPLE APPLE PIE WITH CANDIED BACON CRUMBLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place bacon on a baking sheet and sprinkle 1 tablespoon brown sugar over the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until crisp, 10 to 20 minutes.
• Line a 9-inch springform pan with pie crust pastry; refrigerate.
• Combine apples and lemon juice in a bowl and toss to coat.
• Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat; add maple syrup and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer until mixture is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Carefully add apples and stir well to coat. Cook until apples just start to soften and get a bit of color on them, about 5 minutes. Return the apples to the bowl leaving behind the sweet syrup.
• Stir vinegar into sweet syrup; simmer until syrup is reduced and consistency of maple syrup, about 5 minutes. Carefully pour syrup over the apples. Cool for 10 minutes.
• Combine flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup unsalted butter, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor; pulse until crumbly. Break bacon into pieces, add to food processor, and pulse until combined with the crumble.
• Tip apples into the pie crust in the springform pan. Fold dough over part of the apple filling to form an edge. Crimp the edges between your fingers. Top the apple filling with the crumble. Brush crust with cream and top with white sugar.
• Bake pie in the preheated oven until the juices bubble and the crust is deeply golden, about 1 hour. If the crust starts to brown too quickly turn the oven down to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

CANDIED BACON STICKS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil or parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
• Wrap 1 bacon strip around each breadstick, leaving about 1 inch uncovered on each end. Place wrapped breadsticks on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over breadsticks.
• Bake in the preheated oven until bacon is crisp and browned, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool breadsticks on a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper sprayed with cooking spray.

CANDIED BACON-WRAPPED FIGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Cut bacon strips in half crosswise. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until partially cooked but not crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain., Cut a lengthwise slit down the center of each fig; fill with 1/2 teaspoon cream cheese. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, chile blend powder and cinnamon. Dip one side of each bacon piece in brown sugar mixture; wrap each fig with a bacon piece, sugar side out. Secure with a toothpick., Transfer to a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake 12-15 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

TWICE-BAKED BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH PARMESAN CREAM AND CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut both squash in half lengthwise; scoop out seeds. Transfer cut side down to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Poke outside of skin all over with a fork, then roast until flesh is very soft, about 1 1/2 hours for large squash and about 1 hour for medium squash.
• Meanwhile, heat 1 cup cream in a medium pot over medium until just beginning to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and whisk in 1/4 cup cheese and cook, whisking, until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to a medium bowl and chill until very cold, about 45 minutes (do not freeze).
• Cook bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until crisp, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to paper towels, reserving bacon fat in skillet. Let cool, then finely chop.
• Spread 3 Tbsp. sugar in a thin layer in the center of a medium dry skillet. Cook over medium heat, mostly undisturbed (it's ok to swirl pan gently to get sugar to melt evenly), until sugar melts and starts to turn light brown, about 6 minutes. Quickly stir in bacon and hazelnuts and cook, stirring, until coated and melted sugar is chestnut brown, about 1 minute more. Scrape onto a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and spread out to cool, then finely chop.
• Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Using a spoon, scoop flesh out of large squash into a large bowl, leaving a 1/2" border around squash shell to help maintain its shape. Transfer large shells to a rimmed baking sheet; arrange a few pieces of crumpled foil around shells to keep them upright. Scoop flesh out of medium shells into same bowl (you should have 6 cups squash); discard medium shells. Using a potato masher or spatula, mix in salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1 Tbsp. reserved bacon fat, and remaining 1 cup cream, 3/4 cup cheese, and 1 Tbsp. sugar until smooth. Fold in 2 Tbsp. chives. Divide filling between large squash shells, then create attractive swoops with a spoon. Bake squash until warmed through, 20-30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed or a whisk, whip chilled cream to medium peaks. Chill until ready to use.
• Dollop squash with whipped cream, then top with candied bacon bits and remaining 1 Tbsp. chives. Serve extra candied hazelnut-bacon bits on the side.
• Do Ahead
• Squash shells can be filled (not baked) 2 days ahead; cover and chill.

BOURBON CANDIED BACON DEVILED EGGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, 3/4 teaspoon mustard, 1/2 teaspoon syrup and salt. If desired, stir in bourbon. Coat bacon with brown sugar mixture. Place on a rack in a foil-lined 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until crisp. Cool completely. , Cut eggs in half lengthwise. Remove yolks, reserving whites. In a small bowl, mash yolks. Add mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon syrup, 1 tablespoon mustard and both types of pepper; stir until smooth. Chop bacon finely; fold half into egg yolk mixture. Spoon or pipe into egg whites. Sprinkle with remaining bacon and the chives. Refrigerate, covered, until serving.

CANDIED BACON BROWN SUGAR BACON

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with foil. (Use non-stick foil or spray the foil with cooking spray if you want to make your life a lot easier!).
• Preheat oven to 275°F.
• Put brown sugar on a plate. (I don't really measure the brown sugar.) Place a slice of bacon on the brown sugar, patting to help the brown sugar adhere to the bacon, coating both sides. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with rest of the pound of bacon. Sprinkle any remaining brown sugar over the bacon.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Carefully pour off grease. Bake for 10 more minutes. Pour off grease again. Check bacon every 5-7 minutes until browned to your desired crispness, pouring off grease as necessary.
• Let cool slightly and remove to a lightly buttered plate to cool completely. (If it you let it cool completely on the baking sheet, it can be very difficult to remove.)
• We prefer to chill ours for a few hours before eating it. It enhances the flavors vs. eating it room temperature.

CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment.
• Separate the bacon into strips and blot each dry. Spread the sugar on a large plate. Press both sides of each bacon strip in the sugar. Arrange the coated bacon on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with any remaining sugar.
• Bake the bacon for 15 minutes, turn the strips over and continue to bake until golden and glazed, 15 to 20 minutes more (it will still be pliable). Remove to a rack and let cool; the bacon will harden but it won't be super crispy.

SPICY CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Mix the chili powder and brown sugar in a shallow bowl.
• Fit a sheet of parchment paper onto a jelly-roll pan.
• Bury each slice of bacon in the chili and sugar mixture; rub both sides to assure the mixture adheres.
• Lay the bacon strips on the prepared pan.
• The bacon strips may be left flat or twisted two or three times by holding each end to make a candied "stick".
• Bake for 30 minutes without turning.
• Always transfer candied bacon using tongs; the hot sugar can easily burn your fingers.

MAPLE PECAN STICKY BUN BISCUITS WITH CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Position racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Line another baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• For the biscuit dough: Whisk the 5 cups flour with the baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter cubes and toss until each cube is fully coated in the flour. Using your hands or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until it's about the size of peas.
• Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Stir until just incorporated; do not overmix. Use a bench scraper or spatula to divide the dough in half, then refrigerate it while you prepare the topping.
• For the topping and filling: Use 1 tablespoon of the butter to generously grease a 9-by-9-inch baking pan. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, then combine it with the maple syrup in a liquid measuring cup. Gently pour this mixture into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the bottom of the pan, then sprinkle the pecans over the brown sugar in an even layer. Set aside.
• On a lightly floured surface, pat out one half of the biscuit dough into a 9-inch square; brush evenly with the cream. In a small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over the biscuit. Carefully transfer the biscuit to the baking pan and gently press it as needed to fill the pan.
• On a lightly floured surface, pat out the remaining biscuit dough into another 9-inch square and place it on top of the biscuit in the baking pan, pressing firmly to fill the pan. Place the baking pan on the parchment-lined baking sheet and bake on the lower oven rack until a tester inserted in the center of the biscuit comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.
• While the biscuits bake, prepare the candied bacon: Place the bacon strips on the foil-lined baking sheet. In a small bowl, stir to combine the brown sugar and maple syrup. Drizzle a spoonful along the center of each bacon slice, then use your fingers to spread it evenly. Season generously with black pepper.
• Bake the bacon on the upper rack of the oven until crisp and browned, 13 to 17 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and immediately transfer the bacon to a cutting board and let cool. Coarsely chop the bacon.
• Let the sticky buns cool in the pan for 3 to 4 minutes before turning them out onto a serving platter. Spoon any topping still in the pan over the biscuits and sprinkle the bacon evenly over the top. Cut into 9 equal pieces and serve the biscuits warm.

BOURBON CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 375°. Arrange bacon in a single layer on a wire rack in an aluminum foil-lined broiler pan. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or just until bacon begins to curl at ends. 2. Meanwhile, combine brown sugar and bourbon in a small bowl, stirring until sugar dissolves. 3. Remove bacon from oven. Brush both sides of bacon with brown sugar mixture. Bake at 375° for 42 more minutes or until bacon is crisp around edges and browned, brushing both sides of bacon with brown sugar mixture every 10 minutes. 4. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 30 minutes). Bacon will become crisp as it cools.

SWEET POTATO SOUFFLE W/CANDIED MAPLE BACON PRALINE

Steps:

• 1. FOR SOUFFLE: Bake sweet potatoes if using fresh. Once tender, peel and mash. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour into a greased 8x11 inch-baking dish.
• 2. FOR PRALINE TOPPING: Combine topping ingredients. Dab over casserole.
• 3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.
• 4. HOW TO BAKE SWEET POTATOES: Heat oven to 400° F. Pierce each sweet potato several times with the tines of a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• 5. CANDIED MAPLE BACON Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking pan with foil and spray with PAM or grease. Lay strips of bacon in pan. Combine syrup and sugar; mix until sugar is somewhat liquid. Brush mixture on both side of the bacon. Bake for about 30 minutes until bacon is brown and crisp. Cool and crumble.

DEVILED EGGS WITH CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, a pinch of cayenne and the cinnamon. Place the bacon on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle each slice of bacon with some of the spiced sugar and bake, about 10 minutes. Flip the bacon, sprinkle with the remaining spiced sugar and continue to cook until crispy, about 10 more minutes. Remove the bacon from the oven and allow to cool. When the bacon is cool, mince it and set aside, reserving a quarter of it for garnishing the eggs.
• Put the cold eggs in the bottom of a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and remove the pan from the heat. Cover the pan with a lid and let stand for 12 minutes. Drain the eggs and rinse with cold water. Let the eggs cool a bit and then peel when they are still warm (eggs are much easier to peel when they are warm). After they are peeled, you can then store them, covered, in the fridge.
• Mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, dill, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, the scallions and the minced bacon in a medium mixing bowl. Season with the salt.
• Slice the eggs in half lengthwise. Gently remove the yolks by pressing your thumb against the back of the yolk to pop it out of the white. Add the yolks to the bowl with the mayonnaise mixture. Mash together, using a fork, until smooth.
• Put the filling in a re-sealable bag. Cut one end off and pipe the filling into the egg whites. Sprinkle with the paprika, extra bacon bits and dill before serving.
• Cook's Notes:.
• A wire rack is a great way to cook bacon because the air can circulate around the bacon making it crispy and delicious.
• Plastic bags are a great tool to use in place of a piping bag, easy and disposable.

MAPLE-CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Arrange bacon in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven; drain fat. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Pour maple syrup over bacon; flip to coat. Bake, flipping bacon and rotating pan halfway through, until bacon is golden brown and syrup is thick, about 35 minutes. (Keep a close eye on it for the last 10 minutes.) Transfer bacon to parchment using tongs. Let cool to harden.

PEAR SALAD WITH AND BACON, GORGONZOLA AND CANDIED WALNUTS

Steps:

• Assemble salad.
• Mix the lemon juice, oil, maple syrup, dijon mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
• Toss the salad with the dressing to coat.

CAYENNE-CANDIED BACON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a broiler pan with aluminum foil, and position broiler rack on top of pan. Lightly coat the rack with the vegetable oil.
• Combine the brown sugar and cayenne in a shallow dish, stirring to mix well. Press 1 side of each slice of bacon firmly into the spiced sugar to coat well. Arrange the slices of bacon on top of the broiler rack in a single layer, sugared-side up. If there is any sugar remaining in the dish, sprinkle it on top of the bacon slices evenly. Bake until the bacon is crisp and the sugar is bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain briefly, then to a plate or serving dish to cool. (Can be made several hours ahead) Serve warm or at room temperature.

CANDIED CHIPOTLE BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Arrange slices on baking sheet; bake until almost crisp (8-9 minutes). Drain the drippings from baking sheet and discard.
• In small bowl, combine agave nectar, chipotle seasoning and pepper. Brush bacon with the chipotle mixture; bake until glazed (8-10 minutes).
• Cool.

CANDIED SPAM® WITH BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Mix dark brown sugar and pepper together in a shallow bowl.
• Coat both sides of luncheon meat slices with brown sugar mixture; arrange in a single layer on a nonstick baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven, turning halfway, until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.