Candied Bacon

Now this is not your ordinary bacon to accompany your eggs and toast.  Then again, I can’t see why it couldn’t.  This candied bacon is an amazing substitute for regularly fried bacon on a BLT or cheeseburger. It will literally have your tongue doing laps around your mouth.   But that is not why I made this batch of candied bacon.

Today I am using it in my Candied Bacon Pecan Fudgies.  Now if you think that title is a mouthful, wait until you taste these sweet southern treats.  You will have a mouthful of sweet and salty chocolate.  If you haven’t had a normal Praline, you will find after tasting these, you won’t want to switch back to those.

Now you can also crumble this candied bacon and use as a topping on ice cream or even in my Chocolate Chip Candied Bacon Cookies.  I think I am going to see just how many different recipes I can come up with for this candied bacon.  Because I really really need to make it more often.  It is excellent just as a snack as well.  I should know, because I have eaten 3 pieces of it already.  I guess I better get to the making of these fudgies before I run out of the major ingredient.

I hope y’all enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound thick-sliced bacon
• 1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup (preferably organic)
• 3 tablespoons molasses
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

This is such a simple recipe and one you probably already have all the ingredients for.  simply mix the brown sugar, syrup, molasses and cayenne pepper in a large zip lock bag.  Zip it up and mix it up by smashing with your hands.

Next add the bacon one piece at a time so it can absorb all of this sugary goodness.  Now remove all the air that you can and zip up the bag.  Mix well. Kneed the bacon in its sugar syrup mixture  between your hands, rubbing in all the mixture into the bacon. 

Now place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or over night.  Once the bacon has marinated in the sugar mixture, remove from bag and lay in strips on a wire rack placed on a cookie sheet.

I like to pour the sugar marinade in a small bowl and brush over the bacon again before placing in oven.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until bacon is a dark brown.

Remove from oven and let cool for at least  10 minutes.  Pry the bacon off the wire rack (yes, it will be very sticky).  You can serve immediately, or cool completely and break up in the food processor until it is finely chopped.

You can store the candied bacon in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.