Maple-Candied Bacon

This maple-candied bacon recipe s a MUST for bacon fans. It’s incredible! The bit of heat from the mustard teams sooooo well with the maple syrup and black pepper to make perfect bacon even MORE perfect bacon! Crisp yet chewy.

I am absolutely itching to try this with the addition of all sorts of spices, including ground chipotle. These practically flew off the plate (and into my gullet).

Bacon! Who doesn’t like pig? I could eat it every day! It didn’t take me long to make from beginning until I placed the first piece in my mouth…did you see me say FIRST? I used thick-cut all natural applewood smoked uncured bacon. There were 10 slices in the package. This would most definitely serve 2 of my family members easily! The serving size, for a normal person, would be approximately 2 slices, so 5 servings from the package I used.

I did use Dijon mustard and thought it cut the sweetness of the maple syrup just enough and provided a slightly tangy aftertaste. Coupled with the freshly cracked black pepper, it was perfect! I used Grade A pure dark New England Maple Syrup.

The bacon came out a little to soft for my liking. I prefer it crispier but the syrup and Dijon probably didn’t allow the bacon to crisp.

I will definitely make this again. I will need to because it is already gone! And it was made only an hour ago. old you…it’s bacon, what’s not to love?

Maple-candied bacon is delicious This version, with the surprising addition of some freshly ground pepper, is amazing. The pepper adds a unique flavor combination paired with sweet maple. This bacon would complement a special breakfast or, crumbled, would be a great addition to plain ice cream!

Also, resting the bacon for 5 min is important so the syrup cools and thickens and the flavor melds. The addition of pepper made this recipe special and really, really delicious. I added a scant pinch for the pieces, but after trying some I did add more to the rest.

After the first 12 minutes of baking, a lot of grease and syrup mixture that had accumulated on the foil was smoking, so I quickly replaced that foil with a new piece. It was a tricky undertaking, since I had to make sure I didn’t spill any of the grease, but I’m glad I did it, as it really reduced the amount of smoke for the second side of cooking and I didn’t have to rush the process. If I make this again, I would try placing 2 pieces of foil and remove one after the first side cooks.

This maple-candied bacon is delicious! I have many times prepared a similar tasting version with brown sugar, pecans, and cayenne. This is a very nice change of pace. The maple and Dijon add just the right flavor and the grind of pepper provides a bit of a kick.

While this is clearly a fabulous breakfast or brunch dish, we used it tonight in a dinner salad with burrata. Wow! It was a great combination with the creamy cheese, tangy sweet smoky bacon, and balsamic vinaigrette.

To get it to a reasonable crispness level, I kept in oven for 35 minutes.

This is definitely a crowd pleaser. The Dijon and black pepper really round out the flavor profile, and I think they’re imperative in keeping this dish from being too cloyingly sweet.

I opted to include Dijon mustard and used a silicone pastry brush to apply the syrup mixture. I did not have quite enough for all the bacon. For cooking time, the bacon took 13 minutes on the first side, then 16 minutes on the second side to get to the point it was a bit crisp and the ends weren’t burnt.

An additional note for chefs cooking prior to coffee consumption: do not go on auto pilot and drain the cooked bacon on paper towels! I won’t go into details, but it isn’t pretty.