Maple Candied Bacon: Taking Brunch to a Whole New Level

 

Greetings, friends! It's Colleen from the Barbershop...remember me? I am embarrassed to say that I haven't blogged in a month! Crazy. I've still been cooking and baking up a storm in the kitchen, but blogging has been on the back burner for a while (pun intended ;)). Thanks for understanding. I'm hoping to slowly get back into it and get back to posting at least once a week if I can.

So, onto this next amazing recipe! Maple candied bacon. You thought you loved bacon before. Well, I challenge you to think again. This recipe bring bacon (and breakfast/brunch!) to a whole new level. Wow. My husband Mike made an amazing brunch for his mom this past weekend on Mother's Day, and on the menu was this bacon. We all LOVED it. It's great for a special occasion! If you want to impress your guests or if you're an invited to a party and want to impress the host or hostess, bring this bacon. Everyone will love it; I guarantee it!

The recipe is really quite simple. First you marinade the bacon slices in a delicious mixture of sweet and savory/smoky ingredients. Then, you bake it! Finally, you eat. It's that simple. :) When we saw the title of this recipe as maple "candied" bacon, we were worried it might be too sweet. But it definitely wasn't! The flavors were the perfect balance of sweet and savory. The original recipe is from the Clever Carrot. Check out the photos of the bacon on her site...beautiful!

Ingredients:

-1 lb. good quality bacon (we used 10 slices of thick-cut)

-2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup (you have to use the good stuff!)

-1/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark)

-2 tsp. Dijon mustard

-1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

-1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and top with a wire rack. In a large bowl, add the maple syrup, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, salt, and cayenne pepper; mix well. Add the bacon to the bowl and toss with your hands until all the bacon is evenly coated. Place the bacon on a single layer on the wire rack. Bake in the center of the oven for about 20 minutes. The bacon may be brown after 20 minutes, but it will need to bake for 10 to 15 minutes more after that. Continue to check it to be sure it's not burning, but it will likely need at least 30 minutes total of bake time (ours took 35 minutes total). It should look slightly dark and be crispy. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes on rack. Don't let the bacon sit too long or it may stick. Serve at room temperature.

 

This is one of those "dress to impress" recipes. It seems complicated but it's really not! And the flavors are truly amazing together.

 

What a meal we had this morning. I'm so lucky that I married a man who can cook. :) We enjoyed this delicious candied bacon, an amazing garden veggie frittata, and decadent challah french toast with fresh berries and maple syrup. Oh, and orange mango prosecco mimosas.

So. Good.

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there!! :)