Ever had candied bacon? It takes an already great food and gives it some pizazz (excellent use of pizazz, I know).
For those of you who may not know what candied bacon is, it’s bacon with caramelized brown sugar on top of it. It tastes as good as that sentence reads. The problem with making this is that if you make it in a pan, the oil messes with the sugar and can dry onto the pan eventually leaving you either without a pan or a herculean task of having to chip away the candied bits. Absolutely no one wants that. No one.
This is how you can get this delicious treat in your own house. So, lets start out with what you will need:
– The deliciousness that is bacon. Thick cut is always preferred
– Brown Sugar (I’ve also used cinnamon sugar which tastes great also)
– Baking pan
– Foil
STEP ONE: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
STEP TWO: Grab a pan and place foil on the bottom and sides of the pan. This makes cleanup easier. Future you will thank you. Best to spray some non stick spray on the foil also.
STEP THREE: Place the strips of bacon onto the pan. Maximize your space because you will want a lot of this bacon.
STEP FOUR: Place your pan into your oven. The time needed to cook the bacon here will vary depending on how thick our bacon is and how you like your bacon (crispy or more chewy). Roughly I estimate about 10-15 minutes. Be sure to check on it.
STEP FIVE: While thats cooking, pour some brown sugar into a small bowl. Mash up the chunks of brown sugar so that they are broken up. This will help later. If you are using cinnamon sugar, it will be easier.
STEP SIX: Once your bacon is right about where you want it, pull out your pan and quickly drain off some of the grease. After that, take the sugar and spread that over the top of the strips of bacon. Use to your desired sweet level. I usually created a thin layer across most of the strip of bacon.
STEP SEVEN: Switch your oven from Bake to Broil. The direct heat from the top is what will help caramelize the sugars.
STEP EIGHT: Placed your pan back in the oven. Be sure to watch the bacon here! This part will go quickly and you dont want completely burnt sugar on your bacon. Usually its common to have some areas burn. When you cover the areas of bacon that curl up, the sugar will burn because its closer to the heat source.
STEP NINE: Once the sugar has melted to your desired level, pull out the pan of bacon and let it sit for about five minutes. It will be hot and the temptation to eat it immediately will definitely be there. I can speak from experience that its better to wait. RIP tastebuds that died from that experience.
STEP TEN: Grab your bacon and devour it. The time to cool should have turned the melted sugars into a delicious shell that gives you the sweet and salty fix.
