Maple Sugar Candied Bacon
I know. Here I am again, going on about bacon. (I can admit it. I might have a problem.) Ever since I made candied bacon with a chili and peach jam glaze a few weeks ago, I can’t get the stuff of my mind. This time, I wanted to try a different method. (All in the name of science, you understand.) When in doubt, consult with the experts.
I turned to David Lebovitz, who incorporated the stuff into ice cream. He made his with brown sugar, but kind of lamented the fact that it just didn’t work well with maple syrup. (It was too liquid-y and slid right off in the oven.)
(Maple + bacon? Yes, please!)
When I spotted a bag of granulated maple sugar at the store the other day, I knew I had to give it a try.
It was solid. It should work, I figured. And it did.
When I got the bag home and opened it up (alright, maybe I had a nibble in the car), it looked like powdery light brown sugar and tasted exactly like maple syrup.
So.
Dear Mr. Lebovitz,
I think I might be on to something. I used your method, but with granulated maple sugar. If you can’t find the stuff in Paris, I’ll send you a bag. You totally have to try this. (I would send you some of the bacon, but it’s already…um…gone missing.)
Sincerely,
Miss. Mouse
A note on the bacon
I used thick-cut bacon, which means it was in the oven for a while. If you try this with regular bacon, it will probably cook in less time. Keep a close eye on it, and yank it when it starts to crisp up.
I also used a rack with this recipe. I figured that the thick-cut bacon would throw off a fair amount of fat, and possibly interfere with the maple candy coating. If you use regular bacon, you’ll likely be OK without one.
Maple Sugar Candied Bacon
Thick-cut bacon
Granulated maple sugar
Line a sheet pan with foil. Set a rack on it. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Grab your bacon. Space it out on the rack. Sprinkle each slice with 1-2 tsp. of granulated maple sugar.
Pop the pan into your 400-degree oven for about 10-15 minutes, until your bacon is crisp on the edges. All the sugar should have melted and the bacon should be nice and shiny.
Pull the pan out of the oven and flip the bacon over.
Sprinkle the tops with another 1-2 tsp. of granulated maple sugar.
Bake for another 5-10 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and glossy, like this:
Let cool on the rack, then transfer to a plate.
Use chopped bits of maple sugar candied bacon in ice cream, cookies, sandwiches, or any other manner of evil, indulgent treat.
Or, you know, just inhale as soon as it’s cool enough to handle.
Enjoy!
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22 Comments
Woman, you be a genius. Excellent use for maple sugar!
Okay….I need to clean up the drool from the keyboard now!
YUM!!!!!!
OMG! You said ice cream and my head is spinning.What a great idea!
There are often maple sugar blends at the farmer’s market here. I like to add a touch of heat and then chop it up, add to homemade smoked nuts or spiced nuts.
Yours looks like a winner!
maple sugar always make sweet treats taste a thousand times better! I am so tempted to make this
I’m moving to MA.
Wow I want some of that sugar! The bacon looks gorgeous, I’m drooling all over them.
Savory + Sweet, a marriage made in heaven!
To be honest, I Lebovitz should have tried it with a reduced maple syrup (as he is mentioning in his post) and he would have had success. But you Mouse are a clever, and creative girl!
Who would have thought of granulated maple sugar?!?
Gabi @ Mamaliga
We use powdered maple sugar all the time, dad keeps us stocked up form the east coast.
Why do some food bloggers, like you for example, think they need to include so many pictures to illustrate basic and simple recipes? Can’t you think for a minute a edit yourselves? We aren’t stupid and they pictures don’t help explain the recipe.
Wow, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to tell me that you don’t like what I do.
Clearly, you missed the fact that The Hungry Mouse is a *visual* guide to food and cooking that features step-by-step recipes. I process things visually–as do many of our readers–which is why I present my content in the manner that I do. If you take some time to read through other comments on this site, you’ll see that many of our readers actually find the pictures incredibly helpful.
Thankfully, the Internet is a big place, so I’m sure that an advanced cook like yourself can find content more suited to your taste and abilities elsewhere.
Cheers!
+Jessie
3 pictures of the bacon resting on a plate after it’s done.. might be unnecessary.
I love how the article is text and pictures though. There are too many video blogs out there that stretch a 30 second concept into an unwatchable 3-5 minutes of video.
Holy eff, complainers!
Mouse posted pictures because 80% of food enjoyment is VISUAL! She wanted her readers to not only enjoy the recipe, but see what her excitement was all about.
The pics were not for educational purposes so much as food pron! ;o)
My mom always taught me that if you had nothing helpful to add to the conversation, keep you mouth shut. Your “critique” was unnecessary. And rude.
Excellent job, Mouse. I’ll be giving this recipe a try just a soon as I can. And, as this is my first visit to your adorable blog, I’ll be back!
Hail
Didn’t I see a recipe recently for “Billionaire’s Bacon”???
My latest treat was a bacon and marmalade sandwich on toasted and buttered pumpernickel.
Artisinal bread and thick apple-smoked bacon recommended.
i had to make my own maple sugar from maple syrup. when all was said and done the coating on the bacon was kind of gooey and sticky. is that how it is supposed to end up, or should it end up with a sort of candy shell? i thought that i might not have gotten the maple syrup to a high enough temperature when i was making the maple sugar so that might be the problem (faulty thermometer). it still tasted great it was just…sticky…
Oh gosh, ya know…it’s supposed to be coated in a hard-ish candy shell. I’ve actually never made maple sugar from maple syrup, so I can’t really advise you on that front. (I’d love to know how you did it!) It’s definitely not really supposed to be sticky. It should have a nice snap when you bite into it. I’m glad it still tasted good, though.
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
+Jessie
yeah, it was completely my fault then. all you have to do to make maple sugar is heat pure maple syrup to 290 to 300 degrees and then remove it from the heat and stir it constantly until it granulates (between 5 or 10 minutes). my thermometer must have been off and i guess it just didn’t get hot enough. i’ll try again.
On the Today show, a Canadian chef made maple bacon and said you only apply it when the bacon is about 80% cooked otherwise it slides off. He also uses a rack.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34318224/ns/today-today_cooking_school/#35559767
i LOVE all the pictures!!! I am a very visual person. The pictures help very much. I would always have to watch a tutorial to make most things, so this is perfect. I have the ingredients up on one tab and the pictures on the other. It’s so helpful! This bacon is delicious, by the way. I’m making more now with a sweet chili sauce we usually put on egg rolls. Yum
Hi,
I just happened onto your site. I wanted to let you know it is wonderful! Thank you for all of your hard work, time, efforts and dedication.
I also wanted to let you know I made this bacon today. It was quite an ordeal. It took me 4 days of phone calls and internet searches to find the granulated maple sugar. OMG it was so worth the wait! We all loved it, every delicious bite.
I will tell you that I went ahead and tried to:
1-coat both sides at once and of course that did not work.
2-have pieces ready and both sides coated while I cooked the first batch-not good. The sugar got all wet and clumped and slid right off of the bacon
3-tried to turn it over too soon and the melted sugar dripped off of the bacon
thanks for this deliciousness!
This is just the instruction I needed. Now going to back cupcakes with bacon infused and top a maple swiss merguine butter cream with chopped candied bacon. Thanks so much!