Candied Bacon Recipe
Candied Bacon Recipe
Did you know about candied bacon? I didn’t. And I’m kind of mad about that. How come no one told me? Why isn’t the entire world aware that you can take a crispy piece of delicious bacon (which I thought was perfect already) and then add some brown sugar and maple syrup to it and turn it into CANDIED BACON!!!!!!
That should not have been a secret and I feel rather upset that I’ve been missing out but I am slowly starting to come to terms with it. Do you know that in America they give candied bacon away as presents? I love that although I also think it’s a little weird. Mostly because there wouldn’t be any left in my house to give away because I would have eaten it all.
I have to backtrack a little – I went to lunch with some fabulous girlfriends the other week and on the menu was eggs benny with afore-mentioned candied bacon. I was excited and then….disappointed. It wasn’t what I would consider bacon OR candy. It was slightly sweet and it was that boring ‘ham’ type bacon with no crispiness and no fat. So then I came home and researched how to make candied bacon and I have to say there’s a bit of argument out there over the whole process with the majority it would seem wanting to bake it in the oven on a rack over a tray (like, hello mess) and then I looked in Gordon Ramsay’s book and he only added a tsp of sugar while the bacon was frying in a pan and I thought that is going to be a very small amount of sugar lost amongst a whole lot of fat.
What I decided was to partially cook the bacon, remove it from the pan, then paint on some brown sugar and maple syrup with a bit of dijon for a kick and some black pepper and then finish frying it and Oh. My. Gawd. Bacon Nirvana. It was so crispy and the perfect amount of sweet and savoury. I could live on this for the rest of my life.
In the aim of providing you with a full meal I will include the instructions on how to make some crispy hash browns and baked eggs to go along with your candied bacon. Make sure you make three times as much as you actually need though or no one else will get any once you try it.
1kg floury potatoes, peeled and grated
1 onion, grated
pinch of cayenne
sea salt & cracked black pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil
6 eggs
8 strips of streaky bacon
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp Dijon mustard
pinch of cayenne, extra
cracked black pepper, extra
Pre-heat oven to 200C.
In a large fry pan over medium heat, half cook the bacon until golden.
Set aside to drain on paper towel and wipe out the pan. Combine the brown sugar, maple syrup, Dijon, cayenne and pepper together and paint over the bacon and return to the pan to crisp up and caramelise. Set aside the bacon on non-stick baking paper to cool.
Mix the grated potato and onion together and squeeze out as much moisture as possible in a colander or place in a tea towel and wring out. Add 1 tbsp. olive oil and season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Wipe out the pan again and add a drizzle of olive oil to coat. Press the potato mixture into the pan and cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until golden on the bottom.
Then place a plate over the top of the pan and quickly invert it and cook the other side until golden.
Crack the eggs over the top and bake in the oven until whites are cooked and yolks still soft, approximately 5-6 minutes.
Serve with the candied bacon on top.
Ingredients
- 1kg floury potatoes, peeled and grated
- 1kg floury potatoes, peeled and grated
- 1 onion, grated
- pinch of cayenne
- sea salt & cracked black pepper
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 6 eggs
- 8 strips of streaky bacon
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- pinch of cayenne, extra
- cracked black pepper, extra
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 200C.
- In a large fry pan over medium heat, half cook the bacon until golden. Set aside to drain on paper towel and wipe out the pan. Combine the brown sugar, maple syrup, Dijon, cayenne and pepper together and paint over the bacon and return to the pan to crisp up and caramelise. Set aside the bacon on non-stick baking paper to cool.
- Mix the grated potato and onion together and squeeze out as much moisture as possible in a colander or place in a tea towel and wring out. Add 1 tbsp. olive oil and season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Wipe out the pan again and add a drizzle of olive oil to coat. Cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until golden on the bottom. Then place a plate over the top of the pan and quickly invert it and cook the other side until golden.
- Crack the eggs over the top and bake in the oven until whites are cooked and yolks still soft, approximately 5-6 minutes.
- Serve with the candied bacon on top.
Carolyn Murphy
Carolyn Murphy is a married mother of three and regularly provides us with recipes and strange but true stories about her life. When she’s not here, she can also be found on her website pinkpostitnote.com where all her other recipes are located!
