Made with a sweet and slightly spicy maple glaze and chopped walnuts, Candied Maple Bacon is an easy, irresistible breakfast recipe that is guaranteed to impress.

Candied Bacon on white serving platter next to scrambled eggs.

It is hard to improve upon bacon. Crispy, crunchy, salty, and savory, bacon, everyone loves bacon. Whether serving baked bacon alongside French Toast, added to a spinach salad, or used to wrap stuffed dates, bacon is a staple loved in many homes.

However, when you want to elevate bacon into the star of breakfast, you need this recipe for Candied Bacon!

Reasons to Love Candied Bacon

Super Easy Recipe. Using my technique for baking bacon, there is no need to flip the bacon or stand over stove. This recipe comes together with minimal effort.
Insanely Delicious. Maple syrup, spices, and chopped nuts transform bacon from simply being smokey and savory to smokey, savory, sweet, and a bit spicy. As the maple glazed bacon bakes, the glaze gets gooey, and sticky and helps the bacon to crisp up to an irresistible texture.
Sweet and Salty Satisfaction. The contrast between the savory and salty bacon to the sweet maple glaze is both sweet and salty--just like my recipes for Ham and Egg Casserole and Breakfast Sliders.
Versatile. Candied bacon is so good it deserves to be a part of your holiday brunch spread, but is easy enough to be made any day and pairs well with Sheet Pan Pancakes or Whole Wheat Pancakes.

Notes on Ingredients & Equipment

Ingredients for Candied Bacon on counter with text overlay.

Bacon: I recommend using thick-cut pork bacon for the best results. That said, you can certainly use turkey bacon if you prefer.
Maple Syrup: Use only pure maple syrup when preparing maple bacon. Pancake syrup is not an acceptable substitute.
Spices: For candied bacon that is balanced in flavor, you want to use both warming spices and spices that pack a little bit of heat. For the perfect combination, this recipe uses cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, black pepper, paprika, and cayenne pepper.
Nuts: The nuts are completely optional, but add a nice crunch and flavor to the bacon. Both walnuts and pecans are fabulous options.
Baking Sheet Pan Fitted With Rack: The best pan to use when preparing bacon is a rimmed baking pan that is fitted with a heat-safe rack. The rack will let the air circulate evenly around the bacon from every direction, allowing it to cook evenly. If you don't have a baking pan like this, you can use a broiler pan.
Foil: I highly recommend lining the bottom of your pan with foil to make clean-up easy.

How to Make Candied Bacon

The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Prepare Glaze. The maple glaze is made by combining maple syrup with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenned pepper.

Maple syrup in small bowl with spices next to bacon on sheet pan.

Glaze Bacon. Use a pastry brush to evenly glaze the bacon with the maple syrup mixture. And then sprinkle the bacon with nuts if using.

Side by side photo of bacon glazed with maple and then topped with nuts.

Bake. Bake the glazed bacon until it reaches your desired crispiness.

Candied Maple Bacon cooked and browned on baking sheet pan.

∗ Tips and Helpful Hits to Remember∗

Use a baking rack. Using a heat-safe baking rack on top of a rimmed sheet pan is best for ensuring evenly cooked bacon--without the need to flip your bacon!
Don't overlap the bacon. Lay the bacon out in a single even layer on the baking sheet, being sure to not overlap the slices of bacon. It is better to use two pans versus crowding the bacon all onto one pan.
Discard the bacon grease safely. Don't pour the bacon grease down the drain, as it can cause plumping issues and blockages. Instead, let it cool and solidify and then wrap up the foil, with the hardened grease and discard it into the trash.
Bake to desired crispiness. You need to bake the maple bacon until it is at least golden and browned slightly. However, continue to bake until the bacon is to your liking. Just keep a close eye on the bacon, as the maple syrup can cause the candied bacon to go from crisp to burn quickly.

Pairing Suggestions for Maple Bacon

While the obvious choice for serving Candied Maple Bacon is at breakfast or brunch, alongside poached eggs, scrambled eggs, Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, or Blender Banana Oatmeal Pancakes, there are other ways to serve this sweet and salty treat. It makes an unexpected (and LOVED!) appetizer, a delicious topping to a Strawberry Spinach Salad, and is fabulous in place of the sausage on Breakfast Sliders.

Candied Bacon on plate with scrambled eggs and oranges.

Storage and Reheating Instructions

Refrigerate: If you happen to not devour this Maple Bacon within minutes of preparing, which is a commendable feat in my book, you can store the cooled bacon in an airtight container separated between sheets of parchment paper in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Reheat: To reheat, place the bacon on a sheet pan fitted with a metal rack, or a broiler pan and bake at 400 degrees F for 3-4 minutes, or until crispy and warm.

More Delicious Breakfast Recipes

If you tried this Maple Bacon, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.

Candied Maple Bacon

Made with a sweet and slightly spicy maple glaze and chopped walnuts, this is an easy, irresistible recipe for Candied Maple Bacon.

4.80 from 10 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 25

Servings: slices

Calories: 105kcal

Author: Kristen Chidsey

Ingredients

▢ 12 ounces bacon thick-cut
▢ ¼ cup pure maple syrup
▢ ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
▢ ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
▢ ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
▢ ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg (from bulb) or ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
▢ ⅙ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
▢ ¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 ℉. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and lay a metal baking rack over the foil.
Lay the bacon evenly out onto the rack, being sure to not overlap.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the maple syrup with the cinnamon, paprika, pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne.
Brush the maple glaze over each slice of bacon and sprinkle with nuts if using.
Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until bacon is crisp and reaches your desired level of crispiness.
Remove the bacon from the oven and let cool on the baking pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and let cool fully before serving.

Equipment Needed

Baking Sheet with Rack

Notes

Maple Syrup: Only pure maple syrup will do for this maple-glazed bacon. Imitation maple syrup will burn and taste too artificially sweet.

Spices: The spice addition lends balance to the sweetness of the maple syrup, so you don't want to overlook the addition of paprika or pepper. Feel free to omit the cayenne pepper if you are sensitive to spice.

Nuts: Almonds or walnuts are a perfect addition to this candied bacon recipe, but you can certainly omit the nuts if you have nut allergies.

Storage: Store the cooled bacon in an airtight container separated between sheets of parchment paper in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat, place the bacon on a sheet pan fitted with a metal rack, or a broiler pan and bake at 400 degrees F for 3-4 minutes, or until crispy and warm.

Nutrition

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

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This post was originally published in 2018 but updated in 2022 with a new video and photos.

Comments

4.80 from 10 votes (4 ratings without comment)