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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.
Crazy Delicious Candied Maple Bacon
Is it possible to improve bacon? Savory, crispy, and perfectly salty, bacon is completely irresistible.
But when you coat bacon in a spiced maple glaze and finish it with nuts-WOW! And proves you can, in fact, improve bacon!
As the maple-glazed bacon bakes, the glaze gets gooey and sticky, helping the bacon crisp up to an irresistible texture and creating swoon-worthy candied bacon. It is sweet, salty, savory, crunchy, and chewy -- all in one perfect bite -- and using my technique for baking bacon, it is incredibly easy to make!
Happy Cooking! xo Kristen
Notes on Ingredients & Equipment
- 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 balanced candied bacon, use both warming spices and spices with a little heat. For the perfect combination, this recipe uses cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, black pepper, paprika, and cayenne pepper.
- Nuts: Nuts are optional, but they add a nice crunch and flavor to the bacon. Both walnuts and pecans are fabulous options, as are my candied walnuts.
- Baking Sheet Pan Fitted With Rack: The best pan for 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 ingredient quantities and detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Prepare Maple Glaze. The maple glaze is made by combining maple syrup with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper.
- Glaze Bacon. Use a pastry brush to evenly glaze the bacon with the maple syrup mixture. Then sprinkle the bacon with nuts, if using.
- Bake. Bake the glazed bacon until it reaches your desired crispiness.
Kristen's Key Tips for Maple Bacon
- Use a baking rack. A heat-safe baking rack on top of a rimmed sheet pan is best for ensuring evenly cooked bacon, without needing to flip it!
- Don't overlap the bacon. Lay the bacon in a single, even layer on the baking sheet, making sure not to overlap the slices. Use two pans rather than crowding the bacon onto one pan.
- Discard the bacon grease safely. Don't pour the bacon grease down the drain, as it can cause plumbing issues and blockages. Instead, let it cool and solidify, then wrap the hardened grease in foil and discard it in the trash.
- Bake to desired crispiness. Bake the maple bacon until at least golden and slightly browned. Continue baking until the bacon is to your liking. Keep a close eye on the bacon, as the maple syrup can turn candied bacon from crisp to burnt quickly.
Pairing Suggestions for Maple Bacon
Candied Maple Bacon is the perfect addition to any breakfast menu or holiday brunch.
- For Breakfast/Brunch: Serve alongside poached eggs, scrambled eggs, or my favorite pairing, pancakes! (Think lemon ricotta pancakes, banana oat pancakes, sheet pan pancakes, or whole wheat pancakes.)
- Add To A Salad: Add a sweet and salty finish to a strawberry spinach salad, holiday salad, or kale apple salad.
- As an Appetizer: Like bacon-wrapped dates, no one can resist the sweet-and-salty combination of Candied Maple Bacon. It will be an un unexpected (and LOVED!) appetizer.
- Add to Breakfast Sliders: Maple Bacon is fabulous in place of the sausage on breakfast sliders -- further enhancing the sweet and salty combo.
Storage 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℉ for 3-4 minutes, or until crispy and warm.
More Delicious Breakfast Recipes
- Asparagus Frittata
- Spinach Frittata
- Whole Wheat Waffles
- Overnight French Toast Casserole
- Homemade Crepes
- Bananas Foster French Toast
- Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
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.
Video
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℉ (200℃). Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and lay a metal baking rack over the foil.
- Lay 12 ounces baconhe bacon strips evenly out on the rack, being sure to not overlap the slices.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine maple syrup, cinnamon, smoked paprika, pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper.
- Brush the maple glaze over each slice of bacon and sprinkle with chopped 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
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 400F for 3-4 minutes, or until crispy and warm.
Nutrition
Calories: 105kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 146mgPotassium: 54mgSugar: 3gVitamin A: 40IUCalcium: 7mgIron: 0.1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @amindfullmom or tag #amindfullmom!
This post was originally published in 2018 but updated in 2022 with a new video and photos.
Good morning Kristen, I just found this recipe. It sounds great, and can't wait to try it, but I'm wondering if it should be flipped half way through the cooking process to put the glaze on each side? Love your site, thanks.
Hi Karen! So happy to hear you enjoy my site and recipes 🙂 For the bacon, I find one side is enough for the glaze, but by all means feel free to glaze both sides.