Maple-Glazed Candied Bacon: Sweet & Crispy Bacon Recipe

Ah, bacon. Is there anything it doesn’t improve? Bacon elevates baked goods, soups, stews, cocktails, cookies, dips, meatloaf, popcorn, chocolate-dipped snacks, and so much more. One of my family’s favorite ways to enjoy bacon is candied. My kids even have T-shirts that declare “Bacon is Meat Candy”—yes, I bought them, but they wear them proudly. There are some shirts they won’t wear (the “Las Vegas” ones my husband brought back), but candied bacon? That’s always welcome.

Candied bacon breaks the rules. It’s neither a main course nor a classic dessert—it’s a snacky fusion of salty, sweet, chewy, and crunchy that tastes like bacon heaven. You can buy it at specialty shops, but it’s expensive: about $6.99 for roughly three ounces at the cheapest. Buying a pound of good thick-cut bacon and a half cup of granulated maple sugar costs around $12–$20 total and yields a full pound of far superior candied bacon. Plus, if you invest in a larger container of maple sugar, you’ll be ready for a follow-up recipe you’ll want to make soon: Maple frozen custard studded with bits of this maple candied bacon.

Maple candied bacon is embarrassingly simple. You dredge thick bacon slices in maple sugar, lay them on a foil-lined pan, and place the pan in a cold oven. Yes—a cold oven. Below are helpful cook’s notes so you understand why this method works and how to get the best results.

Cook’s Notes

Start with the best bacon you can find and choose thick-cut slices. Thick bacon lets the sugar caramelize while the meat reaches the right texture, giving you the ideal balance of chew and crisp.
If you cure and smoke your own bacon at home, candied homemade bacon is especially satisfying—both for flavor and pride of making it yourself.
Maple sugar gives the authentic maple flavor and texture. If you prefer not to splurge, brown sugar can be used as a substitute, but the result won’t be maple-flavored.
Put the pan in a cold oven and then set the heat to 325°F (163°C). Bringing the bacon up to temperature with the oven reduces shrinking and warping, so the slices maintain a better shape and cook more evenly. This is the trick I use for regular baked bacon as well.
Watch closely near the end of the cook time. Bacon can go from slightly underdone to burnt very quickly. It’s better to remove it a touch underdone and finish briefly in the microwave than to lose an entire batch to overcooking.

When the bacon is done, it should be a deep mahogany color with the sugar fully melted and caramelized. Use tongs to transfer each slice—one at a time—to a clean porcelain, glass, ceramic, or pottery plate. Be careful: the sugar and bacon fat will be molten and can burn if you taste it right away. Let it cool to room temperature before eating.
If you refrigerate leftover candied bacon it may lose its glossy finish. To restore the shine, place slices on a plate and microwave uncovered for 30 seconds at a time until they regain their gloss.

Maple Candied Bacon

Rebecca Lindamood

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Ingredients

1 pound thick-cut bacon
1/2 cup granulated maple sugar
Also needed: heavy-duty aluminum foil

Instructions

Line a half sheet pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil (dull side up). Pour the maple sugar into a pie plate. Dredge each bacon slice through the sugar, pressing to coat both sides, then lay the slices in a single layer on the foil-lined pan without overlapping.
Place the pan in a cold oven and set the heat to 325°F (163°C). Bake for about 30 minutes, then check the bacon. When done, the slices will be deep mahogany and the sugar fully melted and caramelized. Use tongs to transfer slices one at a time to a clean plate. Let cool to room temperature before eating to avoid burns. Leftovers can be wrapped in foil and refrigerated for up to three weeks.
If refrigerated candied bacon loses its gloss, place slices on a plate and microwave uncovered in 30-second intervals until shiny again.

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided as a courtesy. Calculate nutrition using the exact ingredients you use with your preferred nutrition calculator.