Toffee Bacon

…I thought that might get your attention.

To add to the holiday foodie season, here’s a recipe I stumbled upon last week. I’ve seen other variations, up to actual toffee made with bacon bits inside. My food thermometer and I have an uneasy truce: I don’t ask too much of it, and it doesn’t trick me into blowing up the kitchen in a sugar fire. So this is bacon with a melted toffee and chocolate topping.

This recipe is really easy, and was inspired by my lackluster attempts to make Praline Bacon. (I messed up the proportion of brown sugar to ground pecans, with a lovely crust that just slid off the bacon.) While making toffee brownies last week, I realized I needed to cook some slices of thick-cut bacon in the fridge. Toffee is caramelized sugar. butter, and nuts, with maybe some chocolate thrown in, right?

The experiment turned out so well I repeated it tonight. Here is a pan ready to go into the oven. 

Here’s the end result.

Ingredients:

1 pound (roughly 12 to 15 slices) of the thickest bacon you can afford.

1 small bag of crushed toffee chips (found in bakery section of grocery store, or you can smash up a largeish toffee bar. I used Heath brand chips.)

Tools:

2 flat, large baking sheets

aluminum foil

metal fork

trustworthy oven

third pan or plates lined with folded paper towels or parchment paper

some kind of storage container*

Process:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with foil to give a cooking surface with raised edges (saves on collecting bacon grease later.) Lay out uncooked bacon strips with slight gaps between them. Sprinkle with toffee chips. Move large chunks that fall on the foil back onto the bacon.

Cook for 30 minutes, or until brown & crispy but not black. Watch carefully at around minute 18 or so, in case the toffee decides to catch fire. If it turns too brown too fast, with the bacon still underdone, slack off heat to 330F.

Remove when done. Let cool only a few minutes. Slide the metal fork under the ends of the bacon, and drag under to gently lift. Transfer to paper towels on plate/sheet. Warning: do this while the bacon is still warm, otherwise the sugar will stick almighty well to the foil. If you’re worried about sugared paper towels, use parchment paper until the toffee cools, then drain excess fat.

Congratulations, you have an earthy, rich meat** candy with the blended flavors of toffee, almond, chocolate, and bacon.

Store in bag in freezer. *If it lasts that long.

** In deference to my vegetarian friends, I’m working on an adapted recipe for them, but it will involve nuts and dairy.