Candied Bacon {the greatest food ever}

What a fantastic way to start a Monday! What is better than bacon?? We love bacon around here. I don't know if we love it as much as Katie Bower, but we do love bacon. We even spend the big bucks to buy the thick cut bacon because we've learned that it's just worth the month.

As an excuse to eat bacon, we have breakfast for dinner (or brinner) at least once a month. This normally means french toast, bacon, fritata, or egg casserole. Sometimes it means left over tortillas, salsa and a fried egg. It's normally at the end of the month and uses up some of the things we always have on hand. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Jarrod makes the most delicious bacon ever. I like my bacon really crispy with nearly all the fat rendered out. We've found the best way to do that is to bake it in the oven on a rack. We've used a broiler pan, but this time we went with a cooling rack on a cookie sheet lined with silpat. This is a great trick to get deliciously crispy bacon. And if that's where you choose to stop, that's fantastic. But if you want to take your bacon up a notch, keep reading because your world is about to be rocked.

Candied Bacon
by Jarrod Johnston

full package of thick cut bacon, cut in half (we used half a package)
1/4 cup brown sugar, or enough to coat the surface of the bacon
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder, just enough to give a little heat

Set your oven to 375 degrees. Mix the brown sugar and chili powder in a large bowl. Add the bacon slices mix it in the bowl so that the mixture coats the bacon without becoming too thick.

You need a pan with a rim to catch the bacon fat. Be sure that the pan is also lined with aluminum foil or silpat because the fat/sugar mixture gets very hot. 

 Lay the bacon on a rack - cooling rack, broiling pan, etc. - and bake for about 20 minutes or until done. If you want your bacon super crispy like me, you might want to go to 23 minutes. If you prefer your bacon a little more chewy, stop at 20 minutes.

This bacon is killer amazing. It is crispy, sweet, savory, with a little kick from the chili powder. As deliciously fantastic as bacon is, this easy preparation takes bacon to an entirely new level.

Are you a bacon fan? Give this a try!