Bacon Candy

I've wanted to write this Blog for quite a while, but always found reasons to put it off…mostly because as you’ll soon recognize, I am not a writer.  Today I realized that it’s not the writing that will bring you back each month but the recipes I’m asked to share each time I make one of my experiments for friends or family.

After the party to celebrate Meredith's birthday last night and the number of requests I got for recipes for both of the dishes I brought, I realized....IT'S TIME. Welcome to my Blog, appropriately named "My Most Requested Recipes." If I never created another recipe, I have enough in my repertoire to keep this monthly Blog active for years.

If I asked any of my friends or colleagues for a suggestion as to which recipe should be my first, I can guarantee that 99 out of 100 will name the “Bacon Candy.”  No matter where I bring these tasty treats, most of my evening is spent giving out the recipe and describing how it’s made.

The trick to these delicious bites is to begin with THICK BACON.  Although any thick bacon will work, I prefer to use the bacon packaged like this.

Ingredients:

• Thick Bacon
• Light Brown Sugar
• Yellow Corn Meal

Directions:

I don't like to spend a lot of time cleaning up, so I line my baking pan with heavy aluminum foil and spray the baking rack with non stick cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar and corn meal (1 cup of brown sugar to 1 T corn meal).  For this entire package of bacon, I will use approximately 3 cups of brown sugar and 3 T of corn meal.

Before separating the bacon, cut the slices into thirds.  One third of a slice creates a nice, 2 bite piece.  Dip each piece of bacon into the brown sugar/corn meal mixture to coat heavily and place onto the baking rack. If you run out of the brown sugar mixture before finishing, just make a little more.

The bacon will shrink a bit, so don't worry about placing the bacon too close together.  Bake until the bacon is red/brown, approximately 15 - 20 minutes depending on how thick your bacon is.  I like it a little charred around the corners.  Remove to cooling rack.  The bacon will not crisp until it cools.  Serve at room temperature.

If you reuse the baking pan, there is no reason to wash the wire baking rack but be sure to replace the aluminum foil. 

Well, there you have it....my very first Blog and my most requested recipe.  Please let me know what you think.  I welcome your thoughts on suggestions for how to make this better.

For a printer friendly copy of this recipe, go to Bacon Candy.  Enjoy!