This post is soooo worth saving, tagging, pinning, or whatever the kids are doing these days. From the love of bacon that so many people share, to the tangy, sweet candied coating, this is a recipe to keep in the rotation. Here are some of the acclaimed family reviews…

First Review – Eric’s brother and sister-in-law raved the first time that I made this for a family get together. They kept coming back to the kitchen for more, including on their way out the door. Unfortunately, there was a new winter coat that experienced a drip of the candied goodness (aka bacon greese with sugar) on the coat and it will never be the same again. Don’t worry – though a permanent stain was upsetting, the bacon was so good, there were no regrets.

Second Review – made this in Wisconsin a while back for family. They all enjoyed it so much that it did not last long enough to make it to the actual table – this became a standing appetizer, as everyone was standing and talking while devouring it. Since then, I haven’t thought too much about when we made this, but recently when asking my brother what he needs help with for his wedding, he asked for us to make 40 pounds of this candied bacon. Before you get ahead of yourself, that is unfortunately not happening. My husband and I are in the wedding and I say that would be challenging feat to pull off both.

Third Review – comes from the teen in the house. Normally she is not the biggest bacon fan. I am aware that this can cause a reaction of ‘WHAT?!‘ from many of reading, because ‘Who doesn’t like bacon?‘ I will clarify – she will have bacon if it’s cooked the way she likes it, but it is not often a request. For some reason, I think this will change as she gets older.

Either way, the other day, when making this bacon for the umpteenth time to top Wedge Salads for dinner, I was told a very solid, ‘No, I’m not having any of that.’ She had pasta with alfredo sauce for dinner…with an appetizer of candied bacon, a side of candied bacon and then came back for dessert pieces of candied bacon. I would say, this is a rave review.

Part of the ease of this of this recipe is that there are only four ingredients. The only other things you need are tin foil, tongs, a pan with a rack, a basting brush, and time. There is a time commitment with the times the pan goes in and out of the oven to continue flipping and basting each side as the bacon cooks, but that is for the love of bacon (and your family) that it doesn’t feel like too much effort. Not to mention that you will reap the rewards as well.

This recipe below calls for white wine, Dijon mustard, brown sugar and 2 pounds of bacon. Our house is not often shy of Chardonnay and that is what I used this week, but any dry white wine that you would drink is great for this. The first time I made this, the recipe called for the same volume of candy coating ingredients, but only 1 pound of bacon. There was a lot of coating left over and that feels wasteful. I have modified to adjust the volume of candy coating goodness to suit 2 pounds of bacon. You could also halve the recipe if you just want to make 1 pound…but who only wants one pound of bacon?!

The baking process for the bacon is simple, oven at 350°, bacon for 10 mins, remove, flip and baste, back in the oven for 10 mins and repeat until the bacon is done to your liking. You could call our family the Goldie Locks of bacon – We appreciate a crisp piece of bacon, but not so crisp that it is hurts to chew. It has to be Just Right!

Don’t be scared to crowd the pan with bacon, as they will shrink as they cook. As you can see below I didn’t crowd my bacon and I kind of wished I would have because I could have fit more during this cook. More bacon for me and more bacon for the family.

From the reviews, you can see that we have made this quite a few times and it hasn’t disappointed thus far. What I love most about this recipe is that even when I haven’t made this in a while, I begin to get creative in wondering what other recipes I could use this with/on/for. I get that regular excitement about trying something new that I’m pretty sure will work out, that drives my passion for cooking.

In the case of this week, we used it to top a Wedge Salad with bleu cheese and tomatoes (above); then another night to make a modified Earl Grey Old Fashioneds (below). Amazing additions to some tried and true recipes in their own right.

Overall, this will be something to make again and again and looking forward to inspiration of what else I can put this on. I thought about BLT’s, but haven’t gone there yet. Hmmm – let me know if there is anything that you think of for this bacon.

Candied Bacon

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs sliced bacon
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 Tbls Dijon mustard

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a sheet pan with tin foil and place lined rack in the pan. Line the bacon slices over the rack and place in oven to cook for 10 minutes.

Whisk together brown sugar, wine and dijon in a bowl. After the first 10 minutes, remove bacon from oven, carefully flip over and baste with dijon sugar mixture and place back in the oven for 10 minutes. Repeat flipping the bacon and basting again, then baking for another 10 minutes. Depending on your preference of doneness, bacon can go another 5-10 minutes repeating the flipping and basting.

When done to liking, remove from oven and let bacon set for few minutes. Serve warm.

Happy Basting!!!

*Recipe from Taste of Home Farmhouse Favorites cookbook.