Candied Maple Pecan Bacon

Get ready to elevate your bacon with the perfect balance of sweet, savory, and herby goodness! This baked Maple Pecan Bacon is coated in a luscious mix of brown sugar, crushed pecans, and a hint of fresh rosemary, creating a caramelized crunch that's absolutely irresistible.

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You all know how much I love bacon. From the mind that brought you everything seasoning bacon and bacon cheddar waffles, and created a bacon and gruyere biscuit, it was only a matter of time until I brought you my Maple Pecan Bacon. For this recipe I merged a Brunch Queen's love of maple syrup with memories of my grandmother's pecan tree into a perfect slice of praline bacon and you are all here to witness its birth.

I added a hint of rosemary for two important reasons: the first is that I think that a little bit of savory with my sweet is the perfect combination and rosemary just makes it that much better. The second reason is that rosemary is the only fresh herb I have managed to keep alive, so I need to use it up before I kill that too. True story.

Ingredients & Substitutions

There aren't a lot of places to hide when you don't have a lot of ingredients, so get the best ingredients that you can afford. Let's take a look at them and how you can make some changes to this bacon recipe if you need to:

• Bacon - Because I like a crispier texture, I prefer to use regular thickness bacon. Thicker cut bacon will have a chewier and meatier texture if that's what you prefer.
• Maple syrup - I use only pure maple syrup. It can be a little pricey, but a little goes along way. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons, but you just barely use that much to brush onto eight strips of bacon. If you don't want your bacon as sweet, you can skip the syrup completely and brush a little bit of oil onto the bacon to help the topping adhere.
• Pecans - I recommend purchasing whole pecans. They are more affordable and also easy to chop up. Don't purchase toasted pecans. The process of baking the topping will toast the pecans. If you have pre-toasted nuts, they will have a tendency to burn.
• Brown sugar - I recommend using brown sugar, light or dark is fine, because it caramelizes better in the oven and hardens into a nice little crispy coating.
• Rosemary - Please do not substitute with dried rosemary. I find it just has the texture of pointy needles and never, ever softens. If you don't like the flavor of rosemary, feel free to replace it with chopped thyme leaves or skip it all together.
• Black pepper - I like the way that the black pepper adds a little bit of savoriness to the sweet candied bacon strips, but you can skip it if you prefer.

See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Variations

I accept all bacon personalities and they are all welcome on my table for breakfast and brunch. Here are a few other ways that you can be makin' your bacon:

• Spicy Maple Pecan Bacon: Add a pinch of cayenne pepper or chili flakes to the brown sugar and rosemary coating for a sweet and spicy maple glaze kick.
• Apple Cinnamon Maple Bacon: Add a pinch of cinnamon and a bit of finely chopped dried apple to the coating for a fall-inspired flavor combination.
• Double Bacon Pecan Bacon: Love bacon soooomuch? Mix finely chopped bacon crumbles into the sugar and pecan mixture and enter a bacon joy coma.

Cooking bacon on parchment paper

Not only do I prefer to cook bacon in the oven, I always use parchment paper. Not only that, but I crinkle up the paper before smoothing it out and placing it on my sheet pan. Here are the benefits of using parchment paper and the ever important crinkling process:

• Even Cooking: Bacon cooks more evenly on parchment, helping to avoid burnt spots that you might get from a bare pan or aluminum foil.
• Crispier Bacon: Because we crinkle the paper first, the slices of bacon sit up off the parchment and bacon fat collects around the bacon instead of soaking into it, which helps you get nice, crispy bacon slices.
• No Sticking: Parchment prevents the bacon, or any sugary coatings you might add, from sticking to the pan.
• Protects the Pan: It keeps your baking sheet clean and free of grease or burnt-on bits, saving you from scrubbing.
• Easy Cleanup: Parchment paper keeps bacon from sticking to the pan, and the crinkles cause the edges to fold upwards to trap the bacon grease, making cleanup quick and simple—just throw the paper away after cooking!

Instructions

Making this delicious pecan candied bacon is so simple, and the recipe makes enough topping that you may end up making this bacon every day for a week. Not that I did that or anything 😉

• The instructions in this recipe call for the use of a small food processor or food chopper. If you don't have either of those things, you can definitely hand chop the nuts and herbs and then combine them with the brown sugar and black pepper. Just make sure that you chop them very finely so you don't have big pieces of herbs and pecan pieces.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375°F. Place brown sugar, black pepper, and rosemary in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the rosemary is very finely chopped.

Step 2: Add your untoasted pecans into the bowl of the food processor and pulse 2 to 3 times, or until the pecans are finely chopped. Pour the mixture onto a small sheet pan or shallow dish.

Step 3: Brush each slice of bacon on one side with maple syrup.

Step 4: Press the bacon strips, syrup-side down, in the pecan mixture and place topping-side up on a larger parchment paper lined sheet pan.

Step 5: Place into the oven and bake at 375° for 15 to 20 minutes or until the sugars are caramelized and the bacon is fully cooked. 

Transfer to another piece of parchment paper or a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely. The bacon and topping will crisp up as it cools.

Serving suggestions

This baked maple pecan bacon is great with fluffy pancakes, crispy waffles, scrambled eggs, or alongside roasted potatoes. It also makes a delicious snack on its own!

Recipe FAQs

More bacon please