Millionaire Candied Bacon

You don't have to be a millionaire to enjoy this candied bacon at home!  One of my team members at work got me on to this sweet and spicy candied bacon kick, also known across the United States as Millionaire Bacon.  He brought it in one day to let me try it and when I couldn't stop thinking about it all day, I knew it was something I needed to try and make for the hubby and myself at home!  Basically you just cook thick cut bacon in the oven with brown sugar and whatever spices you like.  We like ours with a good little kick to it at our house, you know... the kind of kick that just gets you in the back of the throat, but feel free to dial back on the pepper if you don't want it quite so spicy!  This stuff is positively addictive.  You won't be able to stop eating it.

Variations - My original recipe called for 1 tsp ancho powder instead of the 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder - but one day we had run out of ancho and I tried the chipotle and it's our VERY fav, so I've adjusted this recipe. If you liked the original, then substitute 1 tsp ancho chili powder for the 1/2 tsp chipotle.  You can also substitute black pepper for the white if you don't have white on hand.  Some people like to add a little ginger to the mix too - Do you!  You can totally be your own mixologist when it comes to the spices you are adding!

I have also tried cooking the bacon on a shallow baking rack that has been placed in the prepared baking sheet and find that it works well if you want more of the fat to render out of the bacon, but I prefer mine bathed in the sticky sweet sugar mixture.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound thick cut bacon
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 Tbsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp chipotle chili pepper
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking pan with heavy duty aluminum foil.
2. In a gallon size storage bag, mix the brown sugar, red pepper flakes, chipotle chili pepper, white pepper and cayenne pepper all together until well combined.  
3. Drop the bacon one piece at a time in to the sugar mixture making sure to get both sides well coated and place each piece on the baking pan close together.  (It will shrink while cooking.) 
4. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over the top of the bacon pieces and gently pat it down.  
5. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.  
6. Using tongs, flip the bacon over in the pan and cook an additional 8-12 minutes on the other side or until nice and caramelized.  
7. Line a cooling rack with parchment paper.
8. Remove from the oven, wait a minute, then transfer the bacon to the cooling rack that has been lined with parchment paper and let it cool.    

Try not to eat the entire pound of bacon yourself.  (Good luck with that!)

*Photos updated May 2021