Pumpkin Spice Candied Bacon

I completely wanted to make this as a joke. I love pumpkin spice, but it’s becoming so popular that the act of hating it is becoming even more popular.

But… hot damn. Pumpkin spice candied bacon is autumn heaven in pork form. I used Southern Tier Warlock (a pumpkin imperial stout that has a great balance of fall fun on a solid stout base) with brown sugar and pumpkin spices. Slowly applied to the meat in small segments of time, it slowly builds on top of the bacon to create a sweet and salty snack with a fall explosion of flavor.

Do it. Your mouth will thank you.

Crispy, sweet and most importantly… covered in beer.

Pumpkin Spice Candied Bacon
adapted from Tide and Thyme
1 lb applewood smoked bacon, thick cut
½ cup brown sugar
1 tbsp pumpkin spice blend
⅓ cup + 1 tbsp Southern Tier Warlock
maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Using either a broiler pan with slats or wire rack atop a baking sheet, spread out a single layer of bacon. (You may need either two pans or two batches.) Place in oven for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin spice and stout.

Remove bacon and using a pastry brush, brush one side with beer mixture. Return to oven for five minutes.

Remove from oven. Flip bacon with tongs and apply beer mixture to this side. Return to oven for five minutes.

Repeat four more times (using the five minute intervals). At this point, you should have used all of your mixture and bacon should be crispy. If the bacon needs a bit more time, return to oven for another five minutes.

Remove from oven for a few minutes. Shortly after it comes out of the oven, remove the bacon to parchment paper or foil. (If you don’t do it when it is warm, it will stick to the pan.)

Serve with a side of maple. syrup.