Candy. Bacon. Two words that we oh so wish we could meld together into an awesome snack or ingredient. Well, we can. Usually you use brown sugar to candy bacon, but on a ketogenic diet that’s something we’re not allowed. But, lucky for us, there’s erythritol.
I use NOW brand Erythritol because it has lower glycemic impact than most other brands, is all natural, and is made from a mom and pop company. Not to mention, it’s cheaper than most of the bigger name brands! You can purchase Real Food NOW Erythritol on Amazon.
I’ve done some testing with my blood sugars and ketone levels and noticed that they stay in tact after ingesting quite a large amount of the stuff. It’s VERY similar to sugar in the sense of baking. It’s like a magical food for low carbers that ACTUALLY works. Go figure huh? We rarely hear that.
Candied bacon is an absolute treat. It melts in your mouth, giving you a sweet and salty snack that will really make you ecstatic. You can add smoked paprika, cayenne, chili powder, cocoa, and other spices to make this even better!
The Preparation
- 6 slices thick cut bacon
- 5 teaspoons erythritol
The Execution
1. Preheat your oven to 350F.
2. Get your favorite baking sheet out that has some kind of lips around it. We want to make sure the grease from the bacon doesn’t slide off into the stove.
3. Tear a piece of foil off to cover the baking sheet and secure it in place.
4. On the baking sheet, pour about 5 tsp. of Erythritol. We’ll be using this to coat the bacon.
5. Get your bacon ready. Press the bacon into the Erythritol on both sides to cover it well.
6. Line your bacon on a wired grill so that the grease can drip down below. This also allows the convection to cook the bacon on the bottom.
7. If you’d like to, you can crimp the bacon by running it through the holes in the grill. This will give a wavy effect once the bacon is cooked.
8. Once all your bacon is finished being coated, make sure it can’t fall through any of the holes.
9. Stick your bacon in the oven. It will take around 40 minutes to cook if you are not using thick sliced bacon. If you’re using thick sliced bacon it will take about 50-55 minutes.
10. Once your bacon is browned and shiny, take it out of the oven.
11. Let your bacon cool for 10 minutes and it’s ready to use!
How To: Low Carb Candied Bacon
Ingredients
- 6 Slices Thick Cut Bacon
- 5 tsp. Erythritol
Instructions
- Coat bacon in erythritol.
- Put in oven at 350F for 45-55 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes.
I’d been eyeballing this recipe lustfully for quite some time. Desperate for something sweet, I decided to finally give it a shot. This is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever eaten…..this coming from someone who dips sausage and bacon in maple syrup. It’s indescribably different. Other than pure desperation I don’t know how I finished it. I used Now brand erythritol…..maybe it’s an acquired taste?
I didn’t find it to be an acquired taste kind of thing, but maybe some people are sensitive to the taste of erythritol more than others. How much erythritol did you put on it? Maybe if you cook bacon again you could try just adding erythritol to one piece (small sprinkling) and see how it turns out – these things are one of my favorite snacks 🙁
Awww…..I’m sorry. It could very possibly be that I used too much, because I really mashed it in. It trashed my oven rack too. I baked chicken today and the rack was still smoking 45 minutes later, lol.
I believe you when you say it’s one of your favorite snacks, and I was surprised this recipe turned out the way that it did. I really want it to work, so I’ll try it again with just a sprinkling.
You have a bunch of other recipes that I love and I’ll be sure leave you some kudos on those. Oh, and I’m definitely going to get a copy of that recipe book too. Thanks for all you do Craig. 🙂
Hey, don’t be sorry – you’re always entitled to your opinion. If you try it again, you could forgo the use of 2 slices of bacon just to test. When I did this recipe, I just sprinkled erythritol onto the foil and layed the bacon in it, then flipped it and did the same. I just let the bacon “pick up” whatever it wanted to under its own weight. But I’ve also done this where I just grab some erythritol in my fingers and lightly sprinkle it on (maybe 2 Tbsp. per 6 slices, letting excess go onto the foil under the bacon). It may just be an acquired taste, but I try to test my recipes on 2-3 people before I post them onto the site. Sometimes it’s a thumbs up, sometimes I just don’t post the recipes because others don’t like it. I have weird tastes sometimes 😉
Well, I’m glad you like some of the other recipes! I love hearing feedback, bad or good, so keep it coming 🙂 All the best, and thanks for being a part of the site!
Well candied bacon is excellent in my book and I used to make it with brown sugar in the before life. You should try it with adding 1/4t of blackstrap molasses to 1/4C of Swerve (or erythritol) (I mash it around inside a baggie to blend) to make brown sugar with 1 carb. Adding spices like smoked paprika, cumin and chili powder send candied bacon over the top, as if it wasn’t already there!
That sounds great Noelle. I’ve been seriously debating whether I should start using blackstrap molasses because I’ve really been wanting to use brown sugar in a lot of recipes. I may just have to give this a go. Thanks for the idea!
I went one more step here. Besides adding the 1/4 tsp of molasses discussed earlier here, I added maple flavoring–about 1/8 tsp. It turned out AWESOME! I did 10 pieces of bacon, immediately ate 3 as my afternoon snack. Had to put the others in the refrigerator before I ate all of them!
This is not the first, nor will it be the last, of your recipes that I enjoy. I’ve been on this diet since 5/31/16 and hit the 20 lbs lost mark this morning! Another 30 to go. I know it will be slower but I refuse to give up!