Maple glazed bacon, who doesn’t love the smell and taste of bacon, dress it up with a coating of pure maple glaze and you have a gourmet dish or appetizer. Glazed maple bacon can add a savory note to desserts, just crumble the bacon into maple flavored frosting for cupcakes.  Or consider sweet and savory appetizers; wrap maple bacon around sweet potato slices, or asparagus before baking. Wrap around prawns or cream cheese stuffed jalapeno peppers, or small smokey links before baking. Maple syrup adds a sweet note to thick-cut bacon slices, which are obviously delicious served right  alongside pancakes, eggs or waffles.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup maple syrup (use the real stuff)
• 12 slices good-quality thick-cut bacon
• coarse ground pepper (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

1. Pour the maple syrup into a shallow bowl and give each bacon slice (both sides) a generous dip in the syrup.
2. Lay the bacon on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with pepper if desired.
3. Bake for 20 minutes. Flip the bacon over and bake until it is crisp at the edges and caramelized on the bottom, another 10 to 15 minutes.*Note: this cooking time is depending on the thickness of your bacon, keep an eye on it while baking so it does not burn, especially if using a thinner bacon.
4. Remove the baking sheet from the oven.
5. Lift the slices from the liner so they don’t stick after cooling. Cool for about a minute, transfer to a long platter to serve.