I know I’m going Flexitarian for a few weeks but I made these a couple weeks ago before Mr. Foodie left town. Stephanie over at Modern Christian Woman is the one who got me jump started on this one.
Did you know bacon could be better than bacon?
Did you even know such a thing was possible?
I’m not talking Chocolate Covered Bacon.
I’m not talking Bacon Ice Cream.
I’m talking bacon that is actually better than…
yes…
bacon.
Who knew?
I’ve got three things going on here. A brand new bacon I’ve never tried from Aldi, Stephanie’s Spicy Maple Bacon and a recipe I’ve been meaning to try for-e-ver, Bacon with Sriracha and Brown Sugar from Food.com.
When all was said and done I had a Grand Slam on my hands. The less expensive bacon from Aldi was as good if not better than my normal brand. Both bacon’s were out of this world and the final sandwiches were absolutely dynomite!
BUTTTTT…Mr. Foodie and I agreed on this one little detail. While both bacon’s tasted fabulous the Spicy Maple won out for this one reason. The Sriracha Brown Sugar was too sticky. Like rip the fillings out of your teeth sticky. We agreed that while neither was far superior in flavor over the other, it was probably in our best interest NOT to eat something that could pose a hazard to our dental work. So, if you have fillings or like in my case, one *very* expensive crown, you might want to shy away from the Sriracha Brown Sugar one. However, if you have all your natural teeth completely in tact, by all means, GO FOR IT!! It definitely doesn’t disappoint in the flavor department!
And it’s bacon that’s actually better than bacon!!
For the Spicy Maple Bacon…
I’ve been cooking my bacon in the oven for years but normally I do it in huge batches, like 6-8 pounds at a time batches. I always line my baking sheets with parchment paper for easier clean up (and for saving all the bacon fat!). When cooking a small batch like this it’s not really necessary but if you want faster clean up, go for it.
Stephanie’s recipe called for 1 pound bacon, 1/2 cup Maple Syrup and Cayenne Pepper to taste…I halved the recipe since I was doing two kinds of bacon.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Brush bacon with Maple Syrup (use the real deal here…not pancake syrup!). Bake about 10-15 minutes…mine took closer to 25 minutes at this temperature but that may be just how my oven runs. Just keep an eye on it until it’s to your desired doneness.
When it’s done, sprinkle with a little Cayenne Pepper to taste. We like spicy so I went pretty liberally but it still doesn’t show well in the photo.
For the Sriracha Brown Sugar…
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lay bacon down flat on baking sheet (definitely use foil or parchment paper for this one!)
Run a thin line of Sriracha Sauce down each strip of bacon then spread evenly with a pastry brush then sprinkle with liberal amounts of brown sugar.
Bake 20-25 minutes…Keep a close eye on this one. Mine almost burned from the brown sugar.
***ALSO*** Do NOT drain these on paper towels! They STICK horribly! Just move them to another piece of parchment paper or ceramic plate.
Now…
Take your pick.
Both are absolutely fabulous.
Spicy Maple Cayenne
~ OR ~
Sriracha Brown Sugar
I’ve been a bacon lover my whole life.
I never knew bacon could be better than bacon.
Now I know.
Don’t be left out.
Get in the know.
Now.
Don’t limit yourself to just sandwiches with these strips of goodness.
Try them alongside your eggs, on burgers, on salads, as a baked potato topping, in potato or macaroni salad or anything that calls for bacon pieces. 
You got my taste buds dancin’ lady. Bacon! I just changed up my baked stuffed pork chop recipe to include bacon this week & John and I both agreed that pretty much everything tastes better with bacon. Fell in love w/this Applewood thick sliced bacon that we get at the meat counter at Hannaford…oh my, oh my… But I think I will hold on any sticky pull your teeth out stuff since I’m almost at the last (cap) stage of replacing the tooth that a certain happy puppy knocked out of my mouth. But I love her Justa, I really love that dog.
Wow, I never thought about putting more flavor on bacon, but sriracha and bacon just sounds crazy good!
I know, right?! Just a little hit of heat/warmth/spice with that salty, porky, melt in your mouth goodness. I can’t believe this was one of those recipes that kept getting put on the back burner! DOH!!
Your bacon ploy worked, I made BLTs for dinner!
No sriracha, tho, I was rushing it!
LOL! Bacon in any form is just too hard to resist isn’t it?!
I’m gonna have to mention your bacon post tomorrow, but only because my original plans for dinner got scrapped, thanks to you!
OH my – that sandwich looks ridiculous good….need to make another batch of bacon!
Isn’t that stuff just GREAT?!
Crazy addictive…but as my 3 year old says “It puts a party in my tummy!” LOL
I just resolved yesterday to get serious about eating like I should, a diet that doesn’t include bacon! Now I want bacon! That looks so delicious! This will go into the to-try file to pull out after I have been eating right for a few weeks and deserve a treat.
LOL!! I know what you mean! I wish I would have posted this one a couple weeks ago instead of waiting until I make an effort to change my eating habits!
Looks absolutely delicious!
Thank you! They were SO good!