All Day I Dream About Food

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Maple Bacon Shortbread – Low Carb and Gluten-Free

Both sweet and savoury, this low carb maple bacon shortbread will have you coming back for more!

Low Carb Maple Bacon Shortbread

Have you noticed how bacon has become socially acceptable again? I don’t mean among the low carb set, where bacon has always been more than acceptable, but with the general public. And it’s more than just acceptable, it’s actually wildly trendy. Bacon is everywhere. Once relegated to diners and greasy breakfast joints, bacon is now found in the nicest restaurants in all manners of dishes. It’s haute cuisine and it doesn’t even need to go by fancier foreign names to hide its lowly origins. It’s on t-shirts and ecards and the front cover of cookbooks. Suddenly, it’s cool to love bacon again.

And people are experimenting with bacon in their home-cooking a little more too. It’s no longer just an accompaniment for eggs, it’s allowed to take center stage and be the star of the meal. And it’s popping up in all sorts of sweets, from cookies to candy and even to cocktails. Since I have never stopped loving bacon, even when I thought it was bad for me, this is a heartening turn of events. The bacon-love abounds and I am more than happy to ride the wave of salty, smoky, fatty goodness.

Low Carb Gluten-Free Maple Bacon Shortbread

Given this growing trend, it’s not surprising that there are whole sites devoted to bacon, from blogs to online purveyors. One such site contacted me recently to ask if we could strike up a little partnership. With a name like BaconFreak.com, I had to check them out. As far as I can tell, they have every type of bacon imaginable, plus all sorts of other bacon goodies and bacon-themed novelty items as well. It’s a bacon lover’s paradise. I also got a kick out of Rocco, the owner, because he may love bacon more than anyone, and who can deny such a passion? After hearing of my husband’s accident, he offered to send my some bacon because “bacon cures” (his words!).

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So I agreed to do a little recipe creation for them and let my readers know about their site. Given how much I love bacon, it’s surprising there aren’t more bacon recipes here on All Day I Dream About Food. I am more than happy to correct my oversight. I decided to experiment a little myself and make some sweet bacon treats. The inspiration came from my friend Carrie over at Bakeaholic Mama, who put bacon fat in the shortbread crust of her pumpkin bars. I loved the idea so much, I decided to just go for a low carb shortbread made with bacon grease and bacon bits. After all, why waste all that lovely bacon grease?

Almond Flour Maple Bacon Shortbread Recipe

These were very good but not quite what you’d expect. My husband loved them and I did too, except I couldn’t decide whether they were a sweet or a savory shortbread. They were somewhere in between and we found that they were less like dessert and more like a little breakfast treat, so we ate them with our morning coffee. They were especially good spread with a little peanut butter (in the interest of full disclosure, I have a slight obsession with bacon and peanut butter together). If you decide you want to make these but aren’t quite ready for the full bacon-grease experience, you can substitute butter.

Gluten-Free Maple Bacon Shortbread

Click here to check out BaconFreak.com for all your bacon needs!

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Maple Bacon Shortbread – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Both sweet and savoury, this low carb maple bacon shortbread will have you coming back for more!
Servings: 16 wedges
Ingredients
  • 6 slices bacon
  • 1 3/4 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener or other granulated erythritol
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp bacon fat chilled OR 6 tbsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 tsp gluten-free maple extract
Instructions
  1. Cook bacon until crisp, then drain on a paper towel-lined plate and chop into small pieces.
  2. Preheat oven to 325F.
  3. In the bowl of a food processor, combine almond flour, sweetener, xanthan gum and salt. Pulse a few times to combine.
  4. Add bacon fat or butter and maple extract to the processor and pulse until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in bacon bits.
  5. Press mixture evenly and firmly into the bottom of a 9-inch glass or ceramic tart pan. Use a sharp knife to score into 16 wedges.
  6. Bake 18 minutes, then turn off the oven and prop the door open with the handle of a wooden spoon. Let sit another 20 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting along score lines to remove from pan.
Recipe Notes

Serves 16. Each serving has 3 g of carbs and 1 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 2 g.

129 Calories; 12g Fat (81.8% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 7mg Cholesterol; 98mg Sodium.

Nutrition Facts
Maple Bacon Shortbread – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Amount Per Serving (1 g)
Calories 0
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Disclosure: All Day I Dream About Food is an affiliate of BaconFreak.com. Although they did not compensate me for this post, any sales made through the links above will generate a small amount of commission. 

Nutritional Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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Comments

    • I think people are slowly coming around to the idea that saturated fat isn’t bad for you. But that means more people trying to eat my bacon!

      Reply

  5. I do not get this bacon craze at all, probably because I don’t eat pork, and turkey bacon just doesn’t have the same appeal. In fact, if I’m being honest, the thought of bacon in a sweet makes me feel a little gaggy. However, I do think I will be making this (complete with real bacon!) for Thanksgiving, just to appease the men who will be present… and because, honestly, I’m still wondering if this “put bacon in every type of dish possible” thing is all an elaborate joke!

    Reply

  7. How exactly did you come up with your nutritional stats? 6 tbsp of bacon grease has 702 kcal and 72g of fat. That’s 12g of fat per serving just from the bacon grease alone, not including any of the other fatty ingredients like almond flour or the bacon itself.

    Reply

    • Hi there. Your math is off. 72 g of fat divided by 16 servings is 4.5 g per serving, not 12 g. You seem to be dividing by 6, not 16 servings. I think maybe you are getting confused by 6 tablespoons of the fat??? For future reference, I use software called Master Cook. It has a huge list of ingredients and the ones it did not come with already I entered by hand all of the macro nutrients.

      Reply

  8. I made these and they are truly fantastic! Honestly, I can’t imagine that anyone not in the know would have the slightest idea they are gf or sugar free or low-carb; they have the most luxurious taste and texture! I used Boyajian’s maple flavor and added a few drops of stevia glycerite as my bacon seemed extra salty. Also, I initially measured the bacon fat incorrectly (I had measured it hot) and ended up with only 4 Tblsp., so I used 2 Tbsp. butter to make up the full amount. My DH loves them, too!

    Reply

  9. Hey there! First time visitor your site. I’m thinking of this as an app for the alpha males at Thanksgiving too. But first – 2 questions:
    1. Is there a substitute for the xanthan gum? I am sure I won’t be able to find it, especially as I have never seen it used in any other recipes to date. Arrowroot starch maybe?
    2. How can the shortbread be modified to use REAL maple syrup instead of a flavoring?

    Thanks

    Reply

    • Yes, you could probably sub arrowroot starch. As for real maple syrup, it’s going to add moisture so I’d do about 1/3 cup and then perhaps another tbsp or two of arrowroot to help offset the liquid from the maple syrup.

      Reply

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