All Day I Dream About Food

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Spicy Candied Bacon – Low Carb and Gluten-Free

Low Carb Spicy Candied BaconSugar-free candied bacon with chipotle.  The tastiest snack in all the world.

Let’s face it, bacon is just about the best invention ever.  Whosoever thought to themselves “hey, let’s take this piece of fatty pork belly and slice it really thin, and smoke the hell out of it and make it super salty to preserve it, so then we can fry or broil it later” is brilliant.  Like, Einstein-level brilliant.  I’d like to shake this person’s hand.  I’d like to kiss this person’s feet.  Because bacon is the best.  Bacon makes me swoon.  There is no better smell in the world than frying bacon.  I should just stop here because there is no more to be said.  Bacon rules.  You cannot argue with bacon.

Can you improve on bacon?  No, absolutely not.  You can, however, come up with some interesting twists on bacon.  Bacon needs no embellishments, and yet it lends itself so readily to embellishment.  It can be dressed up or dressed down.  It can go sweet or savoury.  It can be the main character or it can play a supporting role.  Its versatility is endless, and if you keep any sort of eye on the foodie world, you will see people doing some pretty interesting things with bacon.  Things I never would have even dreamed of a few years ago.  But given my love of bacon, it all makes a great deal of sense to me now.

Low Carb Spicy Candied Bacon

Bacon in sweet dishes was something of a revelation to me, because I’d always paired it with savory things growing up.  It took me a little while to wrap my mind around the idea, but I can say that I have now wholeheartedly embraced it.  That smoky saltiness turned sweet is powerful, make-you-weak-in-the-knees stuff!  So I decided it was time to try my hand at low carb candied bacon.  I modeled my version after the candied bacon recipe on Recipe Girl – if you don’t know Lori’s blog yet, you should! She’s got so many great recipes on there, and although they’re not low carb and gluten-free, they’re wonderful inspiration. And she’s a dear, so that helps too. I love Lori’s suggestion for making the bacon wavy by poking it through the slats in the baking rack.  The only problem is that my backing racks aren’t slats but filled in with cross-bars, so I couldn’t poke my bacon through. But I found that crimping the bacon into a wavy shape before baking did the trick just as well.

Low Carb Spicy Candied Bacon

I did find I had to cook my candied for quite a bit longer. This may be due to the lack of real sugar, the heat of my oven or perhaps I just like my bacon a lot crispier than Lori does. Still, the final result was to die for. The bacon was both crisp and meltingly tender. And the sweet-salty-smokiness will blow your mind. I actually salivate as I write this. I can hardly wait to make it again!

Low Carb Spicy Candied Bacon

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Spicy Candied Bacon – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Candied Bacon with cinnamon and chipotle - the best snack in all the world. Low Carb and Gluten-Free.
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener or other erythritol I really recommend Swerve here because it caramelizes better and has less of that "cooling" sensation
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp chipotle powder optional, for a spicy kick
  • 12 oz uncured bacon not thick-cut
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a large,rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place a baking rack on top and brush with oil.
  2. In a large shallow bowl, combine Swerve Sweetener or erythritol, cinnamon and chipotle powder.
  3. Dip each slice of bacon into the sweetener mixture and thoroughly coat both sides. Place on prepared baking rack. Crimp each slice slightly to make wavy.
  4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until bacon is crisp and lightly browned. After the 20 minute mark, check every 5 minutes to make sure it's not burning (your total time will depend on your oven and how "done" you like your bacon).
  5. Remove and let cool at least 5 minutes (it will be too hot to eat straight away).
Recipe Notes

Serves 6. Net carbs are negligible (less than about 0.5 g per serving)

Nutrition Facts
Spicy Candied Bacon – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Amount Per Serving (2 g)
Calories 0
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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

  2. This looks fab – i too am a serious lover of bacon, so will try it. Can i ask, why the crimping of the bacon? It is simply for aesthetics or does it help to hold the spices on rasher? thanks 🙂 Also, not sure we have the Swerve brand in the UK… is that xylitol?

    Reply

    • Thanks, Chris! Actually, I did not like my photos for this post very much, but I appreciate your comments anyway!

      Reply

  24. does cured bacon work as well? I think that’s all I have seen in the grocery stores around me. I have seen uncured at Natural Food stores but there aren’t any close by. This sound soooo good!

    Reply

    • Yes, cured bacon should work just fine. I am just trying to avoid all the sulfates or sulfites or whatever they are! 🙂 Watch carefully in the oven, still.

      Reply

  28. I have one question. I have never found Swerve in my area. We do have granulated Splenda. Would that work as well? I’m dying to make this!

    Reply

    • Very doubtful it would work with Splenda, because it doesn’t caramelize or harden the way Swerve does. Can you find other erythritol or xylitol?

      Reply

  29. To prevent the bacon from curling, lay a second rack (upside down) on top prior to cooking and remove very carefully just prior to finishing.

    Reply

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