Yum!
(Adapted from Ina Garten’s book Barefoot Contessa Foolproof.)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 lb. thick-sliced applewood-smoked bacon
Preheat oven to 400. Place wire rack in a foil-lined baking sheet.
Process brown sugar and pecans in a food processor until nuts are finely ground. Add salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper; pulse to combine. Add maple syrup and pulse to moisten the mixture.
Cut each slice of bacon in half and arrange on the wire rack so pieces do not touch. With a small spoon evenly spread all of mixture over bacon slices.
Bake 25+ minutes, until topping is brown but not burnt and bacon is cooked through.
Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to cool, and serve at room temperature. These can be made ahead early in the day and stored at room temperature.
These were made for New Years 2013. We doubled the recipe, it made enough for 8-10 people. Rack space was tight.
We followed Ina’s recipe initially and set the over at 375; that was insufficient. We wound up turning the oven up to 400 and cooking closer to 35 or 40 minutes. The current recipe reflects our best guess at an optimal cooking strategy, but requires experimental verification.