Sweet And Spicy Cowboy Bacon Recipe

One of the best breakfasts I've ever had was made up of a fluffy, eggy strata, a bowl of fresh fruit, and a crackling plate of hot honey-glazed bacon. The sweet-and-spicy recipe that my coworker dreamed up was surprisingly simple, but it transformed the bacon into an entirely new flavor that was impossible to stop eating. I looked forward to breakfasts at work a lot more often after that, each time hoping to find a batch of the uniquely sweet bacon waiting to be eaten. Soon enough, I'd find my own way to make it — but with a few changes to make it a little more my own.

Cowboy candy is another name for candied jalapeños, which are made by simmering fresh jalapeño slices in sugared syrup and vinegar. The resulting sweet-and-spicy slices can be used on top of pizza, sandwiches, or burgers — or, in this case, bacon. In this recipe, I took the concept of the hot honey-glazed bacon and switched it with a jalapeño-infused simple syrup, then topped it with the sugar-soaked jalapeños for added heat. The result is a crispy, slightly sweet, slightly spicy, and super delicious slice of bacon that adds just the right amount of heat to any breakfast spread.

For this recipe, you'll need sugar to make simple syrup and a jalapeño to steep in the syrup as it cools. You'll also need brown sugar and bacon; I recommend finding a thick, center–cut bacon for the best results, so that the ends don't overcook and char in the oven.

Bring sugar and ½ cup water to a simmer in a pot over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves.

Add the jalapeño slices to a jar, then cover them with simple syrup. Let them cool and steep for 8 to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Arrange the slices of bacon on a wire rack fitted to a foil-lined baking sheet.

Brush the jalapeño simple syrup across each slice of bacon.

Sprinkle each piece lightly with brown sugar.

Add the jalapeño slices from the simple syrup to the pieces of bacon.

Add the slices to the oven and bake until crispy, 20 minutes.

Let cool to harden, then serve.

• Cheesy Corn Souffle Recipe
• 3-Ingredient Drop Biscuits Recipe
• Nutella French Toast Recipe
• Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Rolls Recipe
• Simple Omelet Recipe

The simple syrup can be used again for other recipes, but before doing so, pour a tablespoon or so into a bowl to use for brushing the bacon. If you dip the brush into the syrup, brush it onto the bacon, and again into the syrup, you are contaminating the entire batch with raw bacon and won't be able to use it for other recipes (in fact, I recommend disposing of any unused syrup that came in contact with the bacon).

By separating the unused simple syrup, you can use any extra for other recipes. The easiest way to use jalapeño simple syrup is in cocktails or mocktails, where you can subtly add heat to margaritas, lemonades, or ranch waters. You can also use it in savory applications like brushing onto chicken before grilling or glazing carrots before roasting. You can even use it for coffee: I prefer mine in iced coffees, where the jalapeño flavor is diluted to a mild, warming heat.

If you're in a rush, you don't have to steep the jalapeños for the recommended 8 hours. The jalapeños will infuse the simple syrup in as little as 15 minutes, but the flavor will be much less strong than if you steep overnight. The best way to shortcut this cowboy bacon recipe is to double the amount of jalapeños, infusing the syrup with even more heat and adding more slices to the bacon itself. This intensifies the potency of the syrup, which is useful if you're working with less time.

You could also swap jalapeños for a hotter chile pepper, but in doing so, you may change the flavor of the final result. Jalapeños have a grassy, vegetal flavor and mild heat that works well with bacon (and reflects Tex-Mex cuisine). Other chile peppers that would work well are habaneros, which are hotter than jalapeños and slightly citrusy in flavor, or serrano chiles, which are similar in flavor to jalapeños but about twice as hot. You could also shortcut this by adding red chile pepper flakes, which will add heat without needing any steeping.

• Maple-Cinnamon Candied Bacon Recipe
• Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp Recipe
• Easy Bacon Jam Recipe
• Simple Lavender Syrup Recipe
• Spiced Simple Syrup Recipe