Pistachio Brown Sugar Bacon might be my favorite version of of pig candy, although the regular Brown Sugar Bacon and Espresso version have special places in my heart, too. The salty sweetness of pork fat + brown sugar are a perfect compliment to the crunchy, buttery nuts.
Brown Sugar Bacon makin' notes:
I call for thick-cut bacon here, and that’s not merely a suggestion. Thin-cut bacon will scorch before the sugar has time to caramelize, and that’s not delicious. To answer your other question: YES, some bacon has gluten, either in the spices, binders or additives. Look for bacon marked GF – I like Welshire Farms, Jones, Hormel and Applegate.
I strongly suggest lining your sheet pan with foil, because the dripping pork fat and sugar makes one helluva mess. It’s way easier to throw out a little foil than scrub your pan for a week. Also, if your oven runs a little hot, turn it down to 390 F – anything over 400 will cause all kinds of smoke! I usually turn my vent on low just in case. After all that, I promise you’ll be rewarded with deliciousness! The hardest part about brown sugar bacon is letting it cool.
Ingredients
⅔ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
8 strips thick-cut Gluten-Free bacon
¼ cup shelled, roasted pistachios, finely chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set a cooling rack inside the prepared pan and set aside.
In a shallow dish, combine the brown sugar and chili powder. Dredge the bacon slices in the brown sugar mixture and arrange the bacon on the rack. Pat any remaining sugar mixture onto the bacon. Bake in the preheated oven until crisp, about 20-25 minutes.
As soon as the bacon is out of the oven, sprinkle with the chopped pistachios. Cool 5 minutes & serve.
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