Holiday Candied Bacon Brittle

How to Make Candied Bacon:

1. In a small bowl stir together: 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 Tbsp maple syrup and 2 tsp Tabasco, and set aside.
2. Cover a rimmed backing sheet with foil and set a wire rack inside. Separate bacon strips and place them evenly over the rack/baking sheet. Bake at 400˚F for 20 minutes. Flip bacon over and brush top with 1/2 of syrup then bake 5 minutes, flip bacon over, brush top with remaining syrup and bake 5-7 minutes or until browned. Don't bake much beyond this because the sugar coating can start to get smoky.
3. Remove from oven, use tongs to shift them around slightly on the rack to prevent sticking and let cool on the rack until room temperature then pat dry both sides lightly with paper towels to remove excess oil then chop into 1/2” pieces.

PREP EVERYTHING Before Starting Candy:

1. You have to move fast when making candy because it hardens quickly, so have ingredients and tools ready to go: Line baking sheet with parchment and have 2 forks ready to pull brittle apart. Have a candy thermometer ready.
2. Before starting candy, toast nuts then coarsely chop. Once nuts and bacon are cooled to room temp, toss them together in a bowl.

How to Make Nut Brittle:

1. In a medium heavy saucepan, combine: 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup corn syrup and 8 Tbsp butter. Bring to a boil, and adjust temperature to keep a medium boil. Cook, stirring occasionally 10-12 minutes, stirring more frequently towards the end (time will vary based on the size of pan, so cook until brittle is a light beige and reaches 290˚F on a candy thermometer.
2. Once at 290˚F, turn off heat, remove candy thermometer and very quickly stir in 1 tsp baking soda. It will puff up. Baking soda makes brittle lighter and crunchier.
3. Quickly (fast as lightning!!) stir in nuts and candied bacon then immediately transfer to parchment lined baking sheet and work fast to spread brittle out with 2 forks then smooth out with a spatula. Cool until firm then break into pieces and serve or package up your bacon brittle as gifts!