Bacon Bark

Another fabulous recipe from the 2011 Ladies Christmas Social, this one courtesy of Stacy Sorenson.  If you are a bacon lover, you have to give this a try.  It's a fun appetizer for the Super Bowl, or a man party.

Nuts:
1 cup pecan halves
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Bacon:
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
6 strips center-cut bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 lemon, zested
pinch salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper



To prepare the Nuts:
In a small bowl, add all the ingredients listed under Nuts.
Stir until everything is coated.
Set aside.


To prepare the bacon:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In another small bowl add all of the ingredients listed under Bacon.
Spread out on a nonstick backing sheet and place in the preheated oven.
Cook until the bacon is partially done,
and the sugars are bubbling, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and add the nut mixture onto the sheet.
Stir and fold with a spatula and spread everything out on the sheet again.
Place back in the oven for 15 more minutes,
stirring and spreading again halfway through cooking.

Serve warm, or allow to cool and break apart.

(I ate it when it was cool and broken apart like peanut brittle.)