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Spicy Caramelized Bacon & Peanuts

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Caramelized bacon and peanuts are only minutes away with this fast-and-easy chef’s caramelization technique.

Spicy Caramelized Bacon & PeanutsI can still remember the first time I made a perfect caramel syrup. Pure magic. Happy dance.

And once I mastered the technique, if it could be caramelized, it would be caramelized.

Spicy Caramelized Bacon & PeanutsDried rose petals, popcorn, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, cocoa nibs, dried coconut, oranges, apples, pears, butternut squash, pumpkin, and yeah, even bacon. Just about everything tastes better with caramel.

Spicy Caramelized Bacon & PeanutsAt the Northwest Culinary academy and in my early writing, I almost always taught the caramel technique called the wet method. This involves cooking sugar with water until the water evaporates and the sugar then caramelizes.

This method is slower and gives the cook more control over the caramelization process. It’s primary downside, besides time, is crystallization of the sugar midway through the process. To avoid this, the cook must keep the sides of the pan free of sugar crystals, either by washing the sides down with a wet pastry brush or using a lid to cause steam to accomplish the same thing.

Spicy Caramelized Bacon & PeanutsBut these days, who has time to stand by the stove while the water evaporates? And who wants to worry about sugar crystals forming? Not me.

So the method I use here to melt the sugar is the dry method–the method most often used by professional chefs.

Spicy Caramelized Bacon & PeanutsThe dry method is not difficult, but may take some practice to master. If you have no experience with this method, be prepared to discard just the sugar in your first couple of attempts.

Spicy Caramelized Bacon & Peanuts_3Without water as a buffer, the sugar melts, then caramelizes very quickly. If you error, it will probably be on the side of letting the caramel get too dark. If in doubt, toss it out. Don’t risk adding the toasted nuts and cooked bacon to a caramel that looks and smells burnt.

Spicy Caramelized Peanut & Bacon

Spicy Caramelized Bacon & Peanuts
Author: Susan S. Bradley | LunaCafe
Serves: 1½ cups
Burnt sugar, roasted peanuts, smoky bacon, and smoky chiles make a heavenly flavor pairing. great as a sweet nibble, but also as an embellishment for all kinds of chocolate desserts. Leave in chunks, or seal in a Ziploc bag and crush with a mallet for a finer crumble.
Ingredients
  • ¼ teaspoon chipotle or ancho chile powder
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more in a grinder to finish
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup skinned, roasted, lightly salted whole peanuts, separated into halves
  • ½ cup cooked, crumbled bacon
  • ½ cup sugar
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, combine chile powder, cinnamon, and salt.
  2. Locate a silicon spatula and set the spices, butter, vanilla, peanuts, and bacon next to the stovetop, within easy reach.
  3. Lightly coat a 9- by 12-inch, edged baking sheet with vegetable spray and set it next to the stovetop as well.
  4. In a 9½-inch-diameter stainless steel-lined sauté pan (light color interior is important), add the sugar.
  5. Turn on the heat to high and watch closely as the sugar starts to melt. Swirl the sugar in the pan to distribute the portions that are caramelizing first, and then if necessary, stir with a silicon spatula to evenly melt the sugar.
  6. Remove the pan from the heat immediately after the caramel turns a medium amber color, and swirl in the butter, spices, and vanilla. Be careful as the mixture may sputter and foam up. Stir with a silicon spatula until creamy and smooth.
  7. Quickly add the peanuts and bacon, and coat with caramel.
  8. Pour onto the prepared pan, and separate as best you can with the spatula.
  9. Cool completely, lift from the pan with a metal spatula, and break into small chunks with your hands.
  10. Store in an airtight Ziploc bag at room temperature for up to 2 days.

More LunaCafe Caramel Recipes

Cookin’ with Gas (inspiration from around the web)

Copyright 2015 Susan S. Bradley. All rights reserved.

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About Susan S. Bradley

Intrepid cook, food writer, culinary instructor, creator of the LunaCafe blog, author of Pacific Northwest Palate: Four Seasons of Great Cooking, and former director of the Northwest Culinary Academy.

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Comments

  1. Renée

    It\\\’s official, Susan. You are now my FFBBFF (Fellow Food Blogger BFF), This combination speaks to every late night munchie craving I have ever had, or ever will have, forever. O-my.

    • Susan S. Bradley

      Renée, I would love to be your FFBBFF! We can hang out, drool over food magazines (the photographs!), and eat caramelized bacon and peanuts. Maybe whip up a batch of caramelized popcorn if we’re still hungry. 🙂

  3. amanda

    I always fail at the dry method. ALWAYS. Like, I’ve had to throw away pans because the sugar is so burnt. This looks so delicious though and I wish I was better at candy making so I could try it!

    • Susan S. Bradley

      Amanda, thank you for letting me know this. I wish I could stand beside you and walk you through this method. It would be a good one to make a video on. Maybe I’ll do that and add it to the post. Alternatively, I should go back and add the wet method as an option. It is more failsafe. Once you master the caramel technique, an entire world of marvelous treats is open to you. Don’t give up. 🙂