This is called Million Dollar Bacon for good reason. Yummy pieces of thick bacon covered in brown sugar, spices, and maple syrup. It’s the perfect mix of sweet, spicy, and salty.
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If you’re out to eat at a restaurant and you see something on the menu called “Million Dollar Bacon” then it’s a must that you should order it, right? Well that’s what happened when hubby and I recently tried a restaurant called First Watch. All of the food was amazing but what really stood out was their take on candied bacon.
It was not only deliciously sweet, it had the perfect hint of spice. I knew at my first bite why it had its name. It truly had me feeling like a million bucks.
Hubby requested that I make it at home so I did. Now I must share it because this delicious bacon should not be a secret.
Check out my how to bake bacon in the oven and air fryer bacon recipes too.
How to make Million Dollar Bacon
First, move your oven rack to the middle rack and proceed to preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a small bowl, combine your brown sugar, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
Next, get a pack of thick cut bacon. You could use regular bacon if that’s all you have on hand but the thick cut gives this bacon a nice crispy yet jerky kind of feel. I strongly recommend it.
Grab some foil paper and lay it on a baking sheet. Lay your bacon on the sheet and cover both sides with the brown sugar mixture.
You want the sugar mixture all over your bacon.
Place your bacon in your preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Open oven and flip bacon pieces and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, until the bacon is done.
Remove bacon and move to a cooling rack. You may use a paper towel to remove any excess grease on the bacon.
Drizzle bacon with maple syrup.
Serve warm.
Notes on Millionaire Bacon
- To use a rack or not when baking, that’s the question. I’ve tested both ways and preferred to bake it on the baking sheet without a rack. The bacon was able to soak up all that sugary spicy goodness in the oven without it dripping off during baking. You can use a paper towel to dab up any excess grease after baking but before drizzling the maple syrup.
- If you’re not using thick cut bacon, decrease the baking times by about half.
- This bacon can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for a few days.
Looking for more breakfast recipes? Try these out:
- Sheet Pan Pancakes
- Homemade Pumpkin Waffles
- Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
- Breakfast Potatoes (Air Fryer Recipe)
- Cheesy Corned Beef Breakfast Casserole
- Egg Bites (Pressure Cooker Recipe)
- Pumpkin Oatmeal (Pressure Cooker Recipe)
- Strawberry Baked Oatmeal
Watch this video tutorial and see how I make this bacon from start to finish.
Million Dollar Bacon
Ingredients
- 10 pieces thick cut bacon
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 Tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Place oven rack on center rack. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Combine brown sugar, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
- Place foil on a 13×9 baking sheet. Add bacon in a single layer.
- Cover both sides of pieces of bacon with the brown sugar mixture.
- Bake in preheated oven on center rack for 20 minutes, then flip and cook for 15-20 minutes on other side.
- Remove bacon from oven and place on cooling rack to dry.
- Cover bacon with maple syrup
Suggested Tools
Video
Notes
- If you prefer, you can bake the bacon on racks in the oven to drain off excess fat while baking. I prefer to bake without a rack and use paper towels after baking to dab up any excess grease.
- Not all thick bacon is created equally. Some bacon is labeled as “thick” bacon when it truly isn’t. If using thinner bacon, start checking for doneness after 20 minutes.
Kristin Johnson
Sunday 6th of February 2022
Burned and smoked up whole house. 😫 35-40 minutes cook time I guess is too long. Assuming the others knew this. I will try again next weekend for 20 minutes only. I’m not a good cook so follow directions exactly which did not work on this recipe. Other newbies - either flip after 10 minutes or maybe not at all?
Tanya
Sunday 6th of February 2022
Hi Kristin, it looks like you missed this note in the recipe card. "Not all thick bacon is created equally. Some bacon is labeled as “thick” bacon when it truly isn’t. If using thinner bacon, start checking for doneness after 20 minutes." If your bacon is thinner, flip it at around 10 minutes. I'd love to hear how it turns out for you when you try again.
J
Monday 15th of November 2021
Attempted twice. The first time my "thick cut" Bacon was not thick and absolutely burnt to a crisp. You did warn me. The second time worked wonderfully, cooked for 22 minutes. It's great, but I cannot tell if it's better with or without the maple syrup. I ended up only covering half in the maple syrup and ate the other half without (there was no leftover). Thank you!
DB
Sunday 20th of June 2021
I use coconut sugar and sugar free maple syrup making it a lower sugar treat for my Type 2 Diabetic husband. I found a tad more cayenne pepper was needed for a spice to meet the sweet.
Jess
Wednesday 3rd of March 2021
We’ve made this four or five times and comes out great each time!
Tanya
Thursday 4th of March 2021
Thanks Jess! So glad you like the recipe.
Leslie
Sunday 28th of February 2021
Thank you! We just had this yesterday, so i was going to experiment! If you cut the slices in half before cooking, you get crisper ends on all sides. I cut the sweet a bit by pulling back on the brown sugar. You don’t have to season the second side until you flip, which saves some effort. Again to make less sweet and more sticky, I drizzled with syrup with molasses. Absolutely should glaze under the heating element on broil for 1-2 minutes (watching) after the syrup/molasses... First Watch bacon is a little soggy for my taste, so that made it devine!