A special and delicious accompaniment for breakfast and brunch, peppered maple mustard bacon is prepped the night before and heated in the morning.
Along with Make-Ahead Monkey Bread, this yummy, overnight bacon is a part of our traditional Christmas morning brunch - the one morning of the year that having things made ahead is pretty important.
Well, unless you want to be cooking while the family opens gifts, which I'm pretty sure is no one ever.
I've made many versions of brown sugar-crusted bacon over the years, but for this recipe I lowered the amount of sweetness, changed to nature-produced maple syrup, added lots of black pepper and it was DELICIOUS.
Being able to make it the night before is just a wonderful bonus - though you can make this and eat it right away if you want.
Make Ahead Peppered Maple Mustard Bacon
The key to making this bacon the day before is to cook it half way and then coat it with the seasonings before storing it in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook it fully.
My family devours this bacon whenever I make it and looks forward to it as a part of our special Christmas day tradition.
It's a perfect compliment to eggs, Monkey Bread, fruit and coffee on Christmas morning.
Get the full make ahead Christmas Brunch menu plus cute menu printable here.
I hope it will become part of your tradition, too!
Make Ahead Peppered Maple-Mustard Bacon
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon 'rough cut' or thick cut is best, but any will work
- 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper or more, as desired
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Lay the bacon out in a single layer on a large cookie sheet. Cook in oven until about 3/4 done, about 9-10 minutes and drain on paper towels.
- While bacon is cooking, stir the mustard and syrup together until smooth.
- Transfer the bacon to a 13x9 (or larger if needed) baking pan, again laying out in a single layer.
- Use a pastry brush to coat both sides of each piece of bacon with the maple-mustard mixture. Sprinkle liberally with coarse pepper (I do both sides, but if it will make it too spicy for your family, do only one side).
- Cover pan and refrigerate overnight.
- The next morning, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pan in the oven, uncovered, and bake for about 15 minutes or until the bacon is crisp enough for your tastes.
Nutrition
Other breakfast recipes you may like:
Real Food Make-Ahead Monkey Bread
Mediterranean Scramble with Spinach & Bacon
