Maple Chile Glazed Chocolate Bacon Hearts

Oh, bacon. I heart you. Here’s a really easy way to share the bacon love with someone else. :)

The Makings:

• Bacon (I chose a Maple flavored bacon to give my hearts a bit of extra sweetness)
• Chocolate (I used 2 ounces of Baker’s chocolate for 6 strips of bacon)
• Brown sugar (More sweetness, please!)
• Chile powder (Annnd a little bit of kick. ;) )

The Sweetness:

1. Cut bacon strips in half. Dust the tops of each bacon strip with chile powder and brown sugar . (Be careful not to use too much brown sugar here, as it may give your bacon a black/burnt look if left too long in the oven to carmelize.)

2. Arrange two halves into a heart shape on a lightly greased cookie sheet. (I tucked one strip under the other at the top of the heart, and folded one strip over the other at the bottom of the heart, too, to secure the strips in place.) Heat oven to 375 degrees and bake bacon hearts for 15-20 minutes. Remove bacon and set it on a paper towel; allow time for bacon to cool.

3. Melt chocolate to drizzle atop bacon hearts. (I replicated the technique I used to melt chocolate for my White Chocolate Popcorn: Chop chocolate into slivers, place in a microwave-friendly dish and take turns heating – at a low power level in 20 second intervals – and stirring chocolate until melted.)

4. Create piping bag with waxed paper – there’s a simple DIY piping bag tutorial available here – and pipe chocolate over bacon.

It was an icy, cold day in Chicago, so I paired my bacon hearts with a cup of Chipotle spiced hot chocolate, and had a sinfully delicious afternoon snack. :)

Recipe adapted from Someday I’ll Learn.