April's Homemaking: Brown Sugar Bacon Caramel Sundaes

Friday, January 9, 2015

Brown Sugar Bacon Caramel Sundaes

I always enjoy the start of a new year, and this first part of January has been no exception. I really enjoy getting things cleaned up post holiday and getting back into our regular schedule with a refreshed spirit. This week I have been hard at work tackling some of the organizational projects around the house and the kids and hubby have gotten back to a normal school and work schedule. Before we began our week back to the daily grind, I felt we needed one last fun little celebration to wrap up our holiday break. My son had been eager to invite all of his friends over for a day of gaming, both tabletop and video, so last Sunday we had the whole gang over. For dinner I made a fix your own taco bar, which is a family favorite. For dessert I wanted something special but different from the heavier baked treats we enjoyed at Christmas, so I made a delicious Brown Sugar Bacon Caramel Sunday that has been on my mind to make for some time now. I think it may be my new favorite treat!

To start you need to make the bacon. I always bake my bacon in the oven, on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil and a oven proof rack on top of the foil (I use a metal cooling rack). Lay the bacon out in a single layer on the rack in the foil lined baking sheet and bake at 400 F. until the bacon is almost fully cooked. You may want to check the bacon as it cooks and separate the pieces further apart as they shrink so they all get crispy. When the bacon is almost done, but not quite to the crispy state yet, take them out of the oven and sprinkle a heaping teaspoon of brown sugar over each slice of bacon, make sure each piece has plenty of brown sugar. Then return to the oven for about five more minutes until the bacon is crispy, fully cooked and the sugar has caramelized. Really watch them at this stage they can go from perfectly done to over cooked in seconds because sugar burns fast. When they are done set them out to completely cool.

To serve scoop some vanilla ice cream into a dish, add a little dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel syrup, break a slice of brown sugar bacon in half and put the two halves in the back of the Sunday so they can be crumbled up over the ice cream.

The bacon is best when crumbled up and sprinkled over the ice cream, you can obviously skip right to this step if you aren't worried about presentation. :) Count on one slice of bacon for each smaller Sundae and two slices if you are indulging in a larger bowl of ice cream, which you may want to do after you try this! :)

The sweet and salty bacon is so delicious alongside the vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Everyone gobbled these down, and I will definitely be making this special dessert for family nights again!