Bacon Brittle Candy

Bacon Candy

Bacon in sweets? Again? You may ask. Yes I'm that nutty person that loves bacon that I'll put it in both savoury and sweet recipes. If you love crunchy, sweet and salty then you are going to go crazy on this candy brittle. With the crunch of pretzels and pecans and toffee and sweetness from maple and salt from bacon, it is incredibly moreish and hard to stop at one piece. You were warned ;)

This bacon brittle candy is for the people out there (and there seem to be less of us by the day) that eat everything. Because this candy is amazingly good, like crunchy, sweet, salty good plus it has bacon in it and bacon makes everything better. And I realise that the photos aren't great. Don't let that sway you. The proof is in the eating.

Despite the name there aren't any turtles in it. Turtle candy is an American candy made with pecans, chocolate and caramel and they sort of look like turtles. These shards of crunchy toffee goodness look nothing like turtles but have the turtle flavours of chocolate, caramel and pecans. If you love crunchy toffee bars like Dime, Daim or Skor bars then this is for you. If you love bacon and maple syrup on pancakes this is for you. And yes Dear Reader, if you tick the boxes for both of these requirements, then this is definitely a pushy recipe! Mr NQN devoured these and asked for more with his lunch every day!

Bacon Candy

A couple of weeks ago I got new personal trainer. No Nina has not quit citing "stress leave" and an overly "demanding client". She is overseas in Europe on holiday. Getting someone to replace her hasn't been easy. One time they gave me a pint sized drill sergeant who barked orders at me and would respond to my questions with, "Because I said so!!". That relationship lasted just the one lesson and Nina sought a more "gentle" trainer that was more a persuader than despot.

She found me a lovely trainer called Michelle. I wasn't sure if Nina was joking that she gave Michelle a whole page of my requirements whereas other clients needed a sentence or two. Turns out that she hadn't imparted some information to her about my serious exercise phobias and superstitions. For the first two sessions I asked her,

"Did Nina tell you that I like exercising on flat surfaces and not hills?"

"Did Nina tell you that you can't change the number of repetitions once you've said them out loud?"

"Did Nina tell you that I like two mats next to each other because I don't want to touch the grass?"

"Did Nina tell you that I don't train in the rain?"

"Did Nina tell you I am the biggest pain in the arse client in the world?"

Anyway, I found out that whilst they're both very nice trainers, Michelle is nothing like Nina food-wise. She eats meat and regular sort of food. When she asked me to recommend her a place to eat I had to ask whether it needed to be paleo, healthy, vegetarian or gluten free (force of habit with Nina's diet) and it needed to be none of those things.

But still then I don't know if she would eat these.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like bacon in sweets? Or are you a strictly savoury person as far as bacon is concerned? Do you have any phobias or superstitions? And do you work better under a strict trainer or a gentler one?

Bacon Candy

Bacon Pecan Turtle Candy

Did you make this recipe? Share your creations by tagging @notquitenigella on Instagram with the hashtag #notquitenigella
Rated 5 out of 5 by 7 lovely readers. Share your rating:

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10-15 minutes

  • Non stick oil spray
  • 200g/7ozs pecans, toasted
  • 3/4 cup pretzels
  • 150g/5ozs bacon, cooked and broken up into pieces
  • 225g/8ozs. butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 tablespoons maple syrup
  • Pinch of salt
  • 250g/0.5lb your favourite dark or milk chocolate chips

Bacon Candy

Step 1 - Take a tray measuring 9 by 13-inch (22.5x 32.5cms) and spray it with oil. Lay a layer of pecans, pretzels and bacon on the base.

Bacon Candy

Step 2 - In a heavy bottomed saucepan, place the butter, sugar and maple syrup. Allow to melt and allow to come to a boil, stirring occasionally. Simmer until it reaches 151C/305F and then remove from heat, stir well and then pour over the nut and bacon lined tray being sure to spread it out to the edges.

Step 3 - Immediately sprinkle with the chocolate chips and allow the chocolate to melt. Use an angled spatula to spread out the chocolate and smooth the surface. Allow to set completely and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Published on by .

Reader Comments

Loading comments...

Add Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked*