These Bacon Crackers are the most addicting snack or appetizer. A small strip of bacon is candied to perfection with a hint of brown sugar. With just 4 ingredients, these will be the hit of any gathering and are easy to customize to your liking with different spices.
BACON! Need I say more? Y'all, let me just say, these are insanely addicting. They're a snack my family has at every holiday gathering, especially Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. With these Bacon Crackers, there's so much to love.
They are easy to assemble with 4 ingredients, you can customize them to your liking, and they take 15 minutes to prep. How great is that?! There's something special about how the bacon becomes crisp yet chewy on the cracker. The cracker is infused with the smoky bacon fat without becoming soggy.
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We love to serve them with slices of cheese or even a cheese spread like our virally famous Pimento Cheese. If you love other fun appetizers, try our cranberry salsa, sausage balls, or fire crackers recipe.
Table of Contents
Why You'll Love this Recipe
- 4 Ingredient Snack or Appetizer: Make these up to a day in advance for any party or gathering. They are so delicious served on their own or with a slice of cheese or dipped or spread with a cheese spread.
- Anyone can make these bacon crackers! Whether you are a pro chef or just starting out in the kitchen, you can successfully make these perfectly.
- Customizable flavors and heat. Add maple syrup or hot honey after baking for extra sweetness or grated parmesan cheese or a slice of cheese before baking for extra savoriness. More heat, add extra spices or jalapeño slices.
Ingredients
Scroll Down for Ingredient Amounts Listed in the Recipe Card Below
- Club crackers: This is "about" one sleeve. We love the crunchy buttery flavor of these crackers.
- Thinly sliced bacon: Make sure it's the thin-sliced kind, not thick-sliced. This ensures the bacon crisps and cooks correctly to keep the crackers from becoming soggy.
- Dark or light brown sugar: Lightly sweetens the bacon.
- Barbecue seasoning: Adds an extra smoky, delicious seasoning. You can use a seasoning with salt or without salt, but with combination of the salt from the bacon and crackers, you'll want to make sure the seasoning you use isn't salt overpowering.
- Ground black pepper or cayenne pepper: Optional seasonings that add a kick of spice to each bite.
Tools You’ll Need
How to Make Bacon Crackers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup and place a wire rack on top of the baking sheet.
- Line club crackers on top of the wire rack, salted side up.
- Measure the bacon slices in comparison to the crackers, then cut in either 3 or 4 even sections. The bacon strip should cover the cracker.
- Take one cut strip of the bacon and place on top of one cracker.
- Onto each cracker, sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons brown sugar, ¼-1/2 teaspoon barbecue seasoning, and black pepper and/or crushed red pepper flakes (if desired).
- Bake 30-35 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy. Keep an eye on them to avoid burning, as baking times may vary.
- Serve fresh and warm.
Pro Tips
- Salt versus No Salt Barbecue seasoning: You can use a seasoning with salt or without salt, but with combination of the salt from the bacon and crackers, you'll want to make sure the seasoning you use isn't salt overpowering.
- Swap the brown sugar for parmesan cheese. You can replace the brown sugar with grated parmesan cheese for a savory alternative. Or you can use both at the same time. We love them any way they're made!
- Add a Spicy Kick: Besides adding black pepper or crushed red pepper, you can also add a thin slice of fresh jalapeño to the top of each cracker before baking.
- Be sure to use thin cut bacon. This ensures that the bacon cooks correctly and doesn't release too much fat to make the cracker soggy.
- Add dried spices. You can add dried spices or herbs like cayenne, black pepper, or dried thyme to add some delicious flavor in each bite.
- Use a wire rack for baking. This guarantees a crispy cracker and not a soggy one.
- Serve with a creamy dip: Serve bacon crackers with an herby sour cream dip or flavored cream cheese dip.
- Add extra sweetness: After they're baked, drizzle with hot honey or maple syrup for an extra layer of sweetness to the savory flavors.
- Serve with baked Brie: Pair with baked Brie for a great combination.
Storage
Bacon crackers are best served fresh and warm from the oven, but if you have leftovers, store them in a ziploc bag in the fridge up to 2 days. You'll want to crisp them back up before serving again by spreading on a baking sheet, and reheating in the oven at 250°F about 10-15 minutes or until warmed through. You can make them in advance for a party, we suggest only a day in advance so they are still super fresh.
FAQs
Be sure to bake them on a wire baking rack to let any excess bacon fat drip to the bottom of the pan.
You can chill the bacon in the freezer for 10 minutes to help it solidify, then cut it into small pieces. Kitchen shears also make cutting the bacon easier.
Yes! They are best the day of making, but you can make them up to a day in advance.
Yes, you can brush the bacon lightly with maple syrup or honey as an alternative.
More Appetizer Recipes
Bacon Crackers
Ingredients
- 40 Club crackers about 1 sleeve
- ¾-1 pound thinly sliced bacon
- ½ cup dark or light brown sugar
- ¼ cup barbecue seasoning see note
- Optional: ground black pepper or cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup and place a wire rack on top of the baking sheet.
- Line club crackers on top of the wire rack, salted side up.
- Measure the bacon slices in comparison to the crackers, then cut in either 3 or 4 even sections. The bacon strip should cover the cracker. Take one cut strip of the bacon and place on top of one cracker.
- Onto each cracker, sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons brown sugar, ¼-1/2 teaspoon barbecue seasoning, and black pepper and/or crushed red pepper flakes (if desired).
- Bake 30-35 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy. Keep an eye on them to avoid burning, as baking times will vary based on the bacon variety.
- Serve fresh and warm. For a savory alternative, replace the brown sugar with grated parmesan cheese.
Notes
-
- Salt vs. No Salt Barbecue seasoning: You can use a seasoning with salt or without salt, but with combination of the salt from the bacon and crackers, you'll want to make sure the seasoning you use isn't salt overpowering.
- Swap the brown sugar for parmesan cheese. You can replace the brown sugar with grated parmesan cheese for a savory alternative. Or you can use both at the same time. We love them any way they're made!
-
- Add a Spicy Kick: Besides adding black pepper or crushed red pepper, you can also add a thin slice of fresh jalapeño to the top of each cracker before baking.
-
- Be sure to use thin cut bacon. This ensures that the bacon cooks correctly and doesn't release too much fat to make the cracker soggy.
-
- Add dried spices. You can add dried spices or herbs like cayenne, black pepper, or dried thyme to add some delicious flavor in each bite.
-
- Use a wire rack for baking. This guarantees a crispy cracker and not a soggy one.
-
- Serve with a creamy dip: Serve bacon crackers with an herby sour cream dip or flavored cream cheese dip.
-
- Add extra sweetness: After they're baked, drizzle with hot honey or maple syrup for an extra layer of sweetness to the savory flavors.
-
- Serve with baked Brie: Pair with baked Brie for a great combination.
-
- Add hot honey: After they're baked, drizzle with hot honey for an extra layer of sweetness to the savory flavors.
-
- Serve with baked Brie: Pair with baked Brie for a great combination.
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