Candied Bacon Goat Cheese Toasts w/ Honey Lavender Drizzle
Yes. This is a real thing.
And YES! It is outrageously delicious.
I’m fairly confident there’s never been a bad recipe that started with “candied bacon”, and this one is no exception. It’s sweet, savory, sticky, anddd creamy, yet somehow doesn’t feel overdone. It’s a heavenly concoction of textures, flavors, and aroma (lavender!). And most importantly? It looks positively GORGEOUS — we’re shallow here — so let’s dive in and eat the whole thing.
You start by making the candied bacon, which is a startlingly easy process. Simply fit a wire rack to a baking sheet, top with strips of bacon, then coat the bacon in maple syrup. Bake for 25 minutes until crisp, coat with more maple syrup once cooked, and that’s it! Easy, peasey, breezy. Now I’ll mention that a lot of candied bacon recipes call for brown sugar, but I purposely skipped it here. That’s because I wanted the bacon lacquered, sticky, and sweet, but not too sweet. So maple syrup alone worked perfectly.
While the bacon cooks prepare the lavender honey, which is another blink-and-you-miss-it step. All you need is a high quality lavender oil (I love this brand), honey, and a tiny whisk. One itty drop of oil infuses INSANE fragrance into a 1/4 cup of honey, so if you want a more muted vibe, use 1/3 cup. Either way, you’re in for a treat.
At this point toast up some bread to your liking — a nice sourdough works best –then put it all together! Thick AF schmears of goat cheese are unsurprisingly recommended, then pile on top candied bacon + heavy drizzles of honey lavender. If you want to be extra sophisticated (you do) add some chopped honeycomb on top. And when you dig in for that first bite, prepare to be wowed.
The creamy cool goat cheese against the crisp bread, sweet/salty bacon, and fragrant honey is like SPRING on bread, you’re going to absolutely love it.
And to drink with this? I’m partial to something sparkling.
Be it water, hard seltzer, or champagne (clearly best), a touch of bubbles makes this fancy toast all the more classy. Xo
Candied Bacon Goat Cheese Toasts w/ Honey Lavender Drizzle
Ingredients:
- 10 oz applewood smoked bacon
- 1/3 cup good quality maple syrup
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup honey
- 1 drop lavender oil
- 6 – 8 slices sourdough bread
- 5 oz goat cheese
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 350F.
- Fit a wire rack inside a baking sheet, then line with strips of bacon. Using a pastry brush, coat the bacon strips on both sides with approximately 3 tablespoons of the maple syrup, then bake on oven middle rack for 25 minutes until crisp but not overdone. Once cooked, immediately coat the bacon on both sides with the remaining maple syrup, then allow to cool.
- Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl combine the honey and lavender oil. Start with 1/4 cup honey, then add more if the lavender taste is a bit strong for your liking.
- Toast the sourdough bread to your desired level of crispiness.
- When ready, compose the toasts with a thick schmear of goat cheese, candied bacon, and drizzles of lavender honey. Eat immediately!
