Brown Sugar Bacon Belgian Waffles

In celebration of my bacon fanatic’s eleventh birthday, we kicked off her day of celebration with homemade buttermilk belgian waffles loaded with brown-sugar candied bacon.  They were fabulous!

Making candied bacon is easy!  Mix up a batch of your favorite waffle batter (from a mix or scratch), pour into the waffle maker and sprinkle with as much candied bacon as you like.  Serve with butter and real maple syrup!
When making the candied bacon, be sure to make a few extra pieces — it’s hard to resist nibbling on a piece while preparing the rest of the breakfast.

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 8 pieces bacon

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line a large baking sheet with foil.  Set a baking rack on top of the foil.

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar and cinnamon.
Dip pieces of bacon, one at a time, in the brown sugar mixture.  Use hands to coat, then brush off excess.  

3.  Arrange bacon strips on the baking rack and back for 30-40 minutes.   Time will vary depending on the thickness of your bacon.  

4.  Remove from oven when bacon is dark brown and crispy. Cool then chop into bits.

• 2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 cup dried buttermilk powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cups unflavored seltzer water
• 1/2 cup candied bacon bits

1.  Whisk the
flour, sugar, salt, buttermilk powder, and baking soda in large bowl to
combine. Whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and oil in medium bowl to
combine. Gently stir the seltzer into the wet ingredients. Make a well
in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.
Using a rubber spatula, gently stir until just combined. Batter should
remain slightly lumpy with streaks of flour.

2.  Heat
the waffle iron and fill with batter according to manufacturer’s
instructions.  Sprinkle each waffle with desired amount of candied bacon before closing the lid.  Cook according to waffle-maker instructions.

3. Transfer the waffles to a rack in a warm oven and hold for up to 10
minutes before serving.