Candied bacon sticks with garlic butter drizzle are the perfect sweet and salty snack for your next gathering

There’s something irresistible about bringing together sweet and savory flavors. The days of thinking that satisfying a sweet tooth can only be done during dessert are long gone. Experts in the culinary world have noted the increasing popularity of combining these unexpected tastes into exciting new dishes. One driving force in this forward-thinking flavor tinkering is people wanting to boost the tastes of more natural foods.

“The penchant for healthful, less-processed foods, including lower-sugar options, stands out as an example, as does the increasing demand for the new, different and foreign [foods],” the food trend tracking website Food Processing reported. “Innovative taste combinations, created by pairing spicy and sweet or sweet and savory components in unexpected ways, keep gaining traction, with functional ingredients often added to these formulations.”

While amping up the flavor factor is great for healthier eating, sometimes we all want to indulge a little bit. If you’re looking for a mouthwatering snack to serve at your next get together, then consider candied bacon dishes.

It’s hard to think one can improve on the perfection of bacon. But, trust us, adding some sweetness to it elevates the experience to mind-blowing levels. We’ve found a few options for you to try if you want to wow your family and friends with the triple threat of sweet, savory and salty.

Candied Bacon Sticks with Garlic Butter Drizzle

Food blog MyRecipes presented these Candied Bacon Sticks with Garlic Butter Drizzle as part of a “Grown-Up Halloween Buffet” in 2016. You can see them in the photo below on the upper-left corner. We agree to let the kids have their bags of candy if we can keep munching on these sweet and savory treats made with thin breadsticks, center-cut bacon, turbinado sugar, salted butter, and garlic.

That’s it. It’s really simple, but looks gourmet! Click into this link to see the full recipe, while the link below has even more Halloween-inspired dishes from MyRecipes.

Sweet and Spicy Candied Bacon (aka Millionaire’s Bacon)

Kellie of The Surburban Soapbox shared her recipe for Millionaire’s Bacon, which is a sweet and spicy taste treasure. Head to her website to get the full recipe which uses brown sugar, cayenne pepper, black pepper and crushed red pepper on the bacon and then gets baked into a glorious crust in the oven.

You can see how beautifully it will turn out in this post from her Instagram page commemorating National Bacon Day.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6tnn5Ql6t8/

Maple Brown Sugar & Bacon Cupcakes

Instagrammer @lbcakesandcupcakes is a home-trained baker who created these yummy cupcakes by collaborating with her husband. The cake blends maple syrup, brown sugar, and bacon. Then, to top it off, she made her own buttercream frosting and added pure maple syrup and topped it with candied bacon. These just get better with every word!

You can see these beauties on her Instagram page below!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6td7gPJz5C/

Do you have a favorite sweet treat that involves bacon?