Saturday, April 2, 2022

B is for Bacon Crackers

 

#AtoZChallenge 2022 Blogging from A to Z Challenge letter

This post starts out with "when I was little" just like the last one did, so forgive me, but when I was little, my mom always had Keebler Club crackers in the pantry. She LOVED Club crackers and served them with chili and soup and salads. Need a snack? Have some Club crackers and butter.  If I had a tummy ache, I got Club crackers and Pepsi, and when she made a cake (for example, an angel food cake) and had a little extra frosting, she would spread the frosting on Club crackers as a treat. I would lick the frosting off and leave the crackers, and my brother would tattle on me, "SHE'S ONLY LICKING THE FROSTING OFF AND LEAVING THE CRACKERS ON THE PLAAAAATE!" and my mom would say, "If you're not going to eat the cracker, too, then don't take any." 

I liked frosting, but I. Hated. Club. Crackers. 

I wanted saltines like everyone else had at their houses, and when I left home to go to college, I bought a box of saltines for my dorm room and never looked back. No more Club crackers for me, I thought, and it remained so for DECADES, until I saw a recipe for - wait for it - BACON CRACKERS.

Yes, it took bacon to get me to buy (and eat) Club crackers again.

I found the recipe on Pinterest, and you can see the original post here. You will need the following:

1 package Club crackers*
8-10 slices of bacon**
1 cup brown sugar
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 pinch ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. (Lightly spray the rack with cooking spray if you want to make your life easier.) Put a wire rack in the pan and lay out the crackers, leaving a little space between each one.

Cut the bacon into pieces slightly larger than the cracker, or roughly into fourths. Lay one piece of bacon on each cracker. Add a heaping teaspoonful of brown sugar on top of the bacon and pat it firmly all over the bacon (this is a sticky process). Sprinkle with cayenne pepper and black pepper. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the brown sugar gets melty and the bacon gets crisp. Allow the crackers to cool before removing from the rack and before eating. 

*don't use thick cut bacon and don't waste time looking for "thin cut bacon," because if it's not labeled "thick cut" then it IS thin cut.

**one package of Club crackers means one SLEEVE of Club crackers from within the box. I thought one package meant one BOX, so I bought two boxes just in case of cracker breakage, and I had no cracker breakage

The ingredients.

My artsy photo of the different stages of
preparing the crackers for the oven

Finished product

See the broken cracker pieces stuck to the rack?
That's how I figured out that spraying the rack
with cooking spray should be a thing.

Bottom line? The addition of bacon and brown sugar to a Club cracker is worlds better than the addition of frosting to one, but it's still a Club cracker in fancier clothes. Taste Tester Julie really enjoyed them, however, and asked if she bought me a pound of bacon, would I make a batch for her, and that, my friends, is how I'm going to get rid of the rest of the Club crackers!



 






21 comments:

  1. All that sugar! But I guess I'd rather have cheese and bacon.

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    1. I'm with you. I'd rather have cheese and bacon. This wasn't bad, but candied bacon is more interesting than good

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  2. I'm not a big fan of club crackers either but I'm pretty sure the addition of bacon would change my mind. So glad to see you're doing the A to Z again this year! While I wasn't able to participate this year, I'm excited to check in with all the fun posts happening around the challenge! Can't wait to see what other recipes you come up with as you eat your way around the alphabet this year. Have fun!!

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    1. Bacon did improve them, no doubt.
      I wish you were doing the A to Z, but it's a huge time commitment. I came close to backing out right until the moment I hit the button to sign up on 3/31! Feel free to send me ideas. I've really not planned anything!

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    2. I do miss it! I'm having fun following your posts and catching up with the A to Z crew though! And, I love your winging it approach - it leads to such creativity! Weekends In Maine

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  3. I can't say I'll be rushing out and loading up on ingredients to try this one. I laughed at Julie's plan to help you get rid of that extra box of crackers. I've always been more of a sweet fan than a salty snack fan, but when a friend insisted I try her movie-watching combo of buttered popcorn into which she dumped her box of milk duds, I must admit I had a handful or two.

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    1. I'd rather eat the Club crackers than mix candy and popcorn :D
      That Julie can be diabolical!

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  4. Bacon crackers - wow - never heard of them

    SHE'S ONLY LICKING THE FROSTING OFF AND LEAVING THE CRACKERS ON THE PLAAAAATE! - this line just made me LOL :D

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    1. Can you sense the relationship I had with my big brother? :D

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  5. We love Club crackers and saltines, both, and i'll bet either one would be good with this recipe. In fact, a little cheese on top of the saltine, then some bacon, then the spicy brown sugar and i'll bet you have a sweet and salty snack to die for.

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    1. I think the buttery quality of the Club (which is probably the main thing I don't like about them and I guess is what makes them what they are!) plus the bacon was REALLY rich! Cheese couldn't hurt anything, right?

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  6. Yummy and yummy some more.
    So I loved club crackers and all we had were saltines so when I grew up I never had saltines. Now I have rye crackers.
    Cheers
    The Basics

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    1. The grass is always greener, isn't it, even if it's crackers?!
      I find I prefer triscuits, but I rarely buy them because I gobble up the whole box!

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  7. I do like Club Crackers. Saltines are a frequent go to for me when I'm feeling sick or nauseous. That and lemon-lime soda or ginger ale. Never heard of bacon crackers. I don't like bacon quite like I used to, but a small amount on a cracker might not be bad.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. They weren't bad, but I wouldn't bother again. I do love bacon, but I'm cheap, so I don't buy it very often. I got spoiled by always having it in the freezer for many years, because my parents always shared hogs with us that they bought at the Youth Fair. When I had to pay for it myself, I quit buying it very often! :)

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  8. They look interesting but I think I'll pass on them. I haven't had a Club cracker in a long time We went through a phase of eating them and then we were done with them and have never looked back :)

    betty

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    1. I don't see myself making these again. I can find plenty of easier ways to consume large quantities of fat!

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  9. I can't get past your mom gave you "Pepsi" when you had a tummy ache. 😲

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    1. In a juice glass. The bubbles were supposed to help, I guess. When I was REALLY little, she got coke syrup from the drug store and gave me a spoonful of that for tummy aches.

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  10. Everything with bacon is good... I might have to try a few out next time I cook bacon.

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