Gruyere Candied Bacon Twists

Perfect appetizer or for your holiday charcuterie board.

Gruyere Candied Bacon Twists Recipe

Ingredients

8-10 slices of regular cut bacon (not thick cut)
1 sheet puff pastry (thawed, not frozen, but still cold)
1 c. brown sugar
2 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper
¼ tsp. rosemary or thyme (whichever you prefer)
¾ cup grated Gruyere cheese
1 egg (for egg wash)

Directions

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Step 2: Mix brown sugar, rosemary or thyme and black pepper in a shallow dish.

Step 3: Lightly flour work surface. Roll out 1 sheet of puff pastry so that the whole sheet is just a little thinner than it comes out of the package.

Step 4: Spread the Gruyere cheese out across the whole pastry sheet.   With your flat palm, push the cheese into the pastry as much as you can.

Step 5: Using a pastry wheel, pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the sheet into 1” strips.

Step 6: Take a bacon slice and dredge in the brown sugar mixture.  Lay the bacon out over the strip of pastry and cheese and stretch lengthwise to fit, and press it lightly into the pastry.

Step 7: Pick up each end of the bacon and pastry strip and twist 3-5 times and place on a wire rack over a baking sheet to bake.  Continue the same process until all strips are twisted and ready to bake.

Step 8: Whisk egg together with a teaspoon of water and brush the exposed puff pastry pieces with the egg wash.

Step 9: Place in oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes until the bacon is cooked and the puff pastry is golden brown.  *Laurie’s Cooking Tip: Once baked, remove twists from the wire rack immediately or they will stick if they cool on the rack.  They will still be flimsy because they are hot, but as they cool, they will set up and stiffen.  I put mine on a piece of parchment paper to soak up any excess fat drippings.

*Laurie’s Serving Tip: You may serve in whole sticks or cut and serve in smaller pieces.

Be warned … these make your house smell amazing and you may have to fend off humans and K9s alike! LOL