Dark Chocolate Bark with Candied Maple Bacon and Sea Salt

Howdy errbody!

I made bacon candy. You’re welcome.

But first, let me bombard you with photos of my kids.

Three years. Wow. This little charmer has survived three whole years with us as her parents….through scrapes, scratches, crazy adventures in camping, diet and workouts…but we’ve all banded together and truly made it work. Our family may be a bunch of weirdos, but we fit together like a puzzle, each a separate but unifying piece.

This one will make my hair turn white in about eight years, ten if I’m lucky.

Look, that helmet isn’t even strapped onto his head. That’s parenting, level 300 for you right there. That explains that life and death waiver we signed before the pony rides began. What’s a more exciting way to spend your sister’s third birthday then atop a huge horse with a hockey helmet decoratively placed on your melon?

So there was Isla’s third birthday…there has been plenty of recipe experimentation, a little failure and a lot of successes. Our new house is completely painted and the CrossFit box of our dreams now resides in our garage. My dad made this in our backyard:

So when I get that pullup without bands…it’s going to be epic. EPIC I TELL YOU! The kids love it…

Also, there was this:

Yup, we got matchy matchy weight lifting tattoos. Art and photo above by Emily Shoichet of Empire Tatoos in Victoria, BC. Mine is on my thigh, Adrian got his on his arm.

Also there are two orders of business to get through if anyone is still reading. My site is now optimized for mobile and tablet devices! Yay! So if you are reading this on an iPad or HTC, you can now see all the goodness without scrolling side to side!

Today marks FOUR FRIGGIN’ YEARS as a food blogger! WOWZA! Happy birthday to me!!! I felt like celebrating, so I made you dessert.

….with bacon, so let’s get to that.

If you haven’t yet tried bacon in a sweet dessert, you are missing out on one of life’s great pleasures. It may be a “thing” in the Paleo community to put bacon in weird places, but this is outta this world, blow your mind out of the top of your head kinda thing. BOOM.

I think these would make great gifts, or bribes. You know…cause there’s bacon. Meat candy baby. It’s not a trend….it’s here FOR GOOD.

One year ago: Chocolate Coconut Protein Cookie Balls

Two years ago: Szechuan Noodle Salad

Three years ago: Swiss Chard Ravioli – Homemade Pasta

Four years ago: Chewy Tarts with Orange Vanilla Blueberry Swirl Ice Cream

Print Dark Chocolate Bark with Candied Maple Bacon and Sea Salt Rating: 51 Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes Total Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes Yield: 12 servings Ingredients 8 slices thick cut bacon

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

100g 90% dark chocolate

100G 70% dark chocolate

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp smoked sea salt Instructions Preheat oven to 275°F. Line a cookie sheet with a pice of wax or parchment paper and set aside. Lay Bacon on a separate baking tray or cooling rack set over a baking tray and brush with 1/4 cup of maple syrup. Turn once and brush other side. Cook bacon for approximately 90 minutes. Check often to make sure it is cooking evenly. When bacon is golden and looks completely cooked, remove from oven and lay on cooling racks (otherwise as it cools, it will get stuck to the pan) to cool completely. Chop the bacon when it is cool and set aside until needed. Fill a small saucepan with about two inches of water. Set in on high heat until it boils, then lower to a simmer. Place a small metal bowl over the pan (but make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water). Put the chocolate and maple syrup in the bowl and allow it to melt completely. Remove from the heat and stir in the bacon pieces. Pour the chocolate out onto the wax paper/parchment paper lined cookie sheet from step 1. Flatten out with a spatula until thin enough to be able to break up later. Sprinkle with the sea salt all over and place in refrigerator or freezer until only just hardened (no more then 20-30 minutes). Break bark up into chunks and store in an airtight container in the fridge. (You might need a padlock to keep out the kids too...) Notes If you've never had bacon with chocolate, your life is not complete. Try this candied bacon bark and your life will change forever... 3.1 All Rights Reserved. Copyright Guilty Kitchen 2014

Similarly delicious BACON recipes from across the interwebs:

Chocolate Banana Cream Pie with Bacon from Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations

Apple Bacon Upside Down Cake from Jan’s Sushi Bar

Grain-Free Bacon Pecan Waffles from Rising Moon Food

Maple and Chocolate Bacon Crunch Ice Cream from South Beach Primal

Bacon Banana Almond Butter Doughnuts from TGIPaleo