Smoky Bacon Wraps

This is one of those recipes that I've been making variations of for years.  They're great for game day, great for get togethers, great for pre or post holiday meal appetizers. These Smoky Bacon Wraps are just three ingredients and you can prep them ahead of time and pop them in the oven whenever.

Super simple.  Start with a package of miniature smoked sausage. You want the fully cooked versions, there are several companies who make them, we like the Hillshire Farms. The regular variety is great, I also like to use the ones with the cheddar inside.

Next up, bacon. I had standard issue regular sliced this time around , but if you can get your hands on the black pepper crusted kind, it puts them right over the top.  Applewood smoked and maple bacon are great too.  I mean, there's no such thing as bad bacon, right? 

The recipe doesn't recommend staking them with toothpicks. Sometimes I live dangerously and don't, but most of the time I do.  There's nothing worse than putting all that work in rolling them up to have them unfurl while they cook. It also makes the next step a lot easier.

Now you want to coat the bacon with brown sugar.  I use a small bowl, about 4" across.  I set them in seam side down, press them down a bit.  Then I pull the brown sugar from the sides over the top and press that down onto the bacon.   Sometimes I add some fresh cracked black pepper, if you like some heat cayenne is great too.

Pop those little bundles of deliciousness into the oven and let them do their thing.  Watch them towards the end of the baking time to be sure they don't burn.  All you're really doing is heating them through and cooking/crisping the bacon.

If we've got guests, I swap out the plain toothpicks for fancy ones. Make sure to give them a minute or two to cool down even though it's tempting to just starting chowing down. My husband likes to dip his in mustard, but mine go straight into my mouth!

Smoky Bacon Wraps

Author: Jolene's Recipe Journal

Ingredients

• 1 pound sliced bacon
• 1 package (16 ounces) miniature smoked sausage links
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar

Instructions

1. Cut each bacon strip in half widthwise. Wrap one piece of bacon around each sausage.
2. Place in a foil-lined 15x10x1-in. baking pan.
3. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
4. Bake, uncovered, at 400° until bacon is crisp and sausage is heated through, 30-40 minutes.

Notes

Source: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/smoky-bacon-wraps/ 

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This post from 2013 has been updated with new photos, text, and a printable recipe card.