If you've never had Maple Bacon Crack you have missed out. It is amazing. A sweet pastry with maple and bacon. What could be better? And now with a low carb version, you have no reason not to indulge in this delicacy during the holiday season or any time of year.
About 18 months ago my husband and I hosted a bacon party. It was absolutely delicious. Obviously, the party theme was bacon. My husband, who is an avid homebrewer, made bacon beer and we asked all of our guests to bring an appetizer or dessert that used bacon. There were more bacon recipes than I thought possible.
Our friends Dave and Melissa brought Maple Bacon Crack. The regular high-carb version is made with canned crescent rolls, maple syrup, and brown sugar. I ate a few more pieces of that than I should've. Or a few more than a few. I don't remember what triggered my memory of maple bacon crack the other day but once I thought of it I had to make it.
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How to Cook Bacon in the Oven
Once I was a mom with a few bacon-eating kids in the house I began cooking it exclusively in the oven. It is less messy than cooking in a skillet and you can cook it faster. I have a huge baking sheet that can fit a whole pound at once.
I just lay the strips in a single layer on the baking sheet and pop it into the oven at 400 until it is crispy. Once or twice I drain off the grease, very carefully, so that it crisps up better without being too greasy. It takes about half an hour in my oven. Then I remove from the tray with a fork or pair of tongs and just drain on a paper towel like usual.
If you don't have a very big rimmed baking sheet you can also twist your bacon to fit more in the pan. It takes a little longer to cook but looks fancy. My kids love when I twist it.
Luckily, I had already cooked a pound and a half of bacon that morning. I needed bacon for two other new recipes that will be coming this week. You can never have too much bacon.
How to Make Maple Bacon Crack
Step One: Make the mozzarella dough. If you've ever made fathead dough before for pizza this is the same type of dough. It is easiest to mix in the food processor with room temperature eggs.
Step Two: Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray. Greased foil should also work. Spread the dough out on a baking sheet. Top with chopped or torn pieces of the cooked bacon and sweetener blend.
Step Three: Bake until the dough is golden. Let it cool for a few minutes. It is tempting to take a bite right away but it is hot.
Expert Tip: I cut off the edges of the crust to have perfect squares. Then you have some to taste test as well.
Variations
Chocolate - Go ahead and drizzle on some chocolate after these cool. Milk chocolate, semisweet chocolate, and dark chocolate are all delicious. If you like white chocolate you can even use that!
Maple Syrup - There are a lot of great sugar-free syrups on the market nowadays. You can drizzle a little of one on top if you'd like these to be sweeter. I make my own keto pancake syrup and use that sometimes.
Sweet Heat - If you like a combination of sweet and spicy mix a pinch of cayenne pepper into the sweetener mixture before adding it to the pastry.
Pecans - If you want this to be vegetarian you can swap out the bacon for pecans. It is just as addictive. Or add pecans AND bacon for the carnivore bacon-lovers.
Caramel - Drizzle with some sugar free caramel sauce and then sprinkle with roasted salted pecans. It tastes like a caramel sticky bun.
Common Questions
What dough can I sub for crescent rolls?
I've used a mozzarella based dough before in recipes that called for Pillsbury crescent roll dough so I knew it would work here. The first place I ever saw a mozzarella dough was on the blog Up Late Anyway. These cheese danish are amazing.
I also sub in fathead dough any time a recipe calls for puff pastry. It is a very versatile dough.
How do I make a brown sugar substitute?
After the dough, I just had to replicate the brown sugar and maple syrup. From my baking experience, I knew that my sweetener blend melts in the oven. So the syrup aspect was taken care of. I just added a little molasses and maple extract to get those flavors into the pastry.
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📖 Recipe
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients:
- 8 oz mozzarella
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 2 tablespoon Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅔ cup almond flour
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- 1 egg
Topping Ingredients:
- ⅔ cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- ½ teaspoon maple extract
- ½ teaspoon molasses
- 5 slices thick cut bacon or 8 slices regular bacon cooked until crisp and chopped
- 1 tablespoon Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes) optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Put cheese in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave one minute. Stir. Microwave 30 seconds. Stir. At this point, all the cheese should be melted. Microwave 30 more seconds until uniform and gloopy (it should look like cheese fondue at this point).
- Add the rest of the dough ingredients and the melted cheese to a food processor. Mix using the dough blade until a uniform color. If you do not have a food processor you can mix in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon but you may need to knead it by hand to thoroughly incorporate the ingredients.
- Once the dough is a uniform color wet your hands and press it out into a 9×12 ish rectangle on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- In a small bowl stir together the ⅔ cup sweetener, maple extract, and molasses. Sprinkle half of it over the prepared dough. Top with the bacon. Sprinkle with the remaining sweetener.
- Bake for 20-24 minutes. Sprinkle with additional sweetener if desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Maria says
I can’t wait to try this! Can I use the Lakanto brown sugar and add the maple extract or use the classic Lakanto mink fruit and add the molasses and maple extract? I gave both of these sweeteners in the house.
Taryn says
Yes, either of those options would work.
Jean Johnson says
Can you substitute the coconut flour with something else??? My daughter has a sensitivity to it.
Taryn says
You can use all almond flour.
Vikki Day says
Is the maple bacon “crack” supposed to be served warm or cold?
Taryn says
I like it better warm.
Rebecca says
Could u use honey instead of molasses
Taryn says
Sure
Stranch1 says
How thick is the dough once rolled out? I was really struggling with this part. It was sticking to my fingers even though I was using water as suggested. I tried wax paper which helped but just didn’t know how thin to make it.
Taryn says
It's about 1/4-1/2 an inch thick. You just want it to be a 9x12 inch rectangle. Wax paper will probably make it worse. I find it easiest to press out with wet fingers (dipping them in the water again as needed).
Debbie says
Do you think a sugar free maple syrup (Walden Farms) could be subbed for the sweetener, molasses, and maple extract? Thanks!!
Taryn says
No, sorry, I think it would be too wet.
Cristina says
How do store this? Would it be ok to keep in the fridge for a few days?
Taryn says
Yes
Renate says
I see the nutritional values
However, I don't see the serving size. Thank you
Taryn says
This has 8 servings. (It's at the top of the recipe card).
Janie says
Would black strap molasses work?
Taryn says
Yes, any type of molasses would be fine.
Jessica says
I have bacon lovers in my house who would beg me to make this, however one of them is severely allergic to nuts. Any sub for the almond flour?
Taryn says
You can use a nut-free fathead dough like this one: https://joyfilledeats.com/coconut-flour-pizza-crust/
Just omit the spices. And add a bit of sweetener if you want.
Mary Clare says
Can I substitute the coconut flour with another flour? I’m allergic to coconut.
Taryn says
Yes, you can use all almond flour. You might need a little extra.
Marilyn says
Looks amazing, can't wait to make them, thank you for the recipe. I can smell the bacon already. Yum!
Donna says
Hi 🙂
Thanks for sharing this low carb version!!! Would I be able to substitute splenda in this recipe? I am new to using the low carb recipes and this looks wonderful and I know my husband and I would both love it!!!
Thanks!!
Taryn says
I'm sorry but I don't use splenda so I'm not sure if it would work.
J carducci says
Please change the name. Are we teaching our kids that “crack” is good? So many other words you could have used. Be ashamed.
Taryn says
I did not come up with the original recipe. I just made a low carb version. So no, I am not ashamed. Feel free to rename it in your home if you prefer.
An Adult Cook says
OMG! It's ur recipe post so u can call it whatever u want Taryn. Recipes are about food n don't have to be politically correct. And the rest of ur readers should grow up!!
Alli Wagner says
Calm down.
Holly says
What could I substitute for the xylitol in your sweetener? I have dogs and will not let it into the house. Would allulose or bocha sweet work? Thanks for any help!
Taryn says
All erythritol works. I'm not sure about the sweeteners you mentioned.
Megan says
What about using monk fruit sweetener? It’s one of my favorites I have found. Also with also having to be budget conscious, I like to ask before I try it because I am not one to be wasteful or at least I try not to be.
Taryn says
A monk fruit blend like lakanto will work in this. You may want to use 1.5 times the amount.
Megan says
Great! That is the kind I use. Thank you, I love your page and recipes!
Deb says
I saw that there is now a Xylitol-free Gentle Sweet. Do you have a recipe for that kind of sweetener?
Thank you.
Taryn says
You can make my sweetener just using all erythritol.
Maddi says
I don’t think I have a dough blade for my food processor. Can I use my stand mixer with either the paddle or the dough hook? Or can I use the regular blade on the food processor?
Taryn says
Hi Maddi, I use the regular blade on the food processor for this dough. Your stand mixer would work too if you prefer to use that.
Ineka says
Could I make them ahead, freeze them and bake just before serving them? Or bake and then freeze?
Taryn says
Mozzarella based dough freezes ok but not great. I would freeze them after baking if you want to but they are better fresh.
Elyse says
What is serving size? If I missed it, I apologize.
Taryn says
Hi Elyse, a serving is 1/8th of the recipe. It does show the number of servings near the top of the recipe box but it can be easy to miss not having it near the nutrition facts. No worries 😀