Hey everybody! Who wants Pig Candy? You heard me right! When pigs fly, I’ll eat this, is what I thought when I first heard about pig candy! This is not my usual kind of food but then I got to thinking about the smoky bacon and sausage and the sweetness of the brown sugar. Hmm….my mind was having a wrestling match! Smoky, sweet savoriness vs well let’s be real…..fat! The Pig Candy finally won out but I still needed a reason to make a batch of it. I surely was not going to eat them all!
Up popped the perfect venue for Pig Candy! My friend Heidi’s 50th birthday party. Now that’s the kind of party Pig Candy was meant to be invited to! Much to my surprise the Pig Candy was a huge, huge hit. It was the first thing to completely fly of the platter……so I guess pigs really do fly!
As I had imagined, the smoky flavors of the sausage wrapped in the smoky chewiness of the bacon, then slathered in mounds of brown sugar which caramelized to create a candy coating was too much to resist! It was down right addicting! I heard people saying I have to stop eating these! And then I’d see them back at the platter stabbing their pick into just one more of these oinker candies! I am still slightly shocked by the fact that I am wondering when I can come up with an excuse to make them again!!
As the nursery rhyme goes, so the Pig Candy rolls:
These little piggies came from market
These little piggies rolled in bacon
These little piggies had brown sugar facials
Then these little piggies were gone!
The ingredients couldn’t be simpler. Sausage, bacon and brown sugar! Slice each piece of bacon in 4 pieces. If your bacon is on the thicker side, then cut each slice in thirds.
Wrap the bacon around one of the Lit’l Smokies. Wrap it around another one, and another one, and …… You will have a little pig factory going on!
Place it on a cookie sheet lined with foil, seam side down. No need to sprayed with cooking spray, it is self lubricating!
After all the Smokies have been wrapped in bacon and placed on the cookie sheet, top with a generous portion of brown sugar. It’s brown sugar facial time!
Time to put a little tan on these piggies! Bake per the recipe and check to make sure they are not burning. Bake until all the fat has cooked out of the bacon and is giving the sausage a flavor hug and the brown sugar is caramelized to “candy”. This is not a colorful snack! Brown on brown…..but it is a killer flavorful snack for sure!
Stab one of these candied piglets and you will be on your way to making a batch, finding a party and creating a whole new group of Pig Candy addicts!
NOTE: For a lighter version, you could also use turkey smoked sausage cut into bite size links, wrapped with turkey bacon and secured with a toothpick. You probably don’t save that much in calories and let’s face it, this is not a diet snack!
I had to laugh! When I looked at the calories on the Nutrition Chart, logging in at 27, I knew this recipe was off the “Caloric Richter Scale” and we had blown a fuse. Oh well, sometimes it’s just best not to know!
- 1 package of Lit’l Smokies (Hillshire Farms)
- 1 small package of center-cut bacon
- 3/4 -1 cup brown sugar
- Slice each piece of bacon in 4 pieces.
- Wrap it around one of the Lit’l Smokies. If your bacon is on the thicker side, then cut each slice in thirds.
- Place it on a cookie sheet lined with foil, seam side down.
- After all the Smokies have been wrapped in bacon and placed on the cookie sheet, top with a generous portion of brown sugar. At least 3/4 of a cup of brown sugar per each package of Smokies is a good estimate.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Check to make sure they are not burning and cook for another 20-30 minutes until all the fat has cooked out of the bacon, is clinging to the sausage and the brown sugar is caramelized to “candy”.
- NOTE: For a lighter version, you could also use turkey smoked sausage cut into bite size links, wrapped with turkey bacon and secured with a toothpick. You probably don’t save that much in calories and let’s face it, this is not a diet snack!
Those are amazing! We had a bacon party for New Years Eve and made those bad boys! YUMMMMMMMMMMM!
Nichol, a Bacon Party sounds like so much fun! Any other great bacon recipes you’d like to share with me?
Michele: We are planning our annual trip to visit family in Wyoming and this recipe will be a huge hit! I can not wait to try these! Can’t go wrong when there is BACON!
Donnene, you better bring half of a pig ‘cuz these Pig Candies fly off the plate! Oh yes, BACON and BUTTER and you will never go wrong 🙂 Have a great trip!
Lord have mercy!!!! These should come with a warning label! “These little morsels are addicting and you can NOT eat just one!”
Donnene ~ LOL! I know! I ate one, walked away and felt the magnetic pull to come back and have another and another and….Surprised me too!Thank you for letting me know how much you enjoyed them!Pig out!