Baked Bacon-Wrapped Brown Sugar Smokies

"I've seen other recipes for these little indulgent treats, but they cook them in a crockpot and I prefer to bake ours. Baking them in the oven allows the bacon to crisp, the liquids to be released from the Smokies, and the brown sugar to caramelize on them deliciously. It also allows to you control the fat content of them a bit more easily, as most of the bacon drippings will remain on the sheet pan after cooking. We usually make them during the holidays, but they're good for all year 'round, of course. So easy to make!"
 
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photo by DeliciousAsItLooks photo by DeliciousAsItLooks
photo by DeliciousAsItLooks
photo by DeliciousAsItLooks photo by DeliciousAsItLooks
photo by DeliciousAsItLooks photo by DeliciousAsItLooks
photo by Juliesmom photo by Juliesmom
Ready In:
1hr 15mins
Ingredients:
5
Serves:
6-8
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ingredients

  • 1 (12 -16 ounce) package bacon (not thick sliced, thinner bacon works better, inexpensive is fine)
  • 1 (16 ounce) package lit'l smokies sausages
  • brown sugar
  • cinnamon sugar (optional)
  • toothpick
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directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Open the packages of bacon and cut the whole slab into thirds across the bacon pieces. I usually cut them straight out of the refrigerator while they're cold, then allow them to warm a bit before wrapping the Smokies - the bacon is more pliable when not very cold, and makes it easier to work with awkwardly-shaped pieces.
  • To make assembly even easier, line up pieces of bacon on your cutting board or a clean counter. Wrap each Lit'l Smokie in a 1/3-cut piece of bacon, then secure with a toothpick.
  • Lay wrapped Smokies on a sheet pan. Tilting the toothpick downward makes lining them up a bit easier. (If you are making a double or triple batch with a Costco-sized 3-pound package of Smokies, continue wrapping until you run of room on your sheet pan, and then - just to make the overall assembly easier - can continue wrapping until you run out of the Smokies and simply put them in a bowl until you can lay them out on another sheet pan later or when your first one is out of the oven. If you run out of bacon before Smokies, you can cut some strips of bacon lengthwise to make additional slices so that you'll have enough.).
  • Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon of brown sugar on each Smokie - I simply sprinkle by hand.
  • Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes.
  • Using tongs, transfer the treats to a platter or plate, arrange attractively, put them out for your guests, and stand back before you get trampled in the crowd's rush to get at them. :).
  • Note: I usually make triple batches of these at a time, using the 3-pound Smokies packages from Costco and three packages of bacon. Although best if served immediately, I bake them all up, then freeze them and thaw and reheat in the oven (or even the microwave) to serve. The bacon and brown sugar doesn't stay as crispy that way, but since most parties will have a varying number of attendees we find it's easier to make large batches during the holidays. Before reheating, you can sprinkle a bit more brown sugar over them to make up for any that fell off. ;).
  • Optional: before putting the brown sugar over, you can also sprinkle the Smokies with a small amount of cinnamon sugar, for even more flavor!

Questions & Replies

  1. What type of bacon should I use?
     
  2. Do I cover for baking the bacon and sausage
     
  3. Single layer only
     
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Reviews

  1. Always the first appetizer to go and what's nice is that they can be made early before a party and be kept warm on low in crock pot but are also fine if they come to room temperature. Make more than you think you'll need. They cook down smaller. I made 2 1lb packs once cooked, it only about 1/2 filled crock pot. Next time I'll do 3. Some tips, def don't get thick bacon, thin will crisp up better. Use 1/3 strip reg, or 1/2 of center cut. Don't skimp or overdo this amt. Too much, you'll have difficulty cooking crisp, too little it won't stay good on weenie. If you let back warm up a little and stretch as you are wrapping you can get by without toothpick, as it cooks it grabs tight and stays on. I find, however, that it is simplest to use cookie sheet wrapped in big sheet tin foil (or grease will leak thru) or use disposable and put rack with cooking spray on top (allowing grease to drain away from weenies), then skewer the smokies on to bamboo skewers about six to a stick, coat with b.sugar and place on rack. This makes for easy turning 1/2 thru so that you are crisp on both sides. They do take a good hour to cook. Slide off easy into crock pot on lowest setting and can light drizzle with maple syrup. I do not put drippings from pan on top as some reviews suggest, seems way to greasy for me. You really can skip the crock pot though, it you want. They go so quick they don't really have time to get cold and don't need to be very hot to taste great.
     
  2. Tasty little gems! I almost burned mine, so I recommend keeping an eye on them. Definitely protect your cookie sheet with foil, because they will stick!
     
  3. Thank you for a very easy recipe to follow. I have made these for years and wanted to put the recipe in a cookbook I am making for a new cook. I was looking for an easy to follow recipe and your direction were the best.
     
  4. Yummy and super easy! I made these and they were gonein no time. I recommend cooking a little longer than 45 mins, at least for my over I needed about 50. I di not use the cinnamon. I ran out of bacon before little smokies so I would buy more bacon next time and likely double recipe altogether since these went so quickly!
     
  5. Excellent. I served with mustard for dipping.
     
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Tweaks

  1. Great recipe that we've made multiple times from a different recipe book. We always spritz (or just dip wraps in) a bit of apple juice when the bacon has been wrapped--this makes it really juicy, helps keep that flavor and stick the sugar!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>It's simply this: I love to cook! :) <br /><br />I've been hanging out on the internet since the early days and have collected loads of recipes. I've tried to keep the best of them (and often the more unusual) and look forward to sharing them with you, here. <br /><br />I am proud to say that I have several family members who are also on RecipeZaar! <br /><br />My husband, here as <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/member/39857>Steingrim</a>, is an excellent cook. He rarely uses recipes, though, so often after he's made dinner I sit down at the computer and talk him through how he made the dishes so that I can get it down on paper. Some of these recipes are in his account, some of them in mine - he rarely uses his account, though, so we'll probably usually post them to mine in the future. <br /><br />My sister <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/member/65957>Cathy is here as cxstitcher</a> and <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/member/62727>my mom is Juliesmom</a> - say hi to them, eh? <br /><br />Our <a href=http://www.recipezaar.com/member/379862>friend Darrell is here as Uncle Dobo</a>, too! I've been typing in his recipes for him and entering them on R'Zaar. We're hoping that his sisters will soon show up with their own accounts, as well. :) <br /><br />I collect cookbooks (to slow myself down I've limited myself to purchasing them at thrift stores, although I occasionally buy an especially good one at full price), and - yes, I admit it - I love FoodTV. My favorite chefs on the Food Network are Alton Brown, Rachel Ray, Mario Batali, and Giada De Laurentiis. I'm not fond over fakey, over-enthusiastic performance chefs... Emeril drives me up the wall. I appreciate honesty. Of non-celebrity chefs, I've gotta say that that the greatest influences on my cooking have been my mother, Julia Child, and my cooking instructor Chef Gabriel Claycamp at Seattle's Culinary Communion. <br /><br />In the last couple of years I've been typing up all the recipes my grandparents and my mother collected over the years, and am posting them here. Some of them are quite nostalgic and are higher in fat and processed ingredients than recipes I normally collect, but it's really neat to see the different kinds of foods they were interested in... to see them either typewritten oh-so-carefully by my grandfather, in my grandmother's spidery handwriting, or - in some cases - written by my mother years ago in fountain pen ink. It's like time travel. <br /><br />Cooking peeve: food/cooking snobbery. <br /><br />Regarding my black and white icon (which may or may not be the one I'm currently using): it the sea-dragon tattoo that is on the inside of my right ankle. It's also my personal logo.</p>
 
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