Maple Bacon Ice Cream – a Father’s Day Sweet Treat

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Petit Jean Meats. All opinions and recipes are 100% my own.

Father’s Day is just around the corner (like next Sunday!) and I thought it’d be fun to make a sweet treat for all the Dad’s out in the interwebs (or heck just for any man/woman/friend etc). Who doesn’t like a sweet treat?! And this one is super special. Because it involves Bacon. And I’m not talking any kind of Bacon. I’m talking Petit Jean Meats Hickory Smoked Bacon. Have you heard of Petit Jean Meats? They are from my home state of Arkansas and are a mom and pop business that I absolutely love. I grew up on Petit Jean Meats products and well, I just have an affinity for them. Did you know they are the official Ham & Bacon Sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys? Yep. How cool is that?! Sign up for their newsletter so that you can stay in the know! Cause trust me…you’ll want to stay in the know!

But enough ramblings, let’s talk about this sweet treat that involves bacon…

Maple Bacon Ice Cream
Recipe adapted from the FoodNetwork.com

1 cup grade A dark amber maple syrup
4 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
5 egg yolks
6 slices Hickory Smoked Bacon (Petit Jean Meats)
Special equipment: candy thermometer, ice cream maker

In a medium saucepan over moderate heat, reduce the maple syrup to 1/2 cup. Set aside. (Note: This took me about 10 minutes to get the syrup to reduce by half. Keep stirring it. That will help.)

Over moderate heat in a medium saucepan, heat the half-and-half with 1/2 cup sugar until hot and just bubbling around the edges.

In a medium bowl, whisk the yolks with 1/2 cup sugar, then add 1 cup hot half-and-half mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour the whole egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture coats the back of the spoon and registers 170 degrees F on a thermometer. (Note: Mine registered that temparature fairly quickly and wasn’t coating the back of the spoon as it should have done. So I pulled it from the heat and let it cool down and then put it back on the heat (turned the heat down as well).

Do not let boil. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl and whisk in the maple syrup. Cover with parchment paper letting the paper touch the surface of the mixture, to prevent a skin from forming. Chill the mixture until very cold, at least 6 hours and up to overnight.

Once your mixture has cooled all the way down. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Line a rimmed sheet pan with heavy foil. Place a baking rack over the lined sheet pan and arrange the bacon slices across the rack next to each other. Bake until crispy, about 15-18 minutes. When cool enough to handle, finely chop.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside. Place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a fork, until the sugar starts to melt. Stop stirring and cook until the sugar is a golden caramel color. (Note: my first attempt netted me in burnt caramel…yuck! Make sure you watch the color of the sugar closely and do NOT let it get too dark!) Add the bacon and stir to coat. Pour onto prepared baking sheet and let harden. Chop the candied bacon into small pieces.

Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions, 20 to 30 minutes and at the last minute, add the candied bacon and let churn until just combined. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze. Note: I did not add the candied bacon pieces into the ice cream mixture. I sprinkled it on top.)

Maple Pecan Bacon Shortbread Cookies
Recipe adapted from BHG.com

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
1 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
2 slices finely chopped crispy thick-cut hickory smoked bacon (Petit Jean Meats)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar. Beat until mixture is fluffy and light in color, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in vanilla, maple flavoring, and orange peel until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour, the pecans and the crispy bacon pieces.

2. Divide dough in half. Press one portion of the dough evenly into the bottom of an 8-inch fluted tart pan that has a removable bottom. (Wrap the remaining dough and set aside.) Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Prick every inch or so with the tines of a fork. Cut into 12 wedges, leaving the dough in the pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 27 minutes or until top is pale golden brown. Cut into wedges again while warm. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove wedges from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Wash the tart pan and repeat with the remaining dough. Makes 24 wedges.

What are you planning for Father’s Day?

Petit Jean Meats has several sampler gift packs including their Dallas Cowboys Bacon Gift Pack which would make a great gift for the bacon lover in your life! 🙂 You can purchase online or select United/Market Street stores in the Dallas area.