Sweet and Savory Bacon Dishes

Slices of smoky bacon slathered in a spicy honey mixture are great at breakfast and addictive enough for a midnight snack.

This is Grace Parisi’s sophisticated version of magic bars, that chocolate-coconut bake-sale favorite. Browning the butter gives the crust a nutty flavor; cooking it in a metal baking dish makes it extra crisp; and adding bacon to the filling provides an ingenious update.

Grace Parisi uses packaged biscuit dough and thick-cut smoky bacon to reconfigure the classic pork-filled street food called gua bao (braised pork buns).

Here, chef Jamie Oliver turns classic British crumpets into a kind of french toast by soaking them in egg and then griddling them until they’re moist in the middle and deliciously crisp on the outside. He likes to top the crumpets with maple syrup and a little bit of chopped red chiles.

“Because everything’s better with bacon,” is the perfect description for these addictive nuts.

This timeless tapa from Spanish cookbook author Penelope Casas has everything going for it—it’s sweet, smoky and savory, all in one bite.

Chutney is a favorite British condiment for everything from cheese to roasts. This sweet-and-smoky version is perfect with crackers as a starter, spread on a grilled cheddar sandwich or served with roasted pork.

Kat Kinsman tops her rich brownies with bacon and pecans. To enhance the smoky flavor, she mixes some of the bacon fat into the batter.

Stewart Woodman often serves savory waffles and pancakes with his dinners in place of rice or potatoes. Here, he pairs big, beautifully seared scallops with delectable corn pancakes.

A good loaf of cranberry-nut bread from a bakery has so much flavor that there’s no need to trick it up with lots of ingredients. As the pudding bakes, the bread becomes almost custardlike, with a crispy brown top.

The bright flavors of tomato, orange juice and smoked paprika make this soup perfect for summer, as does its versatility: It’s delicious chilled or hot. Naomi Pomeroy serves the soup with a side of maple-candied bacon, which she prepares by sprinkling bacon slices with maple sugar and baking them until crisp.