There are just some things that were made to be together. Peanut butter and jelly, tomatoes and basil and best of all, caramels and bacon. There was a caramel bacon fad a year ago, but we wanted to change things up a bit...

The bacon caramels that swept the internet last year had the bacon fully submerged into the caramel before cooled. We made a batch or two of this method and weren't too fond of it's mouth-feel. The bacon was soggy and didn't hold it's own against the sweet and full bodied caramels. So we made a few more batches of bacon and caramel both and made these bite sized (sandwich) morsels. Here's how:

Bite Size Bacon Caramels
Yields: 64-75 caramels

1 Recipe Sea Salt Caramels
1 Recipe Candied Bacon
2-3 tablespoons flake sea salt

Prepare caramels and let sit overnight, uncovered on the counter until cool and a thick skin has formed from the exposure to air. Using a small 1" round cutter, pop out small circles from the caramel. (Note: Cutting them into squares is just fine, we just like to make things difficult). Cut your cooled, candied bacon into 1" pieces and set aside. You may use regular, uncandied bacon, just choose a thicker cut to hold up to the caramel.

Make a small pile of sea salt on your work space. Lay a damp towel next to it and finally your cut out caramel pieces. Press the caramel tops onto the towel and then into the sea salt. Place a piece of bacon between two halves and wrap in thin paper. You may serve them without paper although we love the look and feel of unwrapping a little bundle of tasty deliciousness. Parchment works fine, although we use food service grade papers (like what you'd pull a donut out of the case with) since they are a bit thinner.

This is THE holiday dessert and snack combo. It can be made ahead of time and is heat/cold safe so it travels and carries well to all your parties and events!

Related: Recipe: Caramel Popcorn

(Image: Sarah Rae Trover)