This smoky maple turkey bacon is slathered in maple syrup and smoked paprika and baked until perfectly crisp.

I LOVE breakfast food. You could probably tell by my myriad of breakfast recipes on this site, everything from homemade English muffins and bialys to egg scrambles and even homemade Montreal style bagels. As Thanksgiving approaches, I’ve been thinking about how to incorporate some traditional Thanksgiving flavors into my favorite meal of the day. And if you present me with an opportunity to take what seems like a simple or mundane breakfast food and put my own (especially holiday) spin on it, I’ll snatch it up. Maple is one of my favorite Thanksgiving or fall flavors, and of course it’s already a breakfast food, so I thought what better way to channel Thanksgiving into breakfast than smoky maple turkey bacon.

TURKEY BACON OVER REGULAR BACON?

I actually chose to use turkey bacon for this smoky maple turkey bacon recipe for two reasons: one, because it gives all those Thanksgiving vibes, and two because it seems to be slightly healthier than traditional bacon. And currently I live with (and cook breakfast for) two people with high cholesterol, my boyfriend Gabe and my brother Ben. Now I’m not arguing that turkey bacon is necessarily super good for you either. It’s still a processed food, and really high in sodium. But it’s probably slightly healthier than traditional bacon, and fine when eaten in moderation.

But no one is fooling anyone here, turkey bacon is not nearly as good as regular pork bacon. That’s why jazzing up turkey bacon is so important, and that’s exactly what I did in this recipe by using maple syrup and smoked paprika. First I brushed each slice of bacon with an ample serving of maple syrup, and then topped with smoked paprika and black pepper. Then I baked the bacon as opposed to frying it. It’s just easier to bake bacon (especially for a crowd). Turkey bacon has a tendency to be a little flabby in places when you fry it, so baking it actually results in a crispier slice of bacon. And you’re less likely to burn the maple syrup while keeping all that syrup and spices on top of the bacon, right where you want them.

SMOKEY-SALTY-SPICY-SWEET

The result is a slice of bacon that’s perfectly crisp with a delicious balance of flavors. Smoke from the smoked paprika, salt from the cured bacon itself, spice from the black pepper and sweetness from the maple syrup. I served my smoky maple turkey bacon with pumpkin waffles (one of my favorite fall Trader Joes items) to really play up the Thanksgiving breakfast vibes. But you could serve this bacon alongside any breakfast (or in my breakfast calzones), or even breakfast for dinner.