Vegan Maple Brown Sugar “Bacon” Crackers

We’ve officially entered into entertaining season! DUN. DUN. DUN.

Football parties, Halloween parties, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years… it’s back to back fun for the next few months. And what do all of these great events have in common? Food, of course! And, if there ain’t food at any one of these events, then you need to either rethink your life choices (if hosting) or rethink your friends (if a guest) because food is a must, y’all, especially appetizers.

Now, in the past, I’ve gotten a little fancy when it comes to apps with my tomato tart and my bourbon whiskey caramelized onion dip, but I know that not every app needs to be all frou-frou. Sometimes the things that ain’t so pretty taste pretty damn amazing. Such was the case with a spread I made! That not so fancy app was simply mashed up white beans combined with some vegan “bacon,” and a couple other things. Today’s recipe is for another not so fancy app that just so happens to use only 4 ingredients. No joke! (All 4 ingredients are listed in the name of the recipe!) If you’re a fan of savory and/or smoky combined with sweetness, and apps that aren’t frou-frou, then this is something that you’re going to want to make for your next event!

It all gets started with the making of the maple brown sugar topping which consists of?? C’mon, I know you know the answer. Maple and brown sugar! A little bit of maple syrup gets combined with some brown sugar and then this mixture gets set aside for a moment.

Grab a package of Sweet Earth’s Benevolent Bacon and cut each strip into 5 equal square-shaped pieces. (Rather than cut each piece individually, I prefer to simply lay the “bacon” out on a cutting board with the strips going left and right and then cut through the pile of strips top to bottom to create 5 even sections of square-shaped pieces.)

Next, on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, you’re going to lay down a cracker and top it with a square of “bacon.” Repeat until all of your little “bacon” squares have a cracker bed.

Now grab the maple brown sugar mixture you made a moment ago and put the smallest drop of it on top of each cracker. You really don’t need much because this mixture is very sweet, I’d say like an amount the size of like 2 corn kernels or an Altoids-type mint. (Altoids aren’t vegan by the way, but I’ve found at WF a dupe which is vegan-friendly!)

Pop the sheet pan full of decked out crackers into a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 15 minutes.

When done, the “bacon” will be darker in color and the maple brown sugar mixture will be all melted and gooey across the top of each cracker. Let the crackers rest for a minute or two, just so their hot sugary tops don’t burn anyone’s mouth, then serve while still warm!