Maple and Brown Sugar Air Fryer Bacon

I've been raving about my Instant Pot but now I have a new favorite... the Air Fryer.  

O M G

This thing is amazing!  I don't know why I was so late to the Air Fryer craze but I am so glad I am finally onboard.  

I've been talking about getting one and then after my aunt posted pics of her new air fryer, that was it off to Best Buy I went.  

I wasn't sure how big of a unit I would need but I figured the 2.5 liter would suffice.  I chose the Chefman Express.  It was priced on the shelves for $85 but online for $75.99 and my local store matched the price AND I had my Swagbucks Best Buy QR code so I got 500 SBs + 2 SBs for every dollar spent so that's another 170 SBs.  So, after discounts, my air fryer ended up costing me less than the sale price.  Woohoo!

There were some fancy ones on the shelves with digital display but after checking the reviews I figured since I don't fry much this model would suffice.

When I think of fried foods, I think of fried chicken and bacon.  Well, when I think of food I generally think of bacon.  It's my favorite food.  Okay, it's one of my favorite foods.  Seriously, bacon is definitely in my top 5 foods... and maple brown sugar bacon is in my top 3. 

I LOVE BACON  *in my Oprah voice*

To cook bacon in your air fryer you'll need bacon, maple syrup, brown sugar and water.  You can use parchment paper if you like to minimize clean up.

1. In a small bowl, mix together 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup.  Mixture will be a little thick but you can thin it out to desired consistency by adding a little more maple syrup.

2.  Put a couple of tablespoons of water in the bottom of your air fryer.  Sounds odd but trust me this is a crucial step.

3. Set your air fryer to it's highest setting and let it preheat for about 5 minutes.  Mine goes to 390 degrees.

4.  Remove basket. *optional - you can place a piece of parchment paper at the bottom of the basket to minimize clean up.*

6.  Place up to 8 slices of bacon on the rack and slide basket back into air fryer.

7.  Brush maple brown sugar glaze over the bacon and close the air fryer.

8.  Cook for about 8-10 minutes or to desired crispness.

9.  Remove basket from air fryer.  Remove bacon from basket.  Let cool a bit and enjoy.

Bacon prepared in an air fryer tends to brown a little faster and may get a little burnt on the ends but it's STILL delicious.