7 Bacon Recipes That Will Change Your Life

There is no denying our love for bacon. The aroma alone can make us jump out of bed — and there's nothing like the anticipation of seeing the tasty strips sizzle.

If you're an established bacon lover, it's a food you probably pair with everything. Adding bacon to your favorite dishes just makes them that much better. There's the classic bacon-and-egg sandwich, bacon pizza, bacon-wrapped wings and even bacon donuts. The options are endless for bacon concoctions!

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But bacon lovers beware! If you thought you were into bacon before, then brace yourselves for these recipes.

Maple Bacon Apple Muffins

The only thing better than a breakfast coffee-and-muffin combo is adding bacon to that muffin, because you deserve something special in the morning. This muffin is packed with flavor, thanks to the sweetness of maple and apple — with bacon as the perfect touch to enhance these tastes.

To make Maple Bacon Apple Muffins, whisk together 2 cups flour, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt in a bowl. Whisk 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla extract in another bowl. Combine the two, stirring in 3/4 cup buttermilk and 1 large apple pie cut into pieces. Spoon the mixture into muffin cups and bake for 25-30 minutes.

To make the maple bacon glaze, melt butter, maple syrup and brown sugar in a skillet and add cooked bacon. Place bacon strips on each muffin and drizzle on the sauce.

Bacon Fried Mozzarella Sticks

If you're our kind of foodie, there are two things you can't live without: cheese and bacon. Now imagine crispy bacon embracing cheese that melts in your mouth. Make that dream snack a reality with this Bacon Fried Mozzarella Stick recipe.

This easy-to-make snack requires bacon, cheese sticks and barbecue sauce for dipping. After freezing cheese sticks, place each onto a slice of bacon and pull the ends up to completely cover the cheese. Wrap another slice of bacon (yup, that's right) around the first and secure them together with a toothpick. Fry in oil on the stovetop until crispy.

Bacon Mac & Cheese Egg Rolls

Upgrade your bacon-and-cheese game with these Bacon Mac & Cheese Egg Rolls. Now this is finger food at its finest. The mac and cheese is gooey, the bacon is savory, and the egg roll makes it crunchy.

To make this bacon recipe, cook the mac and cheese according to box instructions, cook bacon and mix the two together. Put 1/4 cup bacon mac and cheese into egg roll wrappers and dampen to the edges with water. Roll them up and fry in a deep fryer or Dutch Oven at 350 degrees F until brown. Cut in half and use barbecue sauce as a dip.

Sweet And Spicy Bacon Chicken

Sweet and spicy is the yin and yang to foodies. If you cut your chicken into pieces, you will have a bite-sized snack — or you can make them chicken-strip style. Either way, dip them into ranch, barbecue sauce or hot sauce if you want to heat things up.

To make Sweet And Spicy Bacon Chicken, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cook bacon and wrap it around the chicken, cutting the bacon into bite-sized pieces. Roll the pieces into a mixture of 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp. cayenne pepper. Bake on a cookie sheet for about 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked.

Rice Krispies Treat Bun Peanut Butter And Bacon Burger

Just when you thought food combinations could not get more bizarre, enter the peanut butter-and-bacon burger that uses Rice Krispies Treats as the bun. This may sound like a meal featured on the MTV show "Snack-Off," but if you're looking to satisfy your bacon, burger and sugar cravings at the same time, this one is for you.

To make the Rice Krispies Treat Bun Peanut Butter And Bacon Burger, cook your burger first, making sure not to add cheese. Instead, smear on peanut butter and flatten out Rice Krispies Treats in a bun shape. Place bacon onto the bottom bun, followed by the peanut butter-covered burger and place the top Rice Krispies bun on top. Then get ready to #nom.

Sweet And Spicy Nutella Bacon

We love bacon. We also love Nutella, so it only makes sense to combine the two. This snack is sweet and savory with an extra kick.

To make Sweet And Spicy Nutella Bacon, bake sliced bacon at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, remove from the oven and flip. Sprinkle each strip with 1 tbsp. brown sugar, 1 tsp. chili powder and 1 tsp. ground black pepper, then bake for another 8 to 10 minutes. Microwave Nutella for 15 seconds and spread onto cooled bacon. Refrigerate until Nutella is hard and sprinkle with fleur de sel.

Bourbon Bacon Brownies

This is the perfect dessert to serve to your bros during March Madness. It doesn't get more manly than basketball, bacon, booze — and brownies.

To make Bourbon Bacon Brownies, preheat the oven and prepare the batter as directed on a box of Betty Crocker fudge brownie mix, adding in crumbled cooked bacon. Stir in 3 tbsp. bourbon, pour into a pan and bake until directed or when a knife comes out clean. Once the brownies are done, pour 1/4 cup bourbon on top, cool and serve.

These recipes will make you love bacon even more than you thought possible.

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Photo: Kim Ahlström | Flickr