Deviled Eggs with Black Pepper Candied Bacon

It’s Friday!!! And I cannot tell ya’ll how happy I am to be approaching the weekend. Like seriously…it has been a heck of a week. I mentioned last time that I work in sales. Tech sales to be exact and if you’ve ever worked in a sales position at all, you know the end of the month/quarter/year are especially crazy! It’s no different with me. I find solace in cooking because I escape into the possibilities. Without deadlines, without having to fake happy or seriousness (which is more often than not what I’m faking, lol) and just being free to be me and create! So again, I say thank you to those of you who come here to read my posts, retweet me, re-post me or like and share anything! It means so much to me!

Another thing that means a lot to me is entertaining. I really love putting together a menu that can stand on it’s on, or welcome additions from guests so that everyone can come together and have a good time. This is one of the reasons this time of the year is so great. Between holiday parties, potlucks, Thanksgiving, Friendsgivings and New Year’s, there’s just a ton of reasons to make quick bites many can enjoy. On the other hand, it’s also a time it’s really, really easy to go HAM on the food and eat until the stretch in your leggings is maxed out…oh, just me?

This is why I wanted to provide this really easy recipe for deviled eggs with candied bacon. Using a very simple substitution of Greek Yogurt for Mayo, you save 40 calories per serving! This is a big deal, considering most people could eat a tray of deviled eggs on their own! The flavor of the eggs does not change much and with just 1 tablespoon of mayo still in the dish, there’s still this fatty unctuousness we all love. This dish is light, tangy with just a touch of sweetness and spice and very easy to make! The bonus, this dish is able to be scaled up and down simply to make more or less, depending on the size of your crowd! You can also opt to leave out the bacon on some/all if you have anyone who is not a bacon eater (I also refer to them as enemies)!

The first part and the most crucial part of deviled eggs is, well, the eggs. We’ve all had our battles with peeling eggs and finding that we’ve peeled chunks of the whites out with the shells. This can be frustrating on a regular day, but pairing that with the holiday season or preparing for a party of some kind just adds insult to injury. When we’re making deviled eggs, peeling the whites can give you 1 less vessel to carry this delicious filling, so I tested a bunch of methods I found for peeling the perfect hard boiled egg and decided on this method from from Serious Eats . Worked perfectly! Round these out with that filling and delicious bacon and You’ll be the star of the party with this in tow!

What’s your favorite topping for deviled eggs? Let me know in the comment section and keep reading for step by step. Or scroll to the bottom for the full recipe!

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First start by adding water to a pot big enough to accommodate your eggs. Bring that pot of water to a rapid boil and carefully place your eggs in the water. Boil the eggs for another 30 seconds and then reduce heat so that water is barely simmering and cook for another 11 minutes.

While eggs are boiling, prepare your bowl of ice water. You want this to be ready when your eggs are. Once your eggs are finished, submerge them in a bowl of ice water and let cool for at least 15 minutes. You can also make these in advance and leave the eggs in the cold water for up to 5 days according to Kenji!

While your eggs are cooking, place a cooking rack on a baking sheet. Spray or oil the sheet so that the bacon does not stick and lay bacon on the rack. Baste half of the black pepper syrup on the bacon on both sides. Cook the bacon according to package directions, stopping 3 minutes shy of doneness. Remove from oven and baste remaining syrup on bacon. Return to oven to finish cooking. When finished, remove from oven and allow to cool, then chop into large chunks.  I accidentally deleted all of my bacon cooking pictures, so I apologize for not having anything to show you.

When you are ready, remove the eggs from the cold water and peel. Slice peeled eggs in half length wise and remove yolks to a separate, dry bowl. Pat whites dry and set aside.

In the bowl with the yolks, add in your mayo, 1/2 of the greek yogurt and all of the spices. Mix together with a fork or whisk and get as smooth as possible. Add in the rest of the greek yogurt tablespoon by tablespoon to ensure you get the desired texture of your eggs without making the mixture too wet. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

When you are ready, you can spoon the filling into the whites or, for a more beautiful presentation, use a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe filling into whites. 

Place chunks of bacon on top of eggs, pressing them slightly into the filling to secure. Sprinkle with additional paprika and/or dill and serve!

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Deviled Eggs with Black Pepper Candied Bacon

• Author: Monique Manning

• Serving Size: 2 deviled eggs

• Nutrition (with bacon): 143 calories, 9.4g fat, 4.3g net carbs, 10.1g protein

• Nutrition (without bacon): 81 calories, 5.5g fat, 1.4g net carbs, 6.6g protein

INGREDIENTS

Deviled Eggs

• 6 eggs

• bowl of ice water

• 1/4 cup Greek Yogurt

• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

• 2 tsp dijon mustard

• 1/4 tsp hot smoke paprika

• 1/4 tsp dill

• salt and pepper to taste

Candied Bacon

• 3 slices thick sliced bacon

• 1 tbsp black pepper simple syrup (or any syrup you’d like)

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and fit a baking sheet with a roasting rack. At the same time, fill a pot large enough to accommodate your eggs with water and add in baking soda. Bring to a rapid boil.

2. Add eggs to boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Reduce heat so that your pot is on the lowest simmer possible. Cook for 11 more minutes.

3. While Eggs are cooking, place bacon onto cooking rack and baste with 1/2 of syrup on both sides. Cook in oven according to package directions, 3 minutes shy of finishing.

4. Baste bacon with additional syrup and finish cooking in oven. Remove and set aside to cool and harden. Chop into smaller pieces and set aside.

5. Remove eggs and immediately place into bowl of ice water. Let eggs sit for at least 15 minutes, but up to overnight in this cold water in the fridge.

6. When ready, remove eggs from ice water and begin to peel the eggs, making sure to be careful not to break the whites.

7. Once eggs are peeled, cut in half, lengthwise, and remove the yolks to a bowl. Set whites aside.

8. In a bowl, combine yolks, greek yogurt, mayonnaise, dijon mustard and spices and mix until smooth.

9. Taste to see if any adjustments need to be made and spoon filling into egg whites. For a better presentation, put mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a Star tip and pipe filling into egg whites.

10. Place Chopped bacon on top of the eggs, pressing into the filling for stability. Top with additional sprinkles of paprika and dill, if desired.

11. Serve and enjoy!