Coconut Bacon

Crispy, smoky, salty and a little sweet.

So many salad and vegetable main and side-dish recipes call for bacon. If you are anything like me, at least 1/2 my family and friends are non-meat eaters. Bacon does bring a chewy satisfying finishing element to dishes, and just leaving it off is unsatisfying. At least it is unsatisfying to me.

Coconut bacon solves this dilemma, everyone can eat this and so far, everyone I have fed it to loves it.

Coconut bacon is nothing new. It is all over the vegan and vegetarian blog world. All the recipes are almost all the same ingredients and it takes about 20 minutes to make.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups large, unsweetened large flake coconut (not regular shredded coconut!)
3 tablespoons soy sauce or liquid aminos, or tamari sauce. I like to mix soy sauce and Bragg’s liquid aminos 1/2 and 1/2.
2 tablespoons liquid smoke, don’t leave this out, the smoky element is what makes this work. It’s in the condiment isle in most stores, it’s easy to find.)
2 to 3 tablespoons maple syrup. I used 3 tablespoons this time.

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Measure the coconut flakes out onto the baking sheet. Drizzle the coconut flakes with tamari, liquid smoke and maple syrup. Mix well. Spread the flakes into an even layer on the parchment paper.
Bake on the middle rack for 15 to 20 minutes depending on your oven and how dark you want your ‘bacon’, flip every 5 minutes or so, until flakes are mostly dry and turning golden on the edges. (Keep an eye on the coconut as it can go from golden brown to deep burnt brown fairly quickly. The coconut flakes will crisp up as they cool, so don’t judge doneness just by crispy or not.
Let the coconut bacon cool, to crisp up to eat right away, or transfer to a jar or plastic bag.

Here are some pictures; just mixed and after baking for 20 minutes.