Brown Sugar Bacon Wrapped Smokies

Bacon Brown Sugar Smokies are the quintessential party food that everyone fights over even though they’re so easy to make! Just three ingredients plus I have five flavor add-in options for you!

The ultimate holiday appetizer, these Bacon Wrapped Smokies are the perfect finger food for your crowd, perfect served with toothpicks along side some Cocktail Meatballs.

Bacon Brown Sugar Smokies are the quintessential party food that everyone fights over even though they're so easy to make! Just three ingredients plus I have five flavor add-in options for you!

BACON WRAPPED SMOKIES

Bacon Wrapped Smokies are the easiest and most popular holiday appetizer you’ll find at most tailgates/holiday parties/gameday parties and with good reason! With just three ingredients these Bacon Wrapped Smokies are guaranteed to be the hit of your event.

When you are planning holiday menus it is important to make sure you don’t have a lot of complicated recipe or recipes that require you to be in the kitchen while people are at your party. This recipe is easy to prep ahead of time and can be cooked and served with just a small bowl of toothpicks near your serving dish.

How to Make Bacon Wrapped Smokies:

  • Prepare Sheet Pan: Line your sheet pan with heavy duty foil or a double layer of regular foil. This is keep cleanup easy and simple. If you do not line with foil the brown sugar that melts and caramelizes will harden on the pan. If this happens, once your pan has cooled add water immediately to it and let it sit 1 hour to soak before cleaning.
  • Bacon: Cut the bacon in half. The smokies are small and only need a half a piece of bacon to wrap well.
  • Wrap: Wrap with just a bit of tension in the bacon, do not wrap too tight or the bacon will contract too much in the oven and possibly split.
  • Roll: Roll the wrapped smokies in the brown sugar, do not toss the ingredients.
  • Toothpick: Pierce the end of the bacon back into the smokies to hold the bacon closed, then place it on the baking sheet.
  • Bake: Bake until brown sugar is melted and bacon is crisp.

MORE PARTY APPETIZERS

Faqs for Bacon Wrapped Smokies:

  • So important it bears repeating twice, line the pan with foil to avoid a long cleanup.
  • If you want to prepare these ahead of time, be sure to cover the baking sheet well with plastic wrap so the brown sugar doesn’t dry out. It will prevent it from melting well.
  • Perfect as they are if you want a hint of spice add a pinch of cayenne or for a milder heat, some crushed black pepper to taste.
  • When cutting your bacon in half be sure to cut it to form two shorter pieces, so the bacon is half as long. Don’t cut through it horizontally making long skinny strips of bacon.
  • These are best served warm, if you have a small slow cooker you can set them in or a warming plate.

Bacon Brown Sugar Smokies are the quintessential party food that everyone fights over even though they're so easy to make! Just three ingredients plus I have five flavor add-in options for you!

I know what you’re thinking, you’ve seen these Bacon Brown Sugar Smokies before right? Well we’ve been making these for years and over the years we’ve come up with five awesome variations to this classic recipe! 

Flavor Variations:

  1. Jalapenos: Add minced jalapenos or cayenne pepper to spice things up!
  2. Sauce: Add some franks red hot sauce and honey to the brown sugar, just like in these amazing Chicken Fire Poppers.
  3. Cheddar: Yes, just like in the Bacon Wrapped Tater Tot Bombs, cheddar adds an amazing flavor to these bites!
  4. Blue Cheese: Wrap a small cube of Blue Cheese in with the smokies and the flavor is awesome!
  5. Dates: Wrap a 1/4 of a date wrapped into each bundle, the salty sweet combination will be a hit.

MORE EASY APPETIZERS:

Wait Before Serving:

Word of warning. These are going to come out of the oven covered in a molten hot melted brown sugar coating. Please, please wait 2-3 minutes before touching them or use a spatula to remove them from the pan directly onto the plate. There is risk of suffering sugar burns to fingers and tongues by grabbing one as soon as they come out of the oven.

Remember molten sugar right out of the oven = burns. 

How to Store:

  • Serve: Bacon Wrapped Smokies can be out at room temperature for up to 2 hours before they should be refrigerated. They are best served warm, so if you have a warming plate, you can serve them on low heat to keep them warm.
  • Store: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat at 350 degrees until just warmed.
  • Freeze: Cool completely, or freeze on a baking sheet for one hour, and place in a sealed container. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Bacon Brown Sugar Smokies are the quintessential party food that everyone fights over even though they're so easy to make! Just three ingredients plus I have five flavor add-in options for you!

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Bacon Brown Sugar Smokies

Bacon Brown Sugar Smokies are the quintessential party food that everyone fights over even though they're so easy to make! Just three ingredients and you have the easiest appetizer ever!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword Bacon Brown Sugar Smokies
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Calories 250 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 1 package Beef Smokies (or other mini hot dogs)
  • 1 pound bacon , cut in half
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar , packed

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Line baking sheet with heavy duty foil (or two sheets of standard foil).

  3. Cut bacon slices in half (vertically, not horizontally so they are shorter, not skinnier and longer).

  4. Wrap each strip around a little smokie sausage.

  5. Roll in the brown sugar, packing on the sugar onto the ends and pierce the end of the bacon slice with a toothpick to hold it closed.

  6. Place each rolled smokie on the baking sheet (do not crowd).

  7. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the bacon is crisp and the brown sugar is all bubbly.

Nutrition Facts
Bacon Brown Sugar Smokies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 250 Calories from Fat 126
% Daily Value*
Fat 14g22%
Saturated Fat 4g25%
Cholesterol 60mg20%
Sodium 1188mg52%
Potassium 168mg5%
Carbohydrates 17g6%
Sugar 14g16%
Protein 17g34%
Calcium 28mg3%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Bacon Brown Sugar Smokies are the quintessential party food that everyone fights over even though they're so easy to make! Just three ingredients plus I have five flavor add-in options for you!

Bacon Brown Sugar Smokies are the quintessential party food that everyone fights over even though they're so easy to make! Just three ingredients plus I have five flavor add-in options for you!
Bacon Brown Sugar Smokies are the quintessential party food that everyone fights over even though they're so easy to make! Just three ingredients plus I have five flavor add-in options for you!

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

    1. You’ll want to bake them in a single layer. Piling them up creates too much moisture and they’ll be steamed vs crispy. Enjoy!

  1. I’ve made these for years and taken them to work, people love them! I have to make a lot so everyone can eat a lot. I usually prep them the day before, layering the bacon wrapped smokies in a huge bowl with lots of brown sugar. They sit in the fridge overnight and marinade in the brown sugar, which turns out all syrupy. I then bake them the next day.

  2. These are ridiculously easy and delicious!! I am taking them to a football party this weekend. I have made them for several parties!!

  3. My sister and I have been making these for over 40 years and have never had leftovers. In fact, we are lucky to even get one!

    1. At the very least warm, yes. Cold congealed bacon fat is very oily and slimy. It won’t have good mouth appeal.

  4. I want to add the cheddar but not sure how to. Do you wrap the cheddar and then the bacon?
    Excited to make these and thank you for sharing your recipe!

    1. I have a tater tot version that adds cheddar. Make sure you use a sliced cheese piece small enough the bacon wraps completely around it. Wrap it somewhat tightly then cross your fingers and hope it doesn’t leak. Make sure the cheese is facing up off the pan, under the smokies and they will definitely leak.

    1. I don’t even turn mine when they’re in the oven but you could try putting them on racks and see if that gives you a more uniformed crisp all the way around. If you decide to try it, let me know how it goes.

  5. Have been making these for years.  We call them Heart Attack on a Stick.  My daughter must have them every year around the holidays.   Yummy!

  6. Incomparable things compared! Wow, I am really surprised with the result – I NEED to try it now. It doesn’t even seem like bacon to me – more like a bowl of candies lol