These little Brown Sugar Bacon Wrapped Smokies are the perfect appetizer with a little sweet heat from the seasoned bacon. One bite or two makes this the ideal little munchie to serve on New Year’s Eve to game day and everything in between. Want more bacon? Try our Bacon Wrapped Asparagus for another great appy!
Serve these up with some other great appetizers like Stuffed Meatballs, Beer Battered Onion Rings, Best Fried Zucchini, Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings, Homemade Boursin Cheese, or Delicious Sausage Pinwheels.
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How to Make Bacon Wrapped Smokies
Brown Sugar Bacon Wrapped Smokies are very easy to make and only require a few ingredients.
You just can’t beat the sweet heat of smokies with brown sugar. I found that 1/2 cup of brown sugar to be the sweet spot but you can use more or less as needed.
Ingredients
Little smokies
Bacon
Cayenne pepper
Brown sugar
Toothpicks
Parsley for garnish
How Long to Cook Little Smokies Wrapped in Bacon
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or foil.
- Wrap each little smokie with a 1/3 piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick.
- Arrange on the baking sheet with about 1 inch between each bundle.
- In a small bowl combine the brown sugar and cayenne pepper.
- Sprinkle over each of the bacon-wrapped smokies or roll in the brown sugar mixture.
Can You Make Bacon Wrapped Smokies Ahead of Time?
- Yes, you can make this appetizer ahead of time. At this point in the recipe, you can freeze or refrigerate if making ahead.
- The brown sugar may melt a bit but they will still bake up perfectly. If you like keep the brown sugar separately and when ready to bake toss them in the brown sugar or sprinkle on top and bake. Also, you can dry the sausages if they feel at all moist as this will help with the moisture too.
- Bake until the bacon is crispy, turning halfway, approximately 30 to 35 minutes of cooking time is needed. Be careful not to burn as the brown sugar tends to char but you want the bacon to be crisp too. Add extra time if baking from frozen.
Garnish with parsley if you like.
Note: You will need 2 baking sheets as you don’t want to crowd the bacon wraps. I highly recommend using parchment paper or foil to keep your baking sheets clean. Nothing better than having little to clean up afterward.
Do Little Smokies Need to be Cooked?
Smokies little or large come pre-cooked so they are ready to eat when you buy them. They just need to be heated through.
Whether you call them lil smokies or cocktail weiners they make an excellent appetizer like in this recipe. Other uses for these great little smokies are to cook them in a slow cooker in bbq sauce.
Make sure for a recipe like this you use really good bbq sauce as you only have two ingredients to make this recipe great!
We have also made a similar recipe to the bacon-wrapped smokies but using dates and roasting them in a baking dish with maple syrup, brown sugar, and cayenne and they have always been a show stopper of an appetizer.
Can You Reheat Sausages Wrapped in Bacon?
I can’t imagine at a get together that you would have any of these left but if you are making them for just your family for game day you may.
Store the smokies in an air tight container for up to 3-4 days. A quick run in the microwave will heat these appetizers back up so they can be gobbled down again.
What Goes Good With Lil Smokies?
Brown Sugar Bacon Wrapped Smokies can be dressed up or down. A cocktail weiner like this would go very nicely with other appetizers of course but it will depend on if you are serving them for New Year’s Eve or something like game day. Let me give you two categories for choose from.
New Year’s Eve Appetizers:
28 Fabulous New Year’s Eve Appetizers
Spicy Pecan Goat Cheese Truffles
Game Day Appetizers:
Parmesan Rosemary Potato Chips
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Brown Sugar Bacon Wrapped Smokies
Ingredients
- 1 – 12 ounce package little smokies
- 1 lb bacon cut into thirds
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- Toothpicks
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- Wrap each little smokie with a 1/3 piece of the bacon and secure the bacon with a toothpick.
- Arrange on the baking sheet with about 1 inch between each bundle.
- In a small bowl combine the brown sugar and cayenne pepper.
- Sprinkle over each of the bacon-wrapped smokies or roll in the brown sugar mixture.
- Freeze at this point if making ahead.
- Bake until the bacon is crispy, turning halfway, approximately 30-35 minutes. Be careful not to burn. Add extra time if baking from frozen.
Comments & Reviews
Mary says
Do you have to use the cayenne peppers or can you reduce the amount of it ?
Tara Noland says
You can use as little or as much as you like, it does add a nice little sweet heat to this appetizer.