Looking for a new dessert that is different, delicious and made in your smoker? How about a dessert that combines sweet apples and rich guanciale bacon with a crisp topping? In this post, we will show you how to create Smoked Bacon Apple Crisp with Guanciale in your smoker. This delicious dessert has a combination of flavors that includes an unexpected hint of smoke from being cooked over charcoal. It’s a great addition to serve at your next backyard barbecue.
While thick-cut bacon will work just fine, try using guanciale instead of bacon. Guanciale is an Italian-style bacon similar to pancetta. The difference between the two is that pancetta is made from pork belly and guanciale is made from pork jowl and has a distinctive flavor. I like use guanciale in pasta sauce, Brussels sprouts, omelets, stuffed baked potatoes and even salads.
This recipe was inspired by my other dessert recipes for Smoked Blueberry Crisp, Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce, Smoked Chocolate Chip Cookies and Peach Fried Pies.
Ingredients
- Filling
- Guanciale
- Apples
- Brown sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Lemon zest
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt
- Topping
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla wafers
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Fry the Guanciale
Cut several pieces of guanciale ¼" thick and then dice into ¼" pieces.
Fry the guanciale over medium-low heat in a large skillet. Guanciale has a lower smoke point than bacon or pancetta so it's better to cook it at a lower temperature. Watch it carefully and turn it frequently. There is a fine line between done and starting all over again.
Make the Topping
Rather than a pie crust, this dessert has a topping made from vanilla wafers, granulated and brown sugar, flour and butter. Most pie crusts are made by cutting in very cold lard or shortening into some flour. This is similar. The butter should be really cold, almost frozen, before making the topping. The cold butter will get chopped up in the food processor and incorporated into the vanilla wafers, flour and sugars.
Add the topping ingredients to a food processor.
Mix the topping ingredients until it is the texture of coarse sand.
Prepare the Apples
Cut and peel the apples and mix them with the rest of the filling ingredients. The brown sugar, lemon zest and cinnamon will cook down to form a nice, sweet sauce for the apples.
Mix the apple slices with the rest of the filling ingredients in a large bowl.
Remove any uncooked bacon and wipe out all of the bacon grease with paper towels. Spray the skillet with some cooking spray then arrange the apple mixture inside the skillet.
Spread the topping over the top of the apples.
Use all of the topping. The butter in the topping will melt and combine with the sugar to form a wonderful sauce for the apples.
Bake Uncovered in a Charcoal Grill
Setup your smoker for indirect heat at 400˚F using only charcoal, no wood chips. The charcoal will impart just enough smokiness. Wood chunks or chips would be overpowering.
Place the prepared apple crisp in the smoker.
Bake in the smoker until the top of the pie is golden brown.
I finished this bacon apple crisp in a wood-fired oven for a few minutes to give the crust a little more color. This also could have been accomplished by leaving it in the smoker for ten more minutes.
Serve warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Variations
This recipe used Honeycrisp apples, but any tart apples would also have worked. Many apple pie recipes call for lemon juice. This recipe uses only lemon zest and it was perfect.
Equipment
A cast iron skillet is really useful for making this dessert. It can handle the heat of a smoker with no problem. Alternatively, this dessert could be made in a metal 9-inch pie plate or pie pan.
Storage
Store leftover bacon apple crisp in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If you don't have an airtight container large enough, move the leftover apple crisp to a pie pan and cover with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil.
Final Thoughts
This Bacon Apple Crisp with Guanciale recipe is the perfect blend of sweet and savory, and is a delicious twist on traditional bacon apple pie. It is also one of those desserts that will disappear fast. Use the biggest cast iron skillet you have and load it up. You will be glad you did. Don't forget the ice cream. Enjoy!
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
📖 Recipe
Bacon Apple Crisp Recipe
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 ounces guanciale diced (Pancetta will work as well)
- 5 apples peeled and cored (like Honeycrisps)
- ⅓ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 ½ tbs all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest grated
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
- Pinch salt
Topping
- 1 stick unsalted butter cut into 8 pieces
- ½ cup vanilla wafers crushed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Setup the grill for indirect heating at 400°. Cut the butter and place into the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
- Fry the guanciale in a cast iron skillet over low heat. When crisp, remove the guanciale with a slotted spoon and dice fine. Do not over cook the guanciale. Wipe out the excess fat from the skillet with paper towels and discard.
- Cut the peeled and cored apples into one inch pieces. Add them to a medium bowl. Add the diced guanciale. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour and lemon zest, then stir. Add half of the cinnamon and stir. Add the other half of the cinnamon and a pinch of salt and stir again. Spoon the mixture into the skillet and set aside.
- To make the topping, place the cookie crumbs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, salt and cold butter into a food processor. Pulse 8 - 12 times until the mixture is crumbly and resembles sand. Be careful not to over processes. Sprinkle all of the topping on top of the apples. It may look like a lot, but it will be fine. The butter and sugars will melt and become the gooey sauce.
- Place the cast iron skillet in your smoker and cook until the top is golden brown, 45 - 60 minutes. Serve warm.
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