I have wanted to make a unique burger for a while now. This burger has bacon in every part of it. As you can see from the photos this burgers does not have a "traditional" bun. I will go through all of the steps necessary to show you how to make the Mac'n' Bacon burger.

Step 1: Making the "Buns"

The buns are made of fried macaroni and give the burger a nice crunch as well as a unique look and flavor.

The recipe for the fried macaroni is as follows:

1. 12 oz of velveeta
2. 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
3. 3 tbsp of unsalted butter
4. 1/2 tsp kosher salt
5. 4 cups of cooked elbow macaroni (drained)
6. 8 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled

Cook the macaroni as instructed on the package and drain off all remaining water.

For the cheese sauce:
1. Heat the heavy whipping Cream, Butter, and Velveeta in a medium sauce pan on medium heat.
2. add in the salt and stir.

In a large bowl add in the drained cooked macaroni, cheese sauce and crumbled bacon.
Once everything is thoroughly mixed together spray your mold with a nonstick spray and top off with macaroni mixture.
Place it in the freezer for a few hours until it is frozen solid.

Before you remove the "buns" from the freezer we need to make the breading, and while you are making the breading you can heat a deep fryer to 350ºF. You will need the following for breading the macaroni:

1. 2 cups of breading, I used Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
2. 1/2 tsp paprika
3. 1/2 tsp chili powder
4. 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
5. 1/2 tsp white sugar
6. 1/4 tsp salt
7. 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
8. 3 eggs
9. 3 tbsp milk

Whisk the bread crumbs with the paprika, chili powder, black pepper, sugar, and cayenne in a shallow dish; set aside. Beat the eggs with the 3 tablespoons milk in a small bowl. Remove the "buns" from the freezer, coat in the egg wash, and then dredge in breading and then repeat the process giving the macaroni a double coating.

Once they are done fry the buns for 3-5 minutes until they are golden brown. I was only able to fry 1 at a time. You can make the buns ahead of time if you want and freeze them for use at a later time.

Step 2: The Burger Patty

For the burger patty you are going to use lean ground beef. I used a pound of lean ground sirloin for the burger and minced 8 strips of uncooked bacon. just mix the bacon and sirloin together in a bowl with a little pinch of kosher salt. Once it is mixed you will need to form it into patties. The trick to making a good patty is to not let the fat from the meat stick to your hands while you are forming the patties, so shape them quickly and rinse you hands after each patty is formed. I was able to get three 6 oz patties from this batch.

Once the patties are formed fire up the grill and cook them to at least 145ºF* or well done (which ever you prefer)
*note* the safe cooking temperature for pork was lowered to 145ºF from 160ºF in May of 2011

While you are cooking the burgers you can fry the buns so everything will be hot when you are ready to eat.

Step 3: Spicy Candied Bacon

I accidentally made this recipe a few years ago by mistake. I had some sliced bacon in a bag with brown sugar and put it in the fridge. I forgot about it for a day and realized that the bacon had liquefied the sugar. I put it in the over for about 2 hours on low heat and when I pulled it out i realized the brown sugar had caramelized and had bacon candy. I have since refined this recipe to be able to produce the same results in a few hours. Here Is an instructable for it: https://www.instructables.com/id/Spicy-Candied-Bacon/

Step 4: Building a Better Burger

Once you have all of the parts for the burger made you will need to assemble it.

I assembled it as follows:

1. Fried macaroni bun
2. Burger patty with melted Havarti cheese
3. Spicy Candied Bacon
4. Lettuce
5. Tomato.
6. Another fried macaroni bun

Once it is assembled step back and marvel at one of the best tasting burgers you will ever have. The heat and sweet from the candied bacon pull all of the pieces of the burger together and mix really well with the creaminess and crispness of the fried macaroni. So try one for yourself and enjoy.