Coconut Bacon, my new obsession

      I have a slight obsession with all things bacon, well let me rephrase that, I *USED* to have an obsession with bacon. This seems to be a very American thing to be obsessed with, as proof from bacon chocolate, bacon doughnuts, bacon candy, bacon scented candles and so on and so forth. I am vegan, so bacon is a no-go, even vegan bacon is a no-go as usually it's made from seitan, which *insert sad face here* is my enemy. So I thought bacon or anything bacon tasting was going to be a relic of my past, and when I smelled it, it would bring back memories of nostalgia and days gone by. *sigh*

      Well, not anymore. Some time last week, someone posted something about coconut bacon and then provided this link. Coconut Bacon-The Vegan Project. I immediately saw it and tried it but meh, it lacked the flavor I was looking for. Two things I noticed, 1) It did taste like bacon but there wasn't enough coating to go around and 2) The flavor didn't seem to stick to the coconut flakes. So I played around with the ratios and I actually don't have tamari in my house because I stopped using soy sauce a long time ago. Instead, I use Bragg's liquid aminos, and it worked out well, well enough that I am posting the recipe to you folks. So here it is Coconut Bacon, YUMMMMMM!!

Coconut Bacon!

I don't know how many it serves, because I eat it by the handful. Sorry, I'm not sorry.

2 C. large unsweetened coconut flakes 

2 Tbsp. liquid smoke (hickory flavor worked out great!)

4 Tbsp. Bragg's liquid aminos

2 Tbsp. water

4 Tbsp. maple syrup (the real stuff, not the fake stuff, it won't taste right otherwise)

       In a large Tupperware container combine all ingredients minus the coconut, put the lid on and shake to mix them together. Then add in the coconut and shake again to coat the coconut. Leave to marinade for at least 30 minutes. This helps the coconut absorb the flavor, which is what you want! 

After 30 minutes, preheat oven to 300 degrees and line two pans with parchment (I ran out of parchment yesterday so I didn't use it, but I still highly recommend it.)

     Spread coconut on the two pans, making sure you try to spread them out as evenly as possible so the flakes don't stick together. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, and check on it every 5 minutes or so, you want a light brown color, and the coconut will continue to crisp for a little bit even after you pull it out of the oven. This stuff even smells like bacon!

 Twice baked vegan smashed potatoes with Teese Cheese and Coconut Bacon! Yum!

      So, I got some of the studs I ordered in the mail, and I decided the play around with them and created this. It is FAR from perfect *has a couple of little tears and some of the studs are off centered*, although it is vintage, so the tears are kinda expected. My bad studding is me learning how to work the studs with are more complicated then my usual prong studs. So meh, I might use this as a giveaway or something, I dunno yet. I am not sure if it is vegan, I think it is because if it is real leather it is really thin, and I try not to buy real leather things to stud. Even though it's upcycled, I still prefer the things I buy to be vegan, but I'm not going to hate myself over it. and hope no one else does either.