Ingredients:

• 6 strips of thick cut smoked bacon, reserve 2 tbsp rendered bacon fat

• 12 eggs, hard boiled

Filling (Makes around 1 cup of deviled egg filling):

• 6 egg yolks

• 1/2 an avocado

• 2/3 cup Mayonnaise (Link to recipe)

• 3 tbsp Sweet or Dill Pickle Relish

• 2 tbsp Nutritional yeast

• 2 garlic cloves, grated

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• 1 tbsp water

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1/2 tsp fine Himalayan Sea salt, or to taste

Topping:

• cayenne pepper

• smoked paprika

• crumbled bacon

• Chopped chives

Directions:

Fill a medium size pot half full of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the eggs, and cover with a lid. Allow to remain at a steady boil for approximately 30 seconds on high, then turn heat off but leave the eggs covered on the burner, for at least 8 minutes. One way I frequently test if boiled eggs are hard boiled is by spinning one of the eggs on the counter. If it spins fast, there’s a good chance that it has reached the hard-boiled stage.

While the eggs are boiling, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the bacon in a single layer. Bake for 12-14 minutes on the middle rack, or until desired crispness is reached.

Once the eggs have cooked, you can cool them quickly by either submerging them in a ice bath. Alternatively, if you don’t want to bother with doing the ice batch, you could just continuously rinse and drain the eggs in really cold water in the same cooking pot for 30 seconds to quickly bring down the temperature.

To peel the eggs easily, I submerge them completely in cold water in a big mixing bowl. While submerged, I gently crack each egg all over against the sides of the mixing bowl and allow to sit under the water for another couple of minutes before attempting to peel to allow the water to penetrate the broken shell and membrane, which will make them easier to peel. These steps have definitely helped me make eggs easier to peel, especially on those boiled eggs where the shell feels like it’s glued on there.

Once the eggs are peeled, slice each in half and set aside the yolks from 6 of the eggs.

To a blender, add the filling ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Alternatively, you can mash everything together with a fork on a flat surface like a cutting board or shallow sauce dish.

Once the bacon has finished, remove from oven, and allow to cool for a few minutes. Crumble the bacon and set aside.

Add the filling mixture to one end of a small plastic sandwich bag and stuff it down into the corner, then cut of the corner of the bag to make a DIY piping bag. Alternatively, you can use a standard piping bag if you have one.

Pipe the mixture into each of the egg halves. Add the crumbled bacon and chives on top. Sprinkle with Cayenne pepper and smoked paprika! ENJOY!!