Mouthwatering candied bacon and basil cheeseburgers for an epic grill session

Make dad's day with this candied bacon and basil cheeseburgers recipe for Father's Day this year. Kids can mix and match their own toppings if you have a picky eater.

Who grills the burgers in your house? Even though I cook 99% of everything that hits our table, there are certain things that Handyman Tim does waaaaaayyyyy better than me. Grilling burgers is definitely one of them. He knows just how to pat out the patties just so, has a couple {about to be not so} secret ingredients he adds to the mix, and serves them up hot and juicy and perfect.

With Father's Day coming, I thought it would be fun to take Tim's masterful burgers and kick them up a notch. He is my anti-veggies, meat and potatoes manly man. It seems like every member of our family prefers something just a little different on their burger. So I made a list of our favorite mix and match toppings and served them up burger bar style. Everyone could top them just the way they like.

Bacon cheeseburgers are Tim's very favorite. To make our Father's Day burger bar extra special, I made a batch of my peppered candied bacon. With summer here, I can't get enough fresh tomato and basil. And you just can't have a cheeseburger with out a high quality slice of sharp cheddar cheese. We love the thick and creamy slices of cheese that melt just perfectly over the hot burger patties.

While Tim prepped the burgers, I got the bacon started in our oven. You line up the bacon in a single layer on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Completely cover in freshly ground black pepper and sprinkle a little brown sugar over the top. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. I usually drain off some of the rendered fat at this point before flipping the slices over. Crack more pepper, sprinkle more sugar, and bake for another 7-10 minutes. Just catch it before it burns! 

Baking the bacon makes it perfectly crispy but still tender and chewy, just right for topping our burgers.

Tim gently mixes the ground beef with a healthy sprinkle of Worcestershire Sauce and a few shakes of Montreal Steak Seasoning. These secret ingredients give the burgers just enough kick and keep them extra juicy. While he grilled everything up, I set out our burger bar ingredients for the table.

The bacon was the only ingredient that took a little extra effort. Everything else was so easy to pull together, it's all in the presentation! I prepped and then placed all the toppings in cute containers for the table.

6 grown-up cheeseburger toppings:

• fresh basil leaves
• thinly sliced tomatoes
• thick sharp cheddar slices
• black peppered candied bacon
• sliced raw onions or caramelized onions
• BBQ sauce

We also set out ketchup and mustard for the kids along with a big bowl of BBQ flavored potato chips and some seasoned sour cream dip. By serving everything separately on the table, my kids were able to fix their plates with the veggies on the side rather than on the burger itself. Doesn't matter as long as they tried the new flavors!