Dunkin’ Snackin’ Bacon: Is It A Hit Or Miss?

I just discovered several of my favorite things in the world have collided. Higher-protein food, Dunkin' coffee and...bacon!

I had really high hopes when I heard Dunkin' was offering snack bags of eight seasoned bacon half strips called "Snackin' Bacon."

And the online review I discovered listed it at $2.49 -- a steal for the snacky goodness I was envisioning.

I needed this in my life, so I drove to the St. Cloud Dunkin' at Division and 33rd and whipped out my debit card. And there it was on the menu board, a little sleeve of bacony delight.

However, the price at this franchise store was $4.29 and wasn't quite the deal I was planning for. In fact, $4.29 is the highest suggested retail price for the product I later found online, ranging from $1.25 to $4.29.

Nonetheless, I ordered a coffee and two orders of the Snackin' Bacon.

I wasn't even out of the drive-thru lane and I was already sampling it.

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The first thing I noticed is the bacon is softer and chewy rather than the crispy bacon I prefer. Now, there is a place for both in my world. But snacking in the car -- I would have preferred crispy strips.

Next is the sweetness from the sugar they used in candying the bacon. There's a good amount of sweetness from 9 grams of sugar, as well as plenty of black pepper. But you know what? I did not get a lot of bacon flavor from these bacon strips. That's not bad -- in fact, the bacon IS tasty -- but it's not the bacon in your cast iron skillet, sizzling on a Sunday morning.

Again, at $2.49 an order and 190 calories (10 grams protein, 10 grams carb from 9 grams of sugar, 12 grams fat), Snackin' Bacon is a novelty treat I could see working into my diet every once in a while. But at $4.29 an order, it's considerably more expensive than most protein bars and not a great value to me.

Of course, your mileage may vary.