Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

Set the oven racks to the middle of the oven as cooking too low or too high will not yield the desired result.

Prepare the cookie sheet by placing the parchment in the bottom, with a small layer of aluminum foil over the parchment, then place the cooling rack directly on top of it. If you are making the full pound you will need a second pan also set up and or plan your time to make these in batches.

Decide if you are serving whole strips or if you are serving a half or quarter strip. (For a tall drink you will need a full strip, but for a bite as an appetizer, a full strip may be a bit much.) Cut the raw bacon to the size needed.

In a large bowl combine the brown sugar, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and black pepper

Add a few slices at a time and coat well with the sugar mixture

Lay the coated slices out on the cooling rack, do not crowd them, give them room to brown and crisp up properly.

Place in the oven and check after 10 minutes to see if they are ready to flip, if not give them 3-5 more minutes. Remove the pan from the oven do not try to flip in the oven or you will have a mess.

If you see any bare spots you could carefully spoon a tiny bit of the mixture on top of the flipped bacon or you could sprinkle some of the ground black pepper for a spicier taste and a more textured effect.

Place them back in the oven for 15- 20 minutes more, until browned. Do not let them overcook. They will harden when cooling. Below are some pictures of the placement of my bacon on the various rack and differing amounts of time. The bottom rack burnt the sugars on the bacon at 30 minutes, however the top rack at the same time with the lower quality bacon cooked just fine. In the second test with better quality bacon, the top rack seemed slightly under cooked. That is why the middle rack is perfect.

Remove from the rack after 5 minutes and let cool on a plate for approximately 10 minutes before handling