Mini Bell Pepper Baaaacon Poppers (Gluten Free) (Jalapeño Free)

This is a great appetizer for a party for guests who may not be able to handle hot food. I love spicy, so jalapeno poppers are a staple in our house. My son is wanting to eat food like us, so we came up with the idea to get the best of both worlds. So we used mini bell peppers instead. They are great tasting and healthy for you. They are fairly easy to prepare and it doesn't take too much time. It can be prepared prior and refrigerated until its time to cook. These can also cook well on a grill. Just keep an eye on things.

Cut the ends off of the mini bell pepper. Be careful with knife since the exterior of the pepper can be waxy and slippery.

Slice the mini bell pepper in half along the length. I nip the inside of the pepper as shown in the first image. I then flip the pepper over and complete the cut. It adds an extra step, but I think the extra safety is worth it.

Scoop up the inside seeds. They are not very appetizing to most so be sure to discard. Its nice to have a small container to toss all of the insides into. The cutting board gets quite crowded rather quickly. Use a spoon for a quick removal.

Apply a generous helping of neufchâtel cheese in the pepper's cavity. Don't overfill the pepper boat or you will have cheese all over your oven.

I take a healthy pinch of shredded cheese and push it into the neufchâtel cheese. I shake off the excess cheese that isn't stuck to the neufchâtel cheese. I take a slice of bacon and shove the edges into the neufchâtel cheese. This seems to help everything stay in place in the oven. Put in the oven for 400 degrees about 30 minutes. Times may vary and you will need to tweak this to make it work for your oven, altitude, temp....etc. I like my bacon slightly crispy so I tend to hit it under the broiler at the very end. I hope that you enjoyed this Instructable. I would love to hear any feedback! You can also find me at www.CurtosNoir.com. Cheers