In a small bowl, combine olive oil, maple syrup, aminos, smoked paprika, garlic powder and onion powder. Mix well with a whisk making sure the miso dissolves.
Cut the eggplant in half and then in half again. Place the flat surface on the cutting board and cut ⅛” thick slices of eggplant. Continue cutting until you finish cutting all the eggplant into slices.
When all the slices are complete, lay the strips on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or lightly sprayed with cooking spray.
Use a pastry brush to brush the top of the eggplant with the marinade.
Sprinkle freshly ground pepper over the top of the eggplant slices after marinade is applied.
Place the eggplant in the preheated oven and cook for 25-30 minutes. After the eggplant cooks for 10 minutes, flip the strips over and brush the remaining marinade over the side now facing up.
In the last 10 minutes of cooking, turn the strips over every five minutes. This movement will help produce a crispier final product.
Notes
Expert Tips for BEST Results:The eggplant needs to be cooked on a low temperature setting –about 300 degrees F. Cooking it at a low temperature works to dry the eggplant out while cooking it. This temperature serves the two purposes of creating the crispier texture and to keep the eggplant from burning.As ovens will cook differently, be sure the first couple times you cook this dish, you monitor how it cooks in your oven so you can adjust as needed.Turn the eggplant over every 5 minutes in the final 10-15 minutes of cooking time. This helped to ensure that both sides crisped up.Cut the eggplant strips evenly and in similar sized pieces so they cook evenly. Brush both sides of the eggplant with the flavorful marinade for maximum flavor.Eggplant bacon is best served immediately. If you do have leftovers or want to meal prep it, it will need to be cooked again in the oven to crisp back up.