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Honey Baked Ham

Honey baked ham with a crackly spiced sugar-honey crust, baked low then finished hot for caramelization. Spiral-sliced ham is repeatedly brushed and sugared until deep golden and glistening.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Servings: 14 servings
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Calories: 520
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Ham glaze and coating
  • 1 fully cooked bone-in spiral-sliced ham 8-9 pounds, spiral-sliced and bone-in
  • 0.5 cup honey
  • 0.25 cup butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 0.5 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 0.5 tsp ground cloves
  • 0.5 tsp ground ginger
  • 0.25 tsp nutmeg
  • 0.25 tsp allspice
  • 0.5 tsp paprika

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Prep and low-bake
  1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Place the ham cut-side down in a roasting pan, cover tightly with foil, and bake for 12-14 minutes per pound until it reaches 120F inside.
Make honey butter and spiced sugars
  1. Melt the honey and butter together. In a separate bowl, mix the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and paprika.
Glaze, sugar, and finish hot
  1. Remove the foil and brush the ham generously with honey butter. Pat on a layer of the spiced sugar.
  2. Raise the oven temperature to 400F and bake for 5 minutes. Look for the sugar to set as a coating.
  3. Brush with more honey butter and pat on another layer of spiced sugar. Bake again at 400F and keep going until the coating starts turning deep golden.
  4. Repeat brushing with honey butter and sugaring one more time. Bake until the crust is deep golden and crackly and the ham reaches 140F.
Rest and serve
  1. Rest the ham for 15 minutes before serving. Slice and serve while the crust is still crisp.

Notes

For the best crackly crust, apply each sugared layer evenly and don’t skip the hot 400F finish between rounds. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container up to 4 days; freeze up to 2 months. For a lower-sugar option, substitute a portion of the sugars with a 1:1 brown-sugar alternative (still use honey butter for flavor and crust set).