Cooking Spiral Ham (Maple Bourbon Glaze)

Today I’m sharing my easy method of cooking spiral ham AND my favorite maple bourbon glaze. It took me quite a long time to cook my first spiral ham as my family never cooked ham when I was growing up. Fast forward to now, and my 10-year old would eat ham daily if I let her. For the past few holidays, I’ve ordered glazed ham from our local Honey Baked Ham store, but I always thought it was a too sweet for my taste.

And one year, I got a Costco ham and used the little packet of glaze that came with it, and I was definitely NOT a fan of the glaze packet. My maple bourbon glaze is full of flavor and has exactly the right amount of sweetness to complement a salty, crispy spiral ham without being overly sweet.

I don’t know about you, but half the fun of cooking spiral ham is all those delicious leftovers, and I find that the overly sugary Honey Baked Ham just doesn’t taste great in omelets or ham and bean soups, or cheesy ham casseroles. You know what I mean?

After a few failed attempts at cooking spiral ham, I’ve learned what works best – and this spiral ham with maple bourbon glaze is perfect whether you’re serving it at a holiday table or just on a Tuesday night.

Recipe Tips

My first tip is make sure you’re buying a spiral ham. This cut of ham includes the bone, and is pre-sliced for you. Once heated through, you just cut along the bone and the even slices fall perfectly on the platter.

p.s. Don’t toss that ham bone – because we’ve got some great ways to use that up!

Cook low and slow. I like cooking spiral ham at 325 degrees. I recommend about 10-12 minutes per pound, or until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees. Remember, ham is already pre-cooked, so we’re really just bringing it back to temp.

Cooking Spiral Ham with a Maple Bourbon Glaze

I’m so excited to share my favorite way of cooking spiral ham with you today! My glazed ham is a total flavor bomb and here’s how I do it.

First, I stud my spiral ham with cloves and then I take a bit of dijon mustard to coat the outside. Then I mix together a little dry rub and sprinkle that all over, pushing it into the dijon mustard.

We’ll loosely cover it in foil, and then bake on a low heat for about an hour to hour and twenty minutes.

And finally, I take off the foil, drizzle with my maple bourbon glaze, and put it back in the oven to bake. We’ll know it’s ready to serve when the ham reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees and the maple bourbon glaze is sticky and caramelized.

My Spiral Ham with Maple Bourbon Glaze Recipe

When I’m cooking spiral ham, I like to layer on the flavor. And I have got to tell you – the flavor combo from the dijon mustard, whole cloves and my easy dry rub pair beautifully with sweet maple bourbon glaze.

To prepare the spiral ham, first you’ll remove it from the plastic packaging. Check to see if there is a plastic circle on the bottom – if there is, remove the plastic piece. Then, place it cut-side down, on to a baking rack that’s set in a baking pan. Pour about a cup of water on the bottom of the pan. This helps keep the pan drippings from burning in the pan.

Stud it with whole cloves all over.

Using a pastry brush, paint on the dijon mustard. It’s very important that you are using a DIJON MUSTARD. Do NOT substitute a yellow mustard or spicy mustard for the dijon mustard.

Then, mix together the dry rub.

Dry Rub Ingredients

• Brown sugar
• Smoked paprika
• Allspice
• Garlic powder

Sprinkle the dry rub on the spiral ham, gently pushing spices into the mustard. Loosely cover the ham with foil and put in a pre-heated oven.

Cook at 325 degrees for about an hour.

Meanwhile, we can prepare our maple bourbon glaze

Maple Bourbon Glaze Ingredients

• Maple syrup
• Bourbon (Bulleit is our favorite)
• Orange juice
• Brown sugar

Place a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Then, mix together maple sugar, bourbon, orange juice, and brown sugar. Stir well and bring to a boil. Continue boiling (stirring occasionally) for about 5 minutes, or until sauce thickens and can coat the back of a spoon.

After ham has baked for about an hour, remove foil covering. Brush half the maple bourbon glaze on the ham and continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Pull out the ham and brush with the remaining maple bourbon glaze and cook for another 10-20 minutes or until the meat registers at 140 degrees and the maple bourbon glaze is caramelized.

Let spiral ham sit for about 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

I loved serving this spiral ham with my lightened up gluten free scalloped potatoes. Please check that recipe out as well!