I enjoy chocolate chip cookies. I also enjoy bacon. As any reasonable mind would conclude, a chocolate chip cookie with bacon needed to be made. So I made some, ate some, and enjoyed it thoroughly.
I took Alton Brown's "The Chewy" recipe and amended it slightly for this baconlicious creation.
For my first batch, I incorporated the caramelized bacon bits into the cookie batter. The result was fine, but the bacon taste was too subtle. So for my second batch, I topped each cookie with more bacon bits. Now that is what a bacon chocolate chip cookie ought to taste like!
Yield ~ 2 dozen
Ingredients
- 5 thick slices of hickory smoked bacon
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter
- 2 1/4 cups bread flour (I used all-purpose flour and they still turned out great)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar (I used light)
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp. low-fat milk
- 1 1/2 tsps. vanilla extract
- 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup of nuts (optional)
For Candied Bacon
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Place bacon slices in a single layer on an aluminum foil lined tray.
3) Sprinkle brown sugar on top of bacon strips.
4) Bake bacon for about 20 min. or until they turn crispy. Turn over the strips after 10 min. to ensure both sides are candied. Allow them to cool before chopping them into small bits.
For Cookies
1) Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Meanwhile, sift flour, baking soda, and cinnamon together and set aside.
2) Pour the melted butter in a metal bowl, add sugars, and cream everything together using a stand or hand mixer. The texture should be smooth and thin.
3) Add egg, egg yolk, milk, vanilla extract and mix until well-combined. Slowly add the flour mixture while still mixing until the texture becomes akin to peanut butter.
4) Lastly, add the chocolate chips and bacon bits until well-incorporated.
Alton advises you chill the dough overnight, but since I didn't have that kind of time, I just went straight to scooping them out onto a baking sheet.
5) Bake for about 12 min. or until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown. About 7 min. in, I swapped the two baking trays, placing the bottom one on top oven rack, and top one on bottom oven rack.
6) During the swap, I topped each cookie with a pinch of bacon bits in my second batch.
7) Cool and let it sit out for a few hours before transferring them into air-tight containers.
Some of you may be disgusted by this creation whereas others are salivating by the photos alone. Either case, I encourage creative cooking and eating, so bon appetit during this Labor Day weekend!
