That's right, I said bacon

Bacon chocolate chip cookies, originally uploaded by kmcgivney.

The photo has been up for a while. There has been much discussion with friends about the unexpected deliciousness of this cookie. And now, it's time. It's time to discuss this cookie: the chocolate chip and bacon cookie.

That's right, I said bacon.

I got the idea to make a chocolate chip and bacon cookie after I had the bacon and chocolate bar from Vosges Haut Chocolat. I thought, why can't I do that... in a cookie?

So I searched online for a recipe, and heard tales of a restaurant that served a bacon cookie (with chocolate chips, pecans, and cherries, not just chocolate chips), but I only found one recipe, for a cookie that had bacon on top, not inside. So I decided to make my own.

I adapted it ever-so-slightly from, you guessed it, a Smitten Kitchen recipe (what can I say? Deb has amazing recipes). Essentially, I sub out really crispy crumbled bacon for nuts in a standard chocolate chip recipe. It's simple, and it tastes delicious!

Recipe and more photos after the jump.

So, here's the recipe, both for making the bacon (for me, cooking it in the oven does the trick - gets it nice and crispy, just how it needs to be for this recipe) and for the cookies themselves. They are a tasty treat!

For the bacon:

1/2 to 3/4 lb. bacon strips (I prefer thick-cut, but it's all up to you)

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a cookie sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Arrange the bacon on the pan, side-by-side. Do not overlap the pieces.

Bake for 12-17 minutes, depending on thickness. The bacon really needs to be crispy for this application, so make sure it's very crispy throughout.

When bacon is done, take out of the oven, transfer to a plate covered in paper towels, and let cool.

For the cookies:

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) (115 grams) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch (1cm) pieces
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt (Deb option, and my preference too)
1 1/2 cups (200 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (I prefer bittersweet)
1 cup (130 grams) crumbled bacon

Adjust the oven rack to the top third of the oven and preheat to 300F (150C). Line three baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.

Beat the sugars and butters together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda.

Stir together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter. Mix in the chocolate chips. Crumble the bacon and mix in.

Scoop the cookie dough into 2-tablespoon (5cm) balls and place 8 balls, spaced 4 inches (10cm) apart, on each of the baking sheets. (I have found that these cookies tend to spread out a bit, so the smaller the balls the better!)

Bake for 18 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Comments

[Julian Robichaux]

I've been doing some research (i.e. -- asking my friends), and everyone agrees that if you deep fry these in pancake batter it also counts as a breakfast food. I'm just sayin'