The idea for the bacon chocolate chip cookies came to me, oddly enough, in a conversation about vegan cookies. I had just baked a batch of my usual chocolate chip cookies for my coworkers, and felt the usual carnivore's guilt upon realizing that there was one guy (a really, just genuinely nice guy) who was vegan and ergo couldn't enjoy all of the buttery, fluffy, egg-protein-binding goodness that my cookies held. So I decided to make vegan cookies.
And then I decided to do the opposite of vegan cookies. Thus, bacon cookies were born.
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BACON CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (one batch yields ≈ 30 cookies)
6 strips pan-fried bacon (I opted for a thick cut, applewood smoked and
uncured variety, because it's more substantial and flavorful)
1/4 cup bacon drippings (reserved from cooking the bacon)
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 maple syrup (the good kind! I'm talking Grade A Light Amber, not Mrs. Buttersworth)
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 bag (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Pre-heat your oven to 375˚ F. Pan-fry your bacon until crispy (don't get
food poisoning in the name of bacon cookies, please). Save a quarter
cup of the drippings and set both aside. Melt your butter in the
microwave and mix that with the sugars, syrup, beaten eggs, vanilla
extract and bacon drippings until combined. In a separate bowl, mix
together the flour and baking soda. Mix dry into wet before adding the
chocolate chips. Chop your bacon into fine yet distinguishably large
bits (you want them to be just about as big as your chocolate chips).
Dump bacon into batter and mix until combined; spoon out onto cookie
sheets (I usually employ a tablespoon and eyeball it) and bake
for 12-16 minutes. Enjoy your golden-brown bacon-y deliciousness while
your kitchen, breath, clothes and hair smell like fried strips of cured pork
belly (and America [and freedom]).
I feel like I should take a cue from Taylor and attempt to coax a few brave souls with the moxie (and good cholesterol) to try a
bacon chocolate chip cookie taco. The idea is similar to that of the
“baco,” but the fried bacon weave taco shell is wrapped around your
warm, gooey and crispy bacon chocolate chip cookie to create a (super
heart-healthy) bacon monstrosity not unlike a Choco Taco that was shot
with a bacon gun.
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