Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Late night post but really, this one couldn't wait.  And tomorrow is dedicated to my Valentine (since he'll be working late hours on actual Valentine's Day) and no blogging will be allowed!  So...

Let me begin by explaining how today's kind-of-impromptu baking sesh (a.k.a. session) came about.

I stumbled across this recipe while I was browsing some of the blogs I follow, specifically The Girl Who Ate Everything.  Cute blog name, huh?  Anyway!  A close friend (and co-worker) of mine has a slight obsession with bacon and so of course, I had to forward the recipe right along.  After some [very little] discussion, we decided that these cookies needed to be tested out and we were very willing to sacrifice ourselves for the cause.

I'll admit, I was more than a little skeptical that these would even turn out, let alone taste very good.  But boy, oh boy, was I wrong!  First off, the cookie base itself is to die for!  Side note, I'm a big fan of trying to find that peeeeerfect basic recipe, because it's easy from there on out.  Just add your favorite mix-ins and you always have a winner!  But back to our bacon cookie.  The cookie base is just wonderful: soft, chewy, buttery, and it has the great volume that's hard to find (I like a little oomph to my cookies, rather than those thin, crunchy cookies that my boyfriend prefers).  I can guarantee you that you'll be seeing this cookie base recipe in the future whenever I get around to experimenting, it quite possibly could be THE recipe that I've been searching for.

Now to the bacon.  Okay, CANDIED bacon.  C'mon.  After some prep work, the bacon comes out with a nice caramelized layer.  That salty sweet combo?  Something I'll never be able to get enough of!  Whew, it's that good!  And in the cookie, mixed with loads of CHOCOLATE, can it really get any better?  I think not.  And don't be scared by the idea of bacon in a dessert, this recipe calls for JUST the right amount of it.  A very nice subtle hint of sweet, sugary bacon.  Yummy.  Hats off high to The Girl Who Ate Everything and her random baking experiment.  So here you go, the most pleasant surprise I've experienced in a very long time!

Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

Candied Bacon:

8 slices center cut thick bacon

1/2 c. brown sugar

Cookies:

2-1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1 c. packed light brown sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350°F.  Place bacon in single layer on foil-lined sheet.  Sprinkle brown sugar on top of bacon strips.

2.  Bake 18 to 25 minutes or until crispy, making sure to turn bacon over after 10 minutes.

3.  Remove bacon from oven and place on wire rack for cooling.  Once bacon has cooled, chop finely.

4.  Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.  

5.  Sift together flour and baking soda in small bowl.  In medium bowl, cream butter with both sugars.  Add vanilla extract, egg and egg yolk and beat until light and creamy.

6.  Add flour mixture and mix well.  Add diced candied bacon and chocolate chips.  Stir until just combined.

7.  Place golf ball-sized balls of dough on parchment-lined baking sheets.  Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until edges are brown.  Remove from oven and let cookies set a couple minutes before placing on wire rack.

      

Yield: 24 cookies

*My Notes:

• When preparing to place the dough onto baking sheets, I shaped the balls into cyclinders.  Sorry, I should have taken a picture as it's much easier to see an example than to explain it [terribly].  However, it's a technique I learned from the Salty Tart and I always loved the perfect shape and thickness of their cookies.  Doing it with this dough, I think it gave the cookies some great height, that oomph I'm looking for!