Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

It’s a bit of a joke in my household that I don’t often make chocolate chip cookies, which are my husband’s favorite. There are just so many variations that I can post on my blog. Apparently his coworkers bring him chocolate chip cookies from time to time, since he is lacking such a basic resource at home. We often have lots of baked goods around, so I don’t feel too bad about this!

His colleagues sometimes send him recipes and ask “Is this different enough for Nicole to bake?” I think this is quite funny and I am impressed that they pay some attention to the recipes I blog. This cookie idea was sent to my husband, and I figured that it was different enough to blog about. My husband sent me a few recipes and I chose this one, although it does call for three types of sugar and two types of chips. And bacon!

They key for these cookies is that the bacon isn’t too greasy, which is why we thought of using the precooked bacon. We couldn’t find that so we ended up with microwave bacon and drained it well. After it cooled I chopped it into ½” pieces or so- the crispier the bacon the less precise cutting is! The recipe you see here is half of the original, but I still made about 4 dozen cookies. These turned out picture perfect, and I hope they will allay any “you don’t make chocolate chip cookies” comments.

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
½ pound bacon
¾ cup butter, melted
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg + 1 yolk
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Cook the bacon until crispy. Set the cooked bacon on paper towels and allow the bacon to drain the excess grease. Once the extra grease has been removed, chop the bacon.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter, dark and light brown sugar, and the sugar. Mix on medium until the mixture comes together. Add the vanilla and eggs and stir again to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Using a spatula, fold in the bittersweet and semisweet chips and the chopped bacon.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4” balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 14-16 minutes, until the edges of the cookies brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Serious Eats