It may seem like a weird combination...until you try it. I first experienced this lovely union a few years ago in Vosges Chocolate's Mo's Bacon Bar. If you have never tried one, go out and get one immediately! It comes in milk chocolate, and dark chocolate - you simply can't go wrong. They sell them at fine chocolate shops, Whole Foods, or online on their website. The sweet/savory combination is irresistible:
So you can probably imagine how excited I was when my sister-in-law sent me her recipe for Chocolate Chocolate Chip with Bacon cookies. I finally made them for the first time last week. Wowza, yum. I changed a couple of things from the original recipe after making them a few times and getting some feedback - increased the amount of bacon from 6 slices to 10 slices, left the bacon in chunks rather than crumbling it, and changed the regular salt to coarse salt (thank you, Martha Stewart, for introducing me to this practice). Also, the original recipe calls for chocolate chunks, which I can never find, so I used Guittard chocolate chips which worked really well.
Overall, most people loved them, even those who were a little bit skeptical about the combination! It's a great recipe and destined to be a new classic. In case you are wondering, they taste mostly sweet with just a hint of saltiness from time to time.
Finally, may I just say how wonderful it is to have another baker in the family!
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies
Ingredients:
- 10-12 slices of maple cured bacon
- 1 1/2 C white sugar
- 1 C unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 2 t vanilla extract
- 2 C all-purpose flour
- 2/3 C cocoa powder
- 3/4 t baking soda
- 1/4 t coarse salt
- 2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Cook bacon in a large skillet over med-high heat, turning occasionally until evenly browned. Drain the bacon slices on a paper-towel lined plate. When cool, tear into small pieces (see above photo for approximate size).
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Add the vanilla and beat until well blended.
- Add the flour & cocoa mixture and stir until just blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and bacon.
- Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
Makes approximately 32 cookies.
