There was a time in my life when I believed that bacon didn’t belong in desserts. I know, it’s unimaginable. My first foray into bacon-laden sweets was a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I chopped some bacon up, added it to the batter, held my breath, and hoped for the best. This was a turning point in my life.
I agree that bacon can be over-used. Like any other trendy ingredient, there are times when the line should be drawn. Bacon lip balm? I don’t think so. And that bacon air freshener a friend bought my husband for his car? Makes me gag. But there’s just something about this salty meat that, when used appropriately, brings a perfect balance to a treat that may otherwise be too sweet. Equilibrium is achieved, and bliss is attained.
I have been operating under the false memory that I have already talked about Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies on this blog. When I begged my husband to bake me some cookies and asked if I could shoot some photos of them to spiff up the old post, he agreed. But my search turned up empty–this post did not exist. How could this be?! Something so fundamental, something so formative in future bacon confections, was nowhere to be found?! This must be remedied immediately!
You can take this up to 11 by candying the bacon first, but I really love the simplicity of this execution. It’s a great gateway dessert to future dabbling with bacon in your baking. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup 8 Tablespoons butter, softened
- 1/2 cup solid bacon fat reserved from cooking bacon; you may need to save this from a few batches in an air-tight container in your refrigerator before baking these cookies; I always have a jar of bacon fat on hand
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 cups milk chocolate chips
- 1/2 pound bacon strips cooked and chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cayenne. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, bacon fat, and sugars until light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes).
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing until the first is fully incorporated before adding the next. Scrape down the sides in between.
- Stir in the vanilla bean paste.
- With the mixer on medium low, slowly add the flour mixture, beating until just combined.
- Remove from mixer and stir in the walnuts, chocolate chips, and bacon by hand, mixing until just incorporated.
- Portion out the dough with a #40 cookie scoop, placing about 8 per sheet to allow enough room for spreading.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are browned and the tops are lightly browned.
- Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Bacon chocolate chip cookies. Now that IS awesome!
This sounds like heaven! bacon in chocolate chip cookies? You’re a genius! Can’t wait to try this.
I have never even thought of adding bacon to chocolate chip cookies – but it sounds just about perfect. I am definitely going to try these.
And the pictures are so pretty!
Thank you! Let me know what you think of them–and then you can try some of my other bacon-laden desserts already on the blog. 🙂
I think I just died a little. Also, I feel like if I were on death row, these would be in high consideration for my last “meal”. Is that weird to say? They just look THAT GOOD.
That’s a pretty awesome compliment–thank you! 🙂
These sound amazing! I love that you added cayenne pepper as well, I definitely need to try these out. I guess we both had bacon + sweets on our minds this week! 🙂
Hehe! Like I said, bacon balances sweets perfectly. The cayenne just gives it a whole other dimension. It’s not hot, but it does make it more interesting. If you didn’t know cayenne was in there, you’d be wondering about that subtle spice you detect. It’s pretty awesome.
Umm, wow! My heart may have skipped a beat when I saw this post. Yum. And I have nearly enough bacon fat – I think these cookies are in my near future. 🙂
Aha! Something wonderful to use all that lovely liquid gold from your bacon for!
Wow. Bacon and chocolate chips… and a cookie? AH-mazing. I can’t wait to try it!
Let me know what you think of them! I’m pretty proud of this recipe!
Bacon is definitely allowed in desserts. Although I can see how the addition of something used in mostly savory methods can play with the mind. However, chocolate chip cookies with bacon? Um, yes. A million times over, yes.
mmmmmmm…..Like my daughter says “why did God make pigs taste so good?’
I am bowing to you, oh master of the cookies!! These are SOOOO yummy looking. I almost licked my screen! (Fenway actually DID lick the screen, he really wanted one!)
I don’t eat bacon so I don’t have bacon drippings (these are for a friend). Could I use lard instead?
Absolutely! Lard is just a more refined version of piggy fat. If you can find one that’s non-hydrogenated, do try for better quality. Good luck!
Question: if storing these cookies, do they need to be refrigerated?
Excellent question! I have not refrigerated them when storing, but if you’re concerned, it certainly wouldn’t hurt. I’ve left them on the counter up to 3 days (they tend not to last long anyway–get gobbled right up!). But I also live in New England. If it’s exceptionally hot where you are, you may want to err on the side of caution.
Don’t know if I overlooked, but I presume the butter is softened?? In process of making!
I apologize for that omission! Yes, the butter should be softened, but not too much. If you’re in a hurry, cutting it into small chunks will help move things along. Enjoy!
Awesome, thanks for fast reply.
Great recipie! I tried these last night and they turned out amazing! Next time I’m going to replace the the walnuts for pecans.
I’m so glad to hear it’s a winner with you! Love the suggestion of subbing out the walnuts for pecans!
Carrie, thank you for this recipe – these are pretty darned awesome! On my second batch I made a couple of teeny subs – I don’t care for nuts in cookies, so I replaced them with a half cup of Skor chips, and before I put them in the oven I “finished” them with a touch of smoked sea salt on top. Omygoodness…!!! Reach around and give yourself a HUGE pat on the back for giving us such a winner!!! They’ll be made often, that I know 🙂
OMG, Skor chips? That is the PERFECT addition to these cookies! I bet the smoked sea salt gave them a fabulous flavor. I’m so happy you love them! <3
i wanted to make some bacon chocolate chip cookies that i could cut up and put in between a buttercream cake. do you think these would be good for that? or should i try a crispier recipe?
Ooooh, interesting idea! I would say that if you make sure they’re on the more well done side, it will probably be okay. How long will the cake sit assembled before being eaten? That’s the only concern I would have–the longer the cookies are in the buttercream, the softer they’ll get.
I’d love to hear how this endeavor works out!
I’m looking forward to making these but it seems like that between the butter and bacon fat, there’s a lot of oil in these. Do they come out greasy at all? Thank you
Never had a problem with them being greasy. The fat ratio matches the majority of chocolate chip cookies I make (and have recipes posted): 1 cup fat:2 1/4 cups flour. But thanks for asking! I hope you enjoy them!
I made the dough tonight to bake tomorrow for work. I used all butter no bacon fat. Cut bacon finely and rendered till crispy golden. My husband tried a dough ball ( he does this every time I make cookie ) and his expression went confused to happy. Lol. Will let you know how they are received at work
Haha! Not your average chocolate chip cookie!! Can’t wait to hear what your coworkers think of them!
I am late to this party but I’m making these now for a bake sale (later today!)
I’ve never made bacon chocolate chip cookies before and looked through many recipes before finding your’s. It looks like the right “chemistry” to me so here goes!
But since I don’t have walnuts, I’m using pecans.
Oh, how exciting!! I hope everyone enjoyed them!
They really did! One guy sort of turned up his nose at the idea until I gave him a little sample and then he was “OMG! I love how crispy they are. Next time, I’m going to try them with oatmeal and see how that affects the taste and texture.
I just made these today. They look just like your pictures. I was a little disappointed. They taste very good but I didn’t really taste the bacon or the cayenne pepper. I made the dough two days ahead of time and kept it in the fridge. I don’t think that should of had any effect on the flavor. Next time I will weigh the bacon after I try it and add a little more cayenne pepper.
I’m sorry that you were disappointed! The cayenne is subtle and gives a little twist to the flavor, but I always felt the bacon was pretty forward in flavor. I can’t see how keeping it in the fridge changed the flavor–I don’t think that’s the culprit. The recipe should be able to hold with more bacon, if you want to try that. Let me know what you think if you do try it again.
I made it as the recipe said, the first time. The second time I doubled the cayenne because I thought my cayenne was a little out dated and flat. I also added more bacon and I always use Wright cherry wood smoked bacon. I also made the dough and refrigerated it over night. I’ve even frozen it with excellent results. These are a big hit with my husband and his friends. Tonight I used Wright cowboy rub bacon it’s Smokey, spicy, sweet thick cut bacon and used the rendered bacon grease with the spices including annatto. It was a soft reddish orange color with amazing flavor. I think the secret is the good quality bacon and chocolate chips which for me is Wright bacon and Ghirardelli chocolate
Did you mean 1 cup of softened butter? Or just a half cup? Because it’s written as 1/2 c 8 Tablespoons in the recipe. I wasnt sure if you were just clarifying that a half cup is 8 tablespoons, or you were adding on the 8 T and just didnt combine them in the ingredients list?? Lol i’ve made these for the last couple years for christmas(and theyre delicious!!) but i cant for the life of me remember if i just went with a half cup or 1 cup XD
Before I changed to Jump to Recipe, the 8 Tbsp was in parentheses to clarify the 1/2 cup. Thanks for catching that.