Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
After I made those disappointing Bacon Bourbon Brownies, I couldn’t get the thought of a bacon-ey dessert out of my head. Luckily there are plenty of bacon filled desserts out there on the internet. I was so happy when I took my first bite of these cookies. The bacon lends a smokey saltiness that isn’t too overpowering but very well appreciated.
I took these cookies to work and had fun listening to people’s reaction when they saw the label on the ziplock bag. Some people were instantly turned off by the idea of bacon in a cookie. Others were intrigued and a few of them didn’t believe there was actually bacon in them until they took a bite.
I chopped the bacon pretty small so you don’t see huge chunks of bacon. I wanted them to be about the same size as a chocolate chip and I think that size worked well. You could definitely use larger chunks to get more of a wow-factor just by looking at the cookies.
Two Years Ago: Spicy Sweet Pretzel Party Mix
Three Years Ago: Alton Brown’s Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Four Years Ago: Chocolate Cupcakes and Stuffed Chicken Burgers
Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bacon in chocolate chip cookies?!? It's seriously delicious.
Yield: 4 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
For the candied Bacon
6 slices thick-cut bacon
1/2 cup brown sugar
For the Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups chocolate chips
Directions:
For the Bacon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place bacon in a single layer on a foil lined sheet.
Sprinkle brown sugar on top of bacon strips. Bake for 18-25 minutes or until crispy, making sure to turn bacon over after 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack for cooling. Once bacon has cooled chop it finely.
For the Cookies
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
Sift flour and baking soda.
In a medium bowl, cream butter with the white and brown sugar. Add vanilla, egg, and egg yolk to the bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add flour mixture and mix well.
Add diced candied bacon and chocolate chips and stir until just combined.
Place tablespoon sized balls of dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes or until edges are brown. Remove from oven and let cookies sit on the pan for a couple of minutes before placing on a wire rack.
Recipe from Tablespoon, as seen on Fake Ginger
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Aren’t they the best? They’re so addicting. I’ve actually starting using the same ingredients, but mixing them like a more traditional chocolate chip cookie (i.e., softened butter instead of melted), because I like the dough better with softened butter. The baked cookies were just as good. Best of both worlds!
These look gorgeous. Don’t you just love AB??? 🙂
The cookies look great. I love AB too..he’s such a dork (in a good way).
I love the ATK/CI Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. I will have to try these to see what I think. I remember seeing that the recipes looked similar so I am sure I will love them.
Another AB lover here. My husband gives me a hard time about my DVR list with him but loves it when I give him a fun tidbit or cook him something from AB.
I completely agree CoCo. Hubby does the same thing. I sometimes even watch episodes I’ve seen before! Hubby doesn’t like to admit it, but he loves AB too. Sometimes he’ll be the one saying “AB says to do this…”
They look SO good!! I am a sucker for a chewy chocolate chip cookie. Although, I must side with your hubby – I prefer mine with just a bit of chocolate.
How much is a stick of butter? I’m not in the US and have never come across this measurement before.
Sorry about that Naomi – 1 stick of butter = 8 Tbsp. Does that help?
this is very similar to the ccc recipe i use, but anything that makes it chewier is good in my books! i will have to keep this one in mind 🙂
Yes Jen, thank you!
Yum! I will definitely be trying these. I always chill my cookie dough too usually because I’m too busy with 3 little ones but I also read that article in the NY times awhile ago and I felt like I deserved a nice big pat on the back for always doing the 24hour chill 🙂 Great post and beautiful cookies!
I love Alton Brown because of his scientific approach to cooking and baking. I’ve been baking “The Chewy” for years. One thing I do differently: Before chilling the dough, I scoop it into balls. This makes the process much easier. Sometimes I freeze the balls for baking later. After I place the balls on parchment, I carefully place a few extra chocolate morsels on top, pointy side up. This extra step produces picture-perfect cookies every time.
The Chewy is my go to recipe for cookies. I make a few alterations, occasionally, such as substituting 1/4 of the brown sugar with dark brown sugar. I bake small portions in mini muffin tins; one batch makes 48 cookie bites that are super chewy and the perfect size bite. I’ve made them every year for Christmas gifts for a few years now.