What two things go together better than beer and bacon? Not many! I had been wanting to find a way to incorporate bacon into something baked for some time now. While pondering my options it hit me: chocolate chip cookies. I could break-up the cooked bacon into pieces and then cover them in chocolate and it would serve like chocolate chips in uniformity and flavor. Immersed in anticipation, I began to piece together the components.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups of granulated sugar

3/4 cup of packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of course sea salt

1/4 cup of Chocolate Porter or Stout beer (any kind will do)

2 large eggs

2 cups of chocolate chips or chocolate covered bacon and chocolate chips

1/2 cup of cocoa nibs

Directions:

1. Cook bacon and pat dry with paper towels and place in freezer. Bacon should be crispy and once in the freezer for 20 minutes easily breakable.

2. Melt dark chocolate (I used 72% cocoa) and set aside to cool slightly.

3. Get a cookie sheet and line with wax paper.

4. Take the bacon from the freezer and crumble into small pieces, and try and take out any fatty pieces and only use the meat pieces.

5. Put the bacon pieces and dunk in the dark chocolate and then place on wax paper and put in the freezer to set.

6. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour and baking soda in a bowl.

7. Beat butter and both sugars for 3 minutes on medium in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the eggs, beer and sea salt and mix until combined. Turn speed down to low and add flour mixture in about three additions and be careful to refrain from over-mixing. Turn off once just combined.

8. Put frozen chocolate bacon bits and additional chocolate chips and cocoa nibs into the cookie dough and mix. Take a cookie scoop or about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and drop about 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets with either a silpat or parchment paper and bake for about 20-30 minutes. Rotate once during the cooking process, and make sure to keep an eye on the cookies. The bottom of the oven might be hotter then the top, etc. Maybe I burned 6 cookies, just sayin’.

Result:

Deliciously delectable and indulgent cookies! These cookies spread like crazy because of the butter and create a light, crunchy, salty, chocolaty wonderful flavor and texture. It might just be something I feel, but a good chocolate chip cookie has this umami flavor that’s hard to put your finger on. Perhaps it’s childhood memories? Who knows.

The bacon is a great addition. The bacon adds the salty and savory notes to off-set the sweet and bitter chocolate flavors. The small pieces make it subtle and not over-powering either in texture and mouth-feel or in flavor. Let me know your thoughts!