Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ah, bacon. Is there anything like it in the whole world? It makes everything better. Even brussels sprouts! (Especially brussels sprouts!) The smell of frying bacon makes any morning feel like a holiday. I have had a serious aversion to anything meat-related while the boys were sick (all better now!!) and the only protein I could eat was bacon. LOTS of bacon. It's just one of those things. People either adore it or hate it. Have you every met anyone who could just "take or leave" bacon?? I sure haven't!! Kind of like these cookies. I will be honest, not everyone who tried them liked them. But those who did, RAVED. If you're a salty-sweet fan, if you're a bacon-and-chocolate fan, you've got to try these cookies. 

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Printable Recipe

8 slices center cut thick bacon
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tb pure vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 365 degrees. Place bacon in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 18-25 minutes or until crispy, flipping the bacon after 10 minutes.

Remove bacon from the oven and place on a wire rack for cooling. Once bacon has cooled chop it into chunks and set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. Cream butter with the sugars until fluffy. Add vanilla, egg, and egg yolk to the bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add flour mixture and mix until combined. Add diced bacon and chocolate chips and stir until just combined.
Roll dough into balls, about the size of a walnut, and place on a greased/parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cookies sit on the pan for a couple of minutes before placing on a wire rack.

I wish I had chopped my bacon into larger pieces so you could see it better. Take my advice and leave nice big coarse chunks in there. The recipe that inspired me candied the bacon, but my Dad and the Geologist agreed that candying the bacon lost the true bacon flavor, so I skipped it in the next batch. And oh baby were they good!! (If you want to try candying the bacon, just sprinkle a few tablespoons of brown sugar on the bacon before cooking it)

Rich dark sweet chocolate, salty smokey bacon, witch just about the best cookie dough to back them up, these cookies are crazy delicious!! They're best eaten warm, so either chow down right out of the oven, or pop leftovers in the microwave for a few seconds.

Just look at all those gorgeous bits of bacon next to warm and melty chocolate!! This is an epic cookie, my friends!!