Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

As I have stated in the past, I am not a vegan.  I prefer vegan baking due to the absence of eggs, however, I do eat cheese, certain meats, etc.  Sometimes an idea strikes that is not vegan; this was one of those times.  I was watching Masterchef and suddenly felt inspired to try out bacon chocolate chip cookies.  Tons of people love bacon and tons of people love chocolate chip cookies.  It sounded like a match made in heaven to me!  I know this recipe has been done many times before, so this idea is not my own.

• Ingredients:
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter at room temp. (I used Earth Balance vegan margarine since that’s all I had in the house)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. rum (you can also use maple extract, but that’s hard to find)
• 1/3 cup cooked, chopped bacon (I used Hormel bacon bits that you typically put in salad)
• 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (as always, I stuck with Ghiradelli)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
4. Beat butter, brown sugar, and white sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.
5. Add 1 egg to the butter/sugar mixture, beat until blended.
6. Add the second egg, vanilla, and rum (or maple).  Beat until blended and fluffy.
7. Stir in the flour mixture a little at a time until combined.
8. Stir in bacon and chocolate chips.
9. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the cookie sheets.
10. Cook until golden brown around the edges, around 10-12 minutes (my top rack took 10 minutes, my bottom rack surprisingly took longer, closer to 12 minutes).
11. Transfer to cooling racks and allow them to cool.  Makes around 24 cookies (LARGE cookies! These came out huge!).

Here’s the batter, which was super yummy btw:

And the finished product.  Yes, they are that big:

I’m very proud of these.  Yes, they’re not exactly round like a cookie typically is but they taste fantastic.  There’s just a hint of bacon flavor, so it’s not overpowering.