Thank goodness I tried to play around with this cookie recipe late last week. B.O.B. Bob informed me on Friday that we had been invited to a pig roast on his high school friend’s farm, and we needed to take a dessert or side dish with us. I had planned on sending some of these cookies to my brother Matt, so he was a little bit gloomy when I had to tell him that he wasn’t getting any of the bacon cookies. He’s probably going to be even more upset when he finds out that Jimmie, my neighbor’s son, and referred to by some as my boyfriend, was my taste-tester last week. I gave him an entire plate of cookies, before I decided to add a maple glaze on top of them. (I’m not sure a college age boy is the best taste-tester, considering I’m pretty sure Jimmie would eat just about anything, especially if it was free or homemade.) Anyway, at least I didn’t have to worry about making a dessert or side dish for the pig roast at the last minute. Spending a rainy evening on Nina’s farm was truly a wonderful experience. I’m so glad B.O.B. Bob and I had the chance to go and spend time with his old friends for the evening. The farm animals triggered so many memories of my childhood, and the evening ended with snuggles from the sweetest little kitten. Since the plate of cookies was completely gone before we left, I’m thinking they couldn’t have been too terrible.
Ingredients:
Cookies:
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
- 2 Eggs, Room Temperature
- 1 Teaspoon Maple Extract
- 2 Tablespoons Bourbon
- 2 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 Cups Pecan Pieces or 1 (8-oz.) Bag of Trader Joe’s Unsalted Dry Toasted Pecan Pieces
- 1/2 Cup Crispy Cooked and Finely Diced Bacon (6 Pieces of Smithfield Thick Cut Bacon)
Maple Glaze:
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 3 Tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup
- 1 Teaspoon Maple Extract
- 1 Tablespoon Hot Water
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream butter and sugars for 2 minutes at medium speed.
- Add the eggs and mix for 1 minute.
- Add maple extract and bourbon and mix for 1 minute.
- Sift flour, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl, and then add dry ingredients slowly into the wet ingredients at low speed, just until combined.
- Add the pecan pieces and bacon to the batter, and mix well with a spatula.
- Use a cookie scoop to spoon dough onto a Silpat or parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Dough will spread, so you should only put 12 cookies on the sheet at a time.
- Bake cookies for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Allow cookies to cool on a baking rack.
- Mix together all maple glaze ingredients.
- Pour into a Ziploc bag, snipping a tiny bit of the end off.
- Pipe glaze onto the cookies.
- Allow glaze to set several hours, before placing cookies into an airtight container for storage.
Suggestions:
- Don’t bother using expensive bourbon in this recipe, save the good stuff for drinking. I used Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
- I personally detest using “fake ingredients”, if you feel the same way, you can order Pure Maple Extract online, instead of using imitation. Most grocery stores only carry the imitation.
- Use high quality bacon in this recipe, one that does not contain a high fat content.
Improvements:
- Chocolate chips? Just not too many of them, this cookie is already sweet on its own.
- Try using Apple Cider Glaze in place of the Maple Glaze.
While I was busy baking cookies, Brenna tried to catch birds through the window.
Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck
-Colleen
