Chocolate and bacon...seriously?

Ruhaan had been egging me for days to make cookies so finally, I mustered the courage to bake some.  Then I thought, it can’t be an ordinary cookie and suddenly I remembered the chocolate cookies with bacon that I got to try a few weeks back from the Fairmont which the chef had so kindly made for me. At first I was really hesitant to try it but when I did….. I was sooo amazed with the blend of flavors that emanated from a single cookie that I totally forgot to ask him for the recipe…not that I expected him to share his secret with me! J

So after scouring the internet for the best recipes, I settled on this one below, I’ve altered it to suit ingredients I could get locally.  You also have to use bacon with a higher fat content, what they normally call streaky bacon.

Double Chocolate Bacon Cookies

Ingredients:

1 small pack streaky bacon, chopped (I used Purefoods honey-cured pork bacon)

 1 1/2 cups white sugar

 1 cup softened butter

 2 eggs

 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 2 cups all-purpose flour

 2/3 cup cocoa powder

 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

 1/4 teaspoon salt

 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks (I used Hershey’s)

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 175 degrees C. 
2. Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble.
3. Beat the sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer in a large bowl until fluffy and smooth.
4. Stir in flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix in the chocolate chips and bacon.
5. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. If you want bigger cookies, use an ice cream scoop like i did.
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Let stand 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
7. Store in airtight container or jar for up to 5 days (but I doubt they will last that long) 

Needless to say, my picky 8 year old absolutely loved it and ate 3 cookies instantly!  I guess that the best compliment I can get! J