Desserts for Dudes: Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies with Candied Bacon and Pecans

Welcome to Desserts for Dudes month!!! 
Every June, I like to feature desserts that are especially created for the dudes.  Don't worry...gals can eat them, too.

 

We're kicking off this year with Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pig Candy.  That's candied bacon to you and me. 

These cookies have a double shot of bacon.  Yeah, baby.  It's pretty much a universal truth that dudes dig bacon.



Crispy edges, chewy bacon, crunchy pecans, sweet chocolate chips...

You'll want to start by reserving some bacon drippings/grease/fat.  My mom kept a coffee can of bacon grease under the sink.  For years, I (don't report me) poured my grease down the sink.  I know, I know!!!  I'm sorry!  Wrong on so many levels.

Now, I save my bacon grease and keep it in a jar in my fridge.  After I cook up some bacon and remove it from the pan, I let the fat cool a bit.  Then, you can pour it directly into the jar, or pour it through a coffee filter to strain out the bits.


Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies with Candied Bacon and Pecans

for the candied bacon and pecans:
bacon, about 6-8 slices
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup demerara or light brown sugar
pinch sea salt

for the cookies:
2 & 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt 
1/4 cup bacon grease (cooled and solidified)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 package milk chocolate chips
candied bacon & pecans

prepare the pig candy:

Cook the bacon in a skillet until cooked through, but still soft.  Drain on paper towels.  Reserve bacon drippings.  Wipe out the skillet.


Chop the bacon to make 1/2 cup. (Refrigerate any extras for another use.)  Add the chopped bacon, pecans, and 1/4 cup demerara or light brown sugar to the skillet.  Heat on medium-low, stirring often, until the sugar melts and coats the bacon and pecans, about 15 minutes.

Remove the bacon and nuts to drain on paper bags (I use lunch bags...they will stick to paper towels).  Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.  Set aside.

make the cookies:
Preheat oven to 350.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the bacon grease, butter, and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding the vanilla with the second egg.  Beat until combined.  Add the flour mixture in three additions, mixing on low.



Stir in the milk chocolate chips and reserved candied bacon and pecans.

Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until done.  The cookies can still be a little soft in the centers; they will firm up while cooling.  Cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

Alright, dudes. Here ya go.  Any recipe requests for this month?