peanut butter bacon chocolate chip cookies

 

I try to be a good shiksa. I really do. But then there are days I'm a bad shiksa, but a good sister. See, yesterday was Yom Kippur, so Jon and I took the day off work to atone. Really, though, Jon took the day off to atone and, because I cannot sit still, I did a lot of laundry and baking. And I baked the equivalent of your 3-o'clock-in-the-morning-pickles-and-ice-cream run: peanut butter bacon chocolate chip cookies. 

See, I came across this recipe and had a similar reaction to Joey's eating Rachel's trifle on Friends: "Peanut butter? Good. Chocolate chips? Good. Bacon? Gooooooood." The only problem was I didn't have peanut butter. So I sent Jon--my fasting Jewish husband--to the store, right around lunch. Oops. And then I fried up bacon. Double oops. Before baking cookies, which made the house smell amazingggg. Oh dear ... 

Well, like I said: Terrible shiksa, terrific sister. That's because my brother Martin will reap the benefits of yesterday's baking. It is, after all, that perfect time of year to receive a care package while away at college--in the thick of classes, around the first rounds of exams, while your brain may still be on summer break. I remember that well. 

I ever so slightly adapted a recipe found on Butter Me Up, Brooklyn!, one of my favorite cooking blogs.

Ingredients:

- 1/4 c. butter, softened
- 2/3 c. smooth peanut butter
- 1/2 c. brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 c. flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 T milk (I used whole milk)
-  1/2 c. dark chocolate chips
- 4 slices cooked bacon, cooled and chopped into small bits
- 1/2 c. sugar, for rolling

 

Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside. Combine butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg in a medium bowl. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Add dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture until combined, then add milk and stir until smooth. Add chocolate chips and chopped bacon, and mix until combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for an hour or two. This will make sure the salty-salty bacon really ekes into the sugary-nutty dough.

(Pssst: Don't you love all the Oktoberfest beers I'm hoarding for post-delivery. I do.)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Using a spoon, drop one ball at a time into the sugar. Roll around so it is evenly covered and place on the prepared sheet. Press down lightly on the top of each cookie with the tines of a fork. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the middle is just set and the edges are slightly brown. Let cool on the sheet for several minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Most important step: Be sure to sample a few in front of your poor, fasting husband before mailing to your brother in college :) Oh, and be sure to include a pair of fun holiday boxers, too, because sometimes the only thing better than homemade cookies in the mail is being able to put off laundry one more day. Enjoy, Martin!

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