Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies

Baking is supposed to be fun. Sure, sometimes its nice to make a fancy-schmancy souffles and multi-layer frosted sculptures, but sometimes? Sometimes you just want some peanut butter cookies. And some bacon. Together.

I saw these a while back on Joy the Baker, who is, if you aren’t familiar with her, one of the funniest bloggers ever. I have to admit that I waited for a while to make them because I really felt like I needed an excuse of sorts to bust ’em out. It just didn’t seem right to show up at work with a bag of meaty cookies. It did, however, seem oh-so-right to show up at the last BBQ of the summer with meat-enhanced peanuty goodness.

I’m already firmly in the bacon and syrup breakfast camp and I prefer peanut butter on my pancakes to anything else. Actually, if I’m being honest about it, I prefer peanut butter on almost anything-carrots, bananas, toast, pretzels, a spoon. Yes, I’m totally one of those straight-from-the-jar girls and god help me if a box of Wheat Thins and a jar of peanut butter appear in my apartment simultaneously. And you see, bacon makes everything better, even peanut butter…so really, I was done, hook, line, and sinker, when I saw this recipe.

These puppies are simple, quick, and made my kitchen smell divine. They’re basically just a simple PB cookie with a little chewy, meaty, hidden bonus. So if you’re looking for something fun to make, and you’re not cooking for a bunch of vegetarians, give these a shot. There’s nothing serious about these cookies; they’re as light-hearted as a cookie can be.

Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies

Adapted from Joy the Baker who adapted them from The Gourmet Cookbook. Makes about 18 cookies.

These are delicious the way they are, but I personally think they could use a little more bacony oomf. As a friend noted, there’s probably a fine line between not enough bacon and too much bacon when it comes to cookies. I’m willing to take that chance and next time will be dumping a little of that bacon grease directly in. Chocolate would also be a welcome addition.

1 c. all-natural smooth peanut butter
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 slices of bacon, cooked until crispy, cooled and chopped

• Preheat oven to 350° F
• With and electric mixer, combine PB and sugars in a medium bowl
• Add egg and baking soda and beat for another couple of minutes
• Stir in chopped bacon with a wooden spoon
• Roll dough into balls about the size of a large gum ball (a couple tablespoons of dough per ball)
• Roll dough balls in granulated sugar and place on greased cookie sheet
• For fatter cookies, bake as is (they will be very fat!); for flatter cookies, smoosh slightly with your hand before baking (I would suggest this)
• Bake for about 10 minutes or until slightly spread and a very light brown
• Let cool a few minutes before attempting to eat, otherwise they will crumble (believe me, I tried)