Peanut Butter & Bacon Cookies

Peanut butter. Bacon. Many people whom I know loooove both of these food items. But have they ever put the two together?!? Probably not. A few weeks ago I decided to make these cookies for a coworker's birthday. This particular coworker really has a thing for bacon. And peanut butter? Well, doesn't everyone have a thing for peanut butter (if you're not allergic, of course)?? Right. So if you like both bacon and peanut butter, chances are you'll like them together. And this cookie is proof that it's possible!

I found this recipe on an amazing food blog, Joy the Baker. If you've never checked out this blog, you must. It's wonderful! 

Ingredients:

-1 cup peanut butter

-1 cup sugar (1/2 white sugar, 1/2 brown sugar)

-1 egg

-1 tsp baking soda

-6 slices of bacon, cooked, cooled and diced

(I only had 4 strips of bacon when I made this)

(notice that these cookies are gluten free!)

Instructions:

Cook the bacon using your preferred method. Let cool on paper towels and once cooled completely, slice/dice/crumble the bacon into small pieces. My four strips of bacon equaled about 1/2 cup of bacon.

Grease cookie sheets and preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixer, combine the peanut butter and both sugars until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and baking soda, mixing again for about 2 minutes until well combined. Fold in the cooked bacon. Roll the dough into large walnut-sized balls and place on cookie sheet. If you'd like, roll each ball of dough in granulated sugar before placing it on cookie sheet. Also if you'd like, use a fork to make a criss cross pattern on each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool on a cooling rack. Or, eat them while they're still warm. :)

These cookies were quite yummy! They were a bit on the crumbly side as far as peanut butter cookies go - but it's definitely a good crumbly, I promise. The bacon flavor was subtle. If you're looking for a stronger bacon flavor, I'd recommend maybe adding more like 3/4 cup of bacon rather than 1/2 cup. But I personally enjoyed the level of "bacon-ness" in these cookies.

All in all, these were a winner! The sweet and salty combo was terrific. This was a fun, new recipe to give a shot. I have no regrets at all about trying this one. ;-)