Brown Butter, Bacon & Chocolate Chip Cookies. You’re Welcome.

This is a fantastic chocolate chip cookie recipe, elevated only by the addition of the carniverous ones' greatest companion - the bacon.

How do you improve upon an already amazing Chocolate Chip Cookie?  You brown the butter and add bacon to it: Brown Butter, Bacon & Chocolate Chip Cookies.  And, yes, these are spectacular!

I have been trying to bake these cookies for weeks but bacon just can’t seem to survive in my household.  There’s always a salad to be sprinkled or a chicken to be wrapped and once it comes from the oven (all crispy and spectacular, house full of that fresh bacon aroma) it almost always falls victim to snacking.  I actually managed to get a cup of shredded, crispy goodness into the cookie batter last night and so glad I did.  This morning I was stuck in a dentist chair for hours, followed by some important errands to run.  By the time I came bursting through the door, around 1pm, I was starving!  Hard to say if the puddles of drool on my kitchen floor are from my freezing finally wearing off or these chocolate & bacon cookies being devoured.

Note: This may be the only time I don’t recommend farmer’s bacon in a recipe.  You want your bacon to be thin cuts, no outer skin and baked to a crispy crunch (I recommend laying strips flat on to parchment paper on a baking sheet and baking at 375° for about 15 minutes).

Brown Butter, Bacon & Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chops (I like Ghirardelli 60% cacao)
• 1 cup bacon that’s been fried until crispy and diced into roughly 1/4″ pieces

Brown butter, also known as beurre noisette, is made by cooking butter long enough to turn the milk solids and salt particles brown while cooking out any water present. It has a more complex flavor than melted or clarified butter. It adds a deep, nutty flavour.

Adjust your oven rack so it’s in the middle position.  Pre-heat to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl and set aside.

Heat 10 tablespoons of butter in a 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted.  Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly.  Watch this carefully – butter can go from brown to burned very quickly.  When butter is dark-golden brown and has a nutty aroma, remove from heat and immediately transfer to a heatproof bowl.  Stir the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into hot butter until melted.

Add granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until completely mixed.  Add egg and egg yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth and there are no lumps of sugar remaining.

Let sugar/egg/butter mixture stand for a few minutes.  Then whisk again for 30 seconds.  Do this several times – you want to make sure that the sugar has “melted” into the liquid.  When ready, mixture will be smooth, thick and shiny.

Using wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips and bacon pieces.  Don’t over-mix but make sure no flour pockets remain.

Using a teaspoon, place a heaping teaspoon of cookie dough on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I get about 14 on a baking sheet.  Bake for 10-14 minutes (my oven takes 11 minutes) until cookies are golden-brown and set along the edges but the middle is still soft.  Remove from oven and set baking sheet on a wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes.  Enjoy. xo

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