Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

I can't say I'm much of a football fan (shocking I know from a girl who blogs about books and baked goods). I'm not anti-football, I'm just indifferent as to who throws a thing or kicks a thing or wins or loses or runs where on the field over an insanely stop-and-start 5-hour televised experience.

Football related snacks, however, are a completely different story! I will cheer for whomever's team of choice if there are ample snacks provided. And I'm happy to do some snack providing of my own.

Recently my roommates and I hosted a huge pre-football brunch. Chilaquiles, pancakes, eggs, cinnamon rolls, and bacon. So. Much. Bacon. As the crew settled into couches and chairs in a food-coma football daze, Steph and I decided that the time was finally right for a much-anticipated bacon chocolate chip cookie experience.

The bacon is candied!!!

But how much bacon is enough? How much is too much? Like the (mad) scientist we are, we decided to conduct some A-B testing.

The base recipe is compliments of Steph's recipe box (have I mentioned that I now live with another avid baker!?). We made half the recipe as "Medium Bacon" cookies -- meaning that they included ample candied bacon. The other half -- "Very Bacon" -- we took things to a whole other level and used bacon grease instead of butter (I KNOW), in addition to the candied bacon pieces.

We thought there would be a clear winner, but results were shockingly mixed! "They're chewy and crispy at the same time!" shouted one friend. "So much bacon," sighed another. "Just so much bacon."

I preferred the Very Bacon version, while there were others who preferred the Medium Bacon. We concluded that if you're going to eat multiple cookies at once then the Medium Bacon were the better choice, while the Very Bacon were more intense and thus more of a one-off eating experience.

I'll leave the recipe choice up to you. Either way, these are an excellent contribution to any party, football or otherwise.

Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 package (12 oz) bacon
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 2/3 cups whole or rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups (1 bag) chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup butter (OR 3/4 cup solid cooled bacon grease -- note that we had bacon grease reserved from our morning bacon experience)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

1. To candy the bacon: Lay bacon strips on a baking sheet with raised edges (so the grease doesn't ruin the inside of your oven). Mix maple syrup and brown sugar and brush over bacon. Bake at 350 degrees until crispy (20-ish minutes). Once bacon is cooled, use your hands to break them into little pieces. 
2. To powder the oats: Pulse the oats in a blender until coarsely ground.
3. To make the cookies: Mix sugars and butter (or bacon grease). 
4. Mix in egg and vanilla.
5. Mix in dry ingredients (dough will be very crumbly, you may need to use your hands).
6. Mix in bacon pieces and chocolate chips. 
7. Using your hands, form dough into 2-tablespoon sized balls and place on a baking sheet.
8. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. 
9. Cool and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Frittata

Though I'm a pretty die hard dessert-lover, I do actually cook real food on occasion. There are three important meals in my day: breakfast, dinner, and dessert (lunch = meh). And a satisfying dinner after a day of work and post-work run is sooooo good!

This frittata is an amalgamation of awesomeness, a combination of cheese and crispy bacon, a eggy symphony of sweet potatoes and spinach with a side of salad - all together, a delicious dish of dinner! 

A frittata is essentially a quiche sans crust (and you know how I feel about making crust). For this one I decided to up the ante by incorporating a "crust" of sweet potato discs, browned in bacon drippings. (Drool.)

Frittas are so easy - you can vary the ingredients depending on the season, and what you have in your fridge. Here's what I did:

Sweet Potato Frittata

- 1 lb bacon

- 1 onion, diced

- 6 eggs

- 1/2 cup milk

- 1 box frozen spinach (I think it's 1 lb), thawed and drained

- 1/2 lb asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces

- 8 oz feta cheese

- 2 sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch thick discs (enough to line the bottom of your pan/skillet)

- salt and pepper to taste

Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. Add asparagus and cook for 1 minute. Immediately drain asparagus in a colander and rinse with cold water (this will stop the cooking process and seal in the flavor). Set aside.

In a large skillet (I used non-stick, but whatever you have works), fry the bacon until crispy. Remove from pan onto paper towels. 

Turn the heat to medium. Add diced onion to bacon drippings and sauté one minute. Add sweet potato discs and cook for 3 minutes on each side (or until they get slightly browned and soft).

 In a large bowl whisk eggs and milk until completely blended. Whisk in spinach. Add about 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.

Crumble bacon and add to the egg mixture.

Preheat broiler on low and position rack in the top half of your oven.

Pour egg mixture over potatoes and sprinkle with feta cheese. Turn the heat to medium-low, and cook until set (about 10 minutes). 

Transfer pan to oven. Ideally, your pan should have a metal handle (pr removable rubber handle). If that is the case, go ahead and close the oven to complete the cooking process. If, like mine, your pan doesn't have a removable handle, keep the oven door open. 

Broil for about 3 minutes, or until top begins to brown. 

I made a salad of the remaining 1/2 lb of asparagus, red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, a few spare bacon bits, parmesan cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. 

I had some extra sweet potatoes, so I sprinkled them with parmesan cheese and baked them at 350* for 15 minutes. Yum!

The Weekend Report: Bacon Birthday Party

DC made a valiant attempt to kill me with Africa-style heat this weekend. But damnit, I will not let soaring temps destroy my fun!
First of all, I made the executive decision to get into "le football," because DC certainly does. They put up big screens in Dupont Circle, and sports bars had lines around the block. Not that I'm much of a soccer fan...but now I'm all about the World Cup!

I want an African team to win (shocking, I know), and the CS Monitor says that Ghana, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast are my best bets. I'm also supporting Honduras, for family reasons...so that's that. (To learn how the World Cup tournament works, go here.)

And then on Sunday, I went to a Bacon Birthday Party. I'm not even kidding. Brought to us by the same people who hosted the Chicken Bowl. (I've made the executive decision to become very good friends with these people. They have no choice.) 

Because anyone who goes out and buys a "baby-sized" hunk of pork belly, spends all week marinating it, then smokes it and throws a party with all things bacon is pretty freaking amazing. Am I right?!?!

Why, you may wonder? Well people are crazy about bacon. I'm a fan - I've had the bacon chocolate - but I'm nothing like some people out there. (Sister2 will die when she reads this. The girl loves two things: cheesecake and breakfast meat. Not together...though if you offered her both at the same time she wouldn't say no.)

So yesterday I had bacon-wrapped string beans, bacon-wrapped scallops, bacon potato salad, bacon sandwiches, bacon dip, candied bacon, and best of all, bacon dipped in chocolate. The bacon chocolate was to die for! Just take a piece of bacon, dip it in melted chocolate, sprinkle it with nuts, and pop it in the freezer. Sounds weird, but it was SOOOOO GOOD!

The hosts said that the bacon party is probably a one-time thing, just because it was so much work to prepare everything. I mean, all those bacon foods involve some major effort preparation-wise...but I think everyone really appreciated their efforts!

Each bite involved bacon is some form, in the best way possible. (Are your arteries clogging reading this? Don't worry, mine are just fine! And surprisingly my pants still fit...probably because after the Bacon Extravaganza I decided to walk home from Rosslyn...)

Anywhoozle, like I said, the bacon party was a sweet and savory, scrumptiously succulent smashing success. You know you're jealous. Or horrified (I'm looking at you, 6x6 and Jess).

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Bacon + Chocolate = Yum?

Go ahead, be appalled. That is what you think it is - a dark chocolate bacon bar - and I'm eating it. 

And crazier still, I'm enjoying it! Not that I'm a bacon hater, but there is just way too much hype online in the bacon department. (OMG - listen to the Bacon Song.) Sure it's good, but I really don't think that bacon is up to God's-Gift-to-Humanity status. 

Everything is better with bacon? Hardly. Would my Ginger Plum Upside Down Cake be improved by bacon? I seriously doubt it. 

That being said, I was a little hesitant when Boss #2 presented me with a Dark Bacon Bar.

Hmm...I tentatively broke off a corner...put it in my mouth...and "let the lust of salt and sweet coat [my] tongue" (woah there chocolate bar wrapper - trying to get friendly with me, are you?).

But I'm not going to lie, it was pretty freaking delicious! The bar is dark chocolate, with tiny bits of crisp salty bacon imbedded in it. It was definitely rich and decadent tasting - I imagine it was tricky to get the chocolate-bacon ratio correct - too much bacon would be BAD. But this bar gets it right. Just a hint of bacon makes the chocolate more complex, adding a layer of flavor and richness. 

So here I am, recommending a bacon chocolate bar. Seriously, even if you're not big into bacon, try this!

And dependent on the stance you take - bacon lover or bacon hater - you will either go out and purchase some of these products, or throw up a bit...

Baconnaise:

Bacon Vodka:

Here's a slideshow of the Most Bizarre Bacon Products. (Including a bacon bra, bacon mints, bacon ice cream, bacon martini...woah.)

Here's another blogger's list of the 11 Worst Bacon Products. Some I agree with (like Bacon Lube - omg I can't even handle the thought of that one!), but my delicious Bacon Chocolate is also on this list...I want to know if the blogger tried it!

To end on a happy note, I bet that Depraved Chili Rubbed Bacon Peanut Brittle is really yummy!