Bacon chocolate sable cookies

Yup, there's totally bacon in that cookie.

And she's at it again... this time with CHOCOLATE. 

For the cookies:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate
chips
12 strips high-quality uncured bacon, cooked until crisp and drained of fat

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together. Set aside.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the dry ingredients, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don't be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and bacon, and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you've frozen the dough, you needn't defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Using a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you're cutting them — don't be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won't look done, nor will they be firm, but that's just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.a

Recipe from Dorie Greenspan

Maple bacon cupcakes

I used to be a vegetarian. Then every time I saw chicken, my mouth watered. So I started eating organic, grass-fed chicken. So I ate it. Then in a drunken late-night food run, my friends and I went to Burger King. There in the glow of the backlit drive-through menu, the chicken nuggets called out my name. It was all downhill from there. I eat chicken all the time now. I can't help it, it's just so tasty and nutritious.

Then how did I start eating bacon again? I have to say, it was a moral challenge to abandon my previous eating habits, as I've always been very conscious of the origins of my food, especially meat. Coupled with the fact that I want to have a pet pig when I grow up, the transition to bacon was pretty hard for me.

OK, so it wasn't that hard. I was at my friend's house and her mother brought out a plate of bacon with our breakfast. As it sat there on the table, I thought to myself, "So you've done chicken, turkey... you may as well go all the way. Eat the bacon." And with that, I picked up a piece and ate it. And it was fucking phenomenal. Nearly five minutes later I was concocting bacon recipes in my head. I had seen a few recipes out there for bacon cupcakes, but none that seemed to use enough bacon fat. A tablespoon? Come on. How are you supposed to taste that?

So today I achieved culinary excellence. I put that delicious bacon in a cupcake, and not only did it come out well, but I want to say it's the best recipe I've ever made up.

If this doesn't get me a husband, I don't know what will.

For the cupcakes:

12 strips high-quality uncured bacon, and reserve 1/2 cup bacon drippings
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup maple syrup (REAL maple syrup. None of that Aunt Jemima crap)
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

For the frosting:

1/2 cup butter
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup maple syrup (see note above)

Begin by cooking the bacon in a frying pan to desired level of crispiness. Reserve all drippings from cooking, and put to solidify in the fridge. Allow bacon to cool on a plate, then, using cooking scissors, cut 7 of the strips into small bits, about the size of small peas (I cut the strips in half, then snipped them up from there). Cut the remaining 5 strips into quarters (these will go on the top of the cupcakes). Set everything aside.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, cream the butter, solidified bacon drippings, sugar, and maple syrup. Then add the egg and milk. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in thirds. Finally, using a spatula, fold in the reserved bacon bits.

Pour the batter into lined cupcake molds. Bake for ~30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the frosting. Cream the butter, then add the vanilla and maple syrup. Lastly add in the confectioner's sugar. Beat on medium speed until the frosting looks light and airy, about 2 minutes.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, spoon the frosting into a ziplock bag. Cut a 1 centimeter slit in the corner of the bag. Starting in the center of the cupcake, pipe the frosting in a spiral out to the edge of the cupcakes. Top each cupcake with a quarter strip of bacon. Enjoy!

Recipe by me.