Welcome to my very first blog post (ever!) As this baking adventure is all about testing my creative skills, challenging me to create new things and embracing new taste sensations, I decided to make these Bacon & Chocolate Chip Cookies from the fabulous I Am A Food Blog (Stephanie Le's website is very cool and as well as having amazing food photography, she has so many fun recipes to try).
Now I'm not a savoury and sweet kind of girl (I mean, I like my pancakes with maple syrup but I'm just not that sure about the bacon on the side bit) although I liked the sound of trying a new tasting cookie - and as I was going to my very first coffee morning of the year, what better opportunity than gifting some of these cookies? What I love about cookies is being able to prepare the dough the day before and then get them out of the fridge the morning of, all ready to go on their baking trays, and you have freshly baked yummy treats in no time. So the verdict? Well, I just loved them and everyone else thought they were pretty scrummy too (especially the little bits of rock salt on top of a sweet cookie and the salty bacon throughout). Pretty darn good. And I will DEFINITELY be making them again. So I think that qualifies as a very successful first official bake...and coffee morning :)
Bacon and Chocolate Chip Cookies
This is taken from I Am A Food Blog but I've added some extra info that will help me next time I make them. Stephanie makes 9 cookies out of the dough and these are huge so next time I may split this into 18 dough balls and cook them for less time.
Ingredients
1 ¾ CUPS PLAIN FLOUR
½ TSP BAKING SODA
¾ TSP BAKING POWDER
145g BUTTER AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
115g CASTER SUGAR
½ CUP + 1 TBSP SUGAR
½ CUP + 2 TBSP BROWN SUGAR
1 EGG
1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
½ CUP DARK CHOCOLATE CHIPS
6 SLICES ENGLIGH BACON, FINELY CHOPPED & PAN-FRIED UNTIL CRISPY & DRAINED ON PAPER TOWER (THIS MAKES AROUND A ½ CUP OF BACON BITS)
SEA SALT
Method
- Sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder into a bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well, ensuring you scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Now add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Drop in the chocolate and bacon and mix through until evenly distributed. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
- The evening before baking, line a baking tray with parchment paper and divide the mixture into 9 balls and then pop them back into the fridge until ready to bake.
- When ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees and sprinkle the dough balls with a little sea salt. Bake for around 18-20 minutes until the cookies are golden brown but still soft.
- Cool on their baking tray for 10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Then – ENJOY!