Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies

So this is the time of year for baking, and you know what my favorite thing to bake is? Chocolate Chip Cookies. However, lately I noticed that my chocolate chip cookies were missing something. You know what they were missing? BACON. You just have to trust me on this one and dive in and try them.These cookies are really soft, and to tell you the truth, if you are scared of the bacon you can leave it out, although I wouldn't recommend it!

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar (for the cookies)
2 cups brown sugar (for the bacon)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 packages worth of caramelized bacon (see directions below) (also, when I made these with the bacon I only used one package of bacon, still good, but it totally needed more bacon. Two packages worth should be perfect!)

First you need to caramelize the bacon. Preheat your oven to 400°F.

Grab a rimmed baking sheet and a wire rack or a broiling pan. Line the baking sheet or the bottom of the broiling pan with foil. You’re going to place the bacon on the wire rack or the top of the broiling pan so all the fat drips away.

Put your brown sugar onto a plate or into some kind of small container with a rim. Toss the bacon in the brown sugar so its fully coated and place it on the rack or broiling pan. You can press more brown sugar into the bacon once its on the rack if you so desire.

Throw the whole thing into the oven and bake it for 15-20 minutes (turning half way), or until the sugar is melted and the bacon is fairly crispy. Then chop up the bacon into little chunks for the cookies.

Now that your bacon is prepared, time to make the cookies!

Lower oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside. As a side note, if you don't have a sifter you can whisk together the baking soda and flour. You just want to make sure the two are blended together because you will get a better cookie.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla.

Blend in the flour mixture about a cup at a time. Again, you'll get a better cookie if you slowly blend in the ingredients.

Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and bacon. Now the dough is going to really thick at this point, so don't be afraid to get in their with your hands and stir. your dough should look like this when done.

Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown. Put them on a rack to cool and enjoy!

This makes a huge batch of cookies, however it allows you to make large cookies or lots of cookies which is nice.When I made them I got about 55 medium sized cookies.

Also, if you are vegan or vegetarian... you can leave out the bacon, or you can use bacon bits since it's not made with any animal product. you can also substitute any of the ingredients to fit your dietary needs. Isn't baking fun!


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