Maple Bacon Cookies

Nothing like friends sharing a recipe with you! My running friend, Sarah, (who has a lovely blog y'all should check out: The ImaginariYUM) posted this recipe to my facebook page last week. Earlier that day I was thinking about the next type of cookie I should bake. It was like Sarah KNEW what I was thinking. (Although, I'm thinking about cookies A LOT, so it was a good guess.)

 

My boyfriend and I had a chili cook-off to attend on Saturday. So while he was busy making his chili, I was busy whipping up these cookies. His kitchen was a hotbed of activity and yumminess.

 

I really enjoyed baking the bacon for this recipe. Yes. BAKING the bacon. Brushing maple syrup over bacon strips that were arranged on a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet was weirdly theruputic. It took longer for the bacon to cook in the oven than the recipe said, but after 35 minutes, it was perfect. The dough of the cookie is very sweet with all the maple syrup and brown sugar that was called for,  but the addition of salty bacon complimented it so well. It's like pancakes and bacon made love and birthed this cookie. People at the chili cook-off said the cookies were delicious and that they wished they had a cup of coffee to go with it.

 

Cookie Success! (Oh, and my boyfriend got first place in the cook-off. Chili Success! Maybe we should open up a restaurant!)

Maple Bacon Cookies recipe can be found here: refinery29

Bake well and prosper!

Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Scones

I have arrived back in NYC! It's so wonderful to be back in the city I love!

A couple of my friends said they kept my eye on me in CO by following this blog and were upset I didn't post more. Sorry! I was busy!

And now I'm busy as well. (What's NYC without a busy life?) For instance, I've had these photos ready for days but had no time to write the blog!

I made these scones for opening night of Magic Flute in CO. The conductor was British and I was very anxious about him approving them. Of course, they're not your mother's scones... He loved them and so did the tenor who was craving scones for weeks while being out in CO. Ha!
I was happy these were a hit. They sound impressive and were!

Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Scones (adapted from and now for something completely delicious)

Makes 4 large, 8 regular scones, and 16+ mini
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
1/2 cup buttermilk, cold
1 egg
4 strips of maple bacon
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave nectar
1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Cook the bacon in a frying pan over medium heat. Let cool on paper towels to absorb the grease, then cut into small pieces.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or your fingers until butter is the size of small peas. Add the buttermilk and stir until the mixture just starts to come together. Add the bacon pieces and chocolate chips and use yours hands to incorporate them into the dough and bring it together into a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into a rough square shape about 1 inch thick. Cut the dough into 4 large scones, or 8 smaller scones. For mini scones you will need to cut and fold many times. Place the scones about 2 inches apart on the prepared sheet pan and brush tops with egg wash.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and milk and stir until smooth. Add additional milk if needed to achieve the right consistency. Drizzle onto the cooled scones and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Scones will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Bake well and prosper!

Buttermilk Bacon Pralines

I made these delicious treats almost two months ago for a picnic I had in Central Park. It was a "going away for the summer" gathering I had. I brought my fancy camera and started snapping photos before people ate them all and then realized I forgot to put my camera card back in my camera! So, I tried to grab some photos via my iPhone, but I started eating these instead of concentrating on the pictures.

(iPhone Photo from Picnic)

Thankfully, I saved a couple at my house and took more photos later.

Fun thing about the picnic is that one of my friends is the sister of the gal who writes the blog I got this recipe from. How fun is that?

And a fun thing about this recipe is that it was my first time using a candy thermometer. Super fun!

(Hmmmm...how many times can I use the word fun in this post? Fun fun fun!)

Buttermilk Bacon Pralines (from Framed Cooks)

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 teaspoon orange zest (Erika's Extras: I used a little more orange zest and it was strong, but yummy!)

4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

Directions

1. In a heavy deep saucepan, combine the sugars, the buttermilk, corn syrup, baking soda and salt. Cook slowly over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until the mixture reaches 235 on a candy thermometer.2. Remove from heat and add butter, vanilla, pecans, orange zest and bacon and beat with a wooden spoon until creamy. Be very careful - this stuff is HOT.3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a silicone mat or buttered parchment paper. Let stand for 30 minutes or until cool and firm.

Bake well and prosper!