Oh, bacon, what are we going to do with you. (Besides the obvious. Get in mah belly, you tasty morsel of porky goodness!)
Though its deliciousness has never been in question, bacon has ridden the popularity roller coaster and shrieked through the loop-de-loop of trendy foodstuffs more than once over the past 15+ years. For a while, bacon was found everywhere you’d least expect it: in chocolate bars, ice cream, bacon-infused vodka. Bacon-wrapped turkey, bacon-wrapped hot dogs, deep-fried bacon. Bacon hats, bacon underpants, bacon tattoos. Everywhere all the time. Bacon Festivals sprang up in many places (with EMTs on standby no doubt – good event management protocol in any case, but maybe especially so here?)
Though its deliciousness has never been in question, bacon has ridden the popularity roller coaster and shrieked through the loop-de-loop of trendy foodstuffs more than once over the past 15+ years. For a while, bacon was found everywhere you’d least expect it: in chocolate bars, ice cream, bacon-infused vodka. Bacon-wrapped turkey, bacon-wrapped hot dogs, deep-fried bacon. Bacon hats, bacon underpants, bacon tattoos. Everywhere all the time. Bacon Festivals sprang up in many places (with EMTs on standby no doubt – good event management protocol in any case, but maybe especially so here?)
Whet your appetite with these Sweet Sound Bites as you read on. If you'd like to learn more about the musicians click the names to visit their websites -- Anna Vogelzang + L'anarchiste
Bacon’s tides started to turn in the late 2000s as its wow-factor as a surprise ingredient or star menu item began to diminish. Still delicious, still large and in charge in the marketplace, still showing up in candy, but less hip. More average.
And now I wonder if bacon’s fortunes are turning once again. Atop the best-sellers list at Chicago’s trendy doughnut joints (Do-Rite Donuts, Glazed and Infused, Doughnut Vault) is maple-bacon. Whether it’s eaten ironically, in earnest, or in defiance of the findings of Zagat’s 2015 National Dining Trends Survey which claims that bacon is finally “over” (so is kale, according to the same survey), I think we all know that bacon is here to stay, and I say “Pull up a chair, old friend!”
So when I ran across a recipe for Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip-Bacon Cookies in Sweet, a cookbook by Food Network Magazine, I knew it was finally time to try my hand at homemade bacon-in-sweets alchemy. Click to embiggen the pictures and read the captions.
And now I wonder if bacon’s fortunes are turning once again. Atop the best-sellers list at Chicago’s trendy doughnut joints (Do-Rite Donuts, Glazed and Infused, Doughnut Vault) is maple-bacon. Whether it’s eaten ironically, in earnest, or in defiance of the findings of Zagat’s 2015 National Dining Trends Survey which claims that bacon is finally “over” (so is kale, according to the same survey), I think we all know that bacon is here to stay, and I say “Pull up a chair, old friend!”
So when I ran across a recipe for Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip-Bacon Cookies in Sweet, a cookbook by Food Network Magazine, I knew it was finally time to try my hand at homemade bacon-in-sweets alchemy. Click to embiggen the pictures and read the captions.
It didn’t work out so well. It took way more time than a simple batch of cookies should -- potschke-ing with the bacon to remove the fatty bits, hand-pressing the chocolate chips and bacon bits on top, etc. – which might have been worth it had the end result been knock-your-socks off delicious. And the cookies were in fact delicious, but not because of the bacon and chocolate add-ins, no, it was the addition of 2 simple spices that make this story worth sharing with you.
A pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of chili powder (chipotle or ancho preferred) added to the flour mixture gave the cookies a depth of flavor that elevated the whole endeavor to a new plateau. The end result did not taste like either of those two ingredients and they certainly weren’t spicy, but there was a little sump’n sump’n that made these the best PB cookies I’ve had in a long time.
So my advice to you is skip the bacon, skip the chocolate, take your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe and add just a little spice. If you don’t already have a go-to recipe, here are three excellent options from Sally’s Baking Addiction, Martha Stewart , and Simply Recipes.
A pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of chili powder (chipotle or ancho preferred) added to the flour mixture gave the cookies a depth of flavor that elevated the whole endeavor to a new plateau. The end result did not taste like either of those two ingredients and they certainly weren’t spicy, but there was a little sump’n sump’n that made these the best PB cookies I’ve had in a long time.
So my advice to you is skip the bacon, skip the chocolate, take your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe and add just a little spice. If you don’t already have a go-to recipe, here are three excellent options from Sally’s Baking Addiction, Martha Stewart , and Simply Recipes.
Image: Raymond Bryson
Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe it’s time to savor a bacon-flavored after-dinner mint and say so long for now.
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