Father’s Day Treat: Brown Butter, Bacon & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown Butter Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 4 oz semisweet chocolate bar, diced into 1/4″ pieces
• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli 60% cacao)
• 3 tablespoons milk chocolate, grated
• 1 cup bacon that’s been fried until crispy and diced into roughly 1/4″ pieces

Directions:

1. Adjust your oven rack so it’s in the middle position.  Pre-heat to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. Heat 10 tablespoons of butter in a 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted.  Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly.  Watch this carefully – butter can go from brown to burned very quickly.  When butter is dark-golden brown and has a nutty aroma, remove from heat and immediately transfer to a heatproof  bowl.  Stir the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into hot butter until melted.

4. Add granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until completely mixed.  Add egg and egg yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth and there are no lumps of sugar remaining.

5. Let sugar/egg/butter mixture stand for a few minutes.  Then whisk again for 30 seconds.  Do this several times – you want to make sure that the sugar has “melted” into the liquid.  When ready, mixture will be smooth, thick and shiny.

6. Using wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture until just combined.  Stir in grated chocolate, chocolate chunks, chocolate chips and bacon pieces.  Don’t overmix but make sure no flour pockets remain.

7. Using a teaspoon, place a heaping teaspoon of cookie dough on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I get about 14 on a baking sheet.  Bake for 10-14 minutes until cookies are golden-brown and set along the edges but the middle is still soft.  Remove from oven and set baking sheet on a wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes.

TIP: I usually make a whole batch of cookie dough and freeze half of it.  Just put it on a baking sheet like you’re going to bake it, stick it in the freezer for a few hours and put the frozen clumps in a freezer bag.  I haven’t frozen the ones with bacon but I might leave that out and just stick a few pieces to the top when ready to bake.  Take from the freezer, put on a baking sheet and add a few minutes to your normal baking time. – Mouth From The South.Com

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