Brown Sugar Ham with Glaze
August 24, 2023
Sweet Southern Slow Cooker Ham
August 24, 2023Bacon and Peanut Butter Cookies
This Bacon and Peanut Butter Cookies recipe is a unique combination of bacon grease, bacon, and peanut butter that’s sure to be your new favorite cookie.
Peanut butter bacon cookies with bacon grease
People often remember unique and creative food experiences, and bacon and peanut butter cookies can certainly be one of those memorable treats.
This recipe raises an excellent question, why do we bake cookies and cook bacon?
On the internet today you can find hours upon hours of videos and discussions on this question. In basic terms, we found it has to do with the Latin origins of the words and the warming processes.
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If you or someone you know loves bacon, this recipe is a tasty twist on a classic cookie recipe.
Ingredients
- bacon
- bacon grease
- flour
- baking soda
- baking powder
- salt
- butter, cubed and softened
- brown sugar
- sugar
- peanut butter smooth (not natural)
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- salted peanuts, finely ground in a food processor
- Turbinado OR raw sugar
Recipe Tips
- Cook bacon and collect grease the night before you want to bake these cookies. This will give time for the savory grease to solidify in the refrigerator.
- Use a cookie scoop to create uniform-sized cookies. For larger cookies, try an ice cream scoop.
- Don’t have salted peanuts on hand? Substitute in crunchy peanut butter instead of running to the store.
How to bake peanut butter bacon cookies with bacon grease
Cut the bacon into ¼ inch pieces. Add the bacon to a large skillet and cook until the bacon pieces are crispy.
Remove the bacon pieces and place them on a paper towel-lined plate to cool.
Pour the bacon grease into a glass or metal bowl and refrigerate until solid.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir until well combined.
Add the butter and ½ cup of the cooled bacon fat to an electric stand mixer; beat until creamy.
Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Beat in the peanut butter until thoroughly combined then mix in the eggs and vanilla.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl again, and then, on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients.
Stir in the ground peanuts and bacon until mixed.
Form the dough into golf ball-sized rounds and place them on prepared sheet pans spaced about two inches apart.
Dip a fork in water and press the tines into each piece of dough’s surface twice to slightly flatten the cookie and form a crisscross pattern.
Sprinkle the cookies with a generous amount of turbinado sugar.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans midway through baking. The outer edges of the cookies should only begin to turn golden while the center of the cookie will still look a bit pale.
Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for 2-3 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Why do you put fork marks in peanut butter cookies?
The first documented recipe for peanut butter cookies was in the 1896 Boston Cooking School Cookbook.
Earlier versions were either ball-shaped or thinly-rolled pieces. The fork criss-cross marks were popularized later by the Pillsbury Co. to flatten the dense shape of earlier versions.
Peanut butter is a dense ingredient. Add the criss-cross pattern allowing the cookies to bake evenly.
How do you keep peanut butter cookies from crumbling?
Cookies crumbling can be a sad moment for any baker. One way to keep this from happening to your batch is to ensure you do not add too much flour.
Using real butter instead of margarine or butter substitutes will also help the outcome of your peanut butter cookies.
Our last advice is to watch your time and not overbake the cookies.
Is peanut butter and bacon a good combination?
Let’s back up and ask, do you like peanut butter? Do you like bacon?
If you answered yes to both of these questions then absolutely!!
Combining the sweet taste of peanut butter with the savory and saltiness of bacon beautifully contrasts creating the masterpiece of the bacon peanut butter cookie.
These type of cookies have been popular for years and many of our grandmothers used to make them.
Other Bacon Recipes
We love easy bacon snacks and treats for get-togethers and parties. If you are looking for more tasty bacon goodness, try our Air Fryer Pork Belly or our Bacon Deviled Eggs.
Bacon and Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon
- 1/2 cup Bacon Grease
- 2 ½ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter (1 stick), cubed and softened
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup peanut butter smooth (not natural)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups salted peanuts, finely ground in a food processor
- Turbinado OR raw sugar
Instructions
- Cut the bacon in ¼ inch pieces. Add the bacon to a large skillet and cook until the bacon pieces are crispy.
- Remove the bacon pieces and place them on a paper towel-lined plate to cool.
- Pour the bacon grease into a glass or metal bowl and refrigerate until solid.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir until well combined.
- Add the butter and ½ cup of the cooled bacon fat to an electric stand mixer; beat until creamy.
- Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Beat in the peanut butter until thoroughly combined, then mix in the eggs and vanilla.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl again, and then, on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients.
- Stir in the ground peanuts and bacon until mixed.
- Form the dough into golf ball-sized rounds and place them on prepared sheet pans, spaced about two inches apart.
- Dip a fork in water and press the tines into the surface of each piece of dough two times, to slightly flatten the cookie and to form a crisscross pattern.
- Sprinkle the cookies with a generous amount of Turbinado or raw sugar.
- Bake for about 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans midway through baking. The outer edges of the cookies should only just begin to turn golden while the center of the cookie will still look a bit pale.
- Let the cookies cool for 2-3 minutes on the sheet pan before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 48 cookies (4 dozen).
