Well, I thought since it has been over a year it was time to maybe write a few times on this blog, before most likely taking another hiatus (lets be honest, most people don't break patterns, that takes like work and years of therapy). To catch you up, I still think Brandon is an obnoxious twit and that Dylan is totally misunderstood. I have a job now, so sadly my 90210 watching only takes place on the weekend. Though to be honest, you can only watch these episodes so many times (who am I kidding, so many times means a limitless number of times at least until they get to the point where Kelly's rehab roommate tries to kill her and then things begin to go off the rails a little).
So anyway, oh right, maybe me catching you up wasn't only supposed to involve talking about 90210. I do occasionally do other things and have other thoughts. For instance, during my time of unemployment I took up baking. I mean I have always sort of enjoyed baking from back when my mom and I would make ice cream cone cupcakes for my birthday (I made these for a friend's birthday in the spring and they are still awesome. Only need to find a way to get better tasting flat bottomed cones, but I digress), so when I had a lot of time on my hands and needed something comforting/cheap to do, baking seemed like a great option. Plus people get so happy when you share homemade baked goods with them, seriously it is like a natural high.
So now that it is cold again, and you can turn on the oven without wanting to kill yourself, I have been trying to keep baking and experimenting and tweaking recipes to make them my own and so forth. My brother has been bugging me to make some chocolate chip bacon cookies for awhile, but other things got in the way. But then the other day he had bought bacon for something else, so it was in the fridge and I happened to have basically all the other ingredients around the apartment, and it seemed like a nice way to make Monday better, so I did it, I made bacon chocolate chip cookies! And let me tell you they are awesome.
I searched around the internet to get some ideas about what other people do. A lot of recipes candy the bacon first, which is just putting some brown sugar on top of it when baking. I decided not to do that, but might try that at some point in the future. I also decided to add maple syrup in place of vanilla. I stopped adding vanilla to my cookies awhile back for a few reasons:
1. The ladies who make Levain cookies said they don't use vanilla and that it is useless, so hey, if it works for them it works for me.
2. When I was unemployed I felt vanilla was pricey, and since I had good word it was useless, donzo. I am curious who the vanilla lobby is and how they somehow got everyone to add it to every recipe no matter what you are making. It is like a weird conspiracy.
3. Once I stopped using vanilla I realized it was in fact useless and unnecessary. You have all probably tasted some of my cookies, and told me you enjoyed them. Were anyone of you thinking, I enjoyed these but I miss a weird hint of vanilla that detracts from the actual flavor of the cookie? Good, I am glad we all agree.
I have totally forgotten about what I was talking about and now can only think about the weird vanilla lobby. But I guess I could save that and let it be its own post some time (lets be honest, it probably won't be because that would require me actually posting).
So, the recipe for the chocolate chip bacon cookies, in case you wanted to try them (though I will be making them again, so if you ask nicely you could maybe try mine):
1 stick unsalted butter (leave out to soften)
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp maple syrup (I eyeballed it...I would maybe add a bit more next time)
1 1/2 cup flour (a little less than that actually, fill up the 1/2 cup about 3/4ths)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt/kosher salt (don't use table salt)
1 cup chocolate chips (plus a little extra - my tip for baking - always add a bit of extra chocolate to whatever you are making)
7 strips of bacon (I used 6 this time, but felt that extra strip would have put it over the edge)
Preheat oven to 400F
Bake bacon for 15-20 minutes, until nice and crispy. Drain bacon with a paper towel, leaving a little oil on it. Let it cool for a bit, and then crumble into small pieces.
Turn down oven to 350F
I don't have an electric mixer, so I do this all by hand. If you wanted to use a mixer (you and your modern conveniences)I have no clue what settings or anything like that. Anyway, since it is probably only Jason and Becky reading this, that point is moot anyway.
Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Then add in the egg and mix. Add in the maple syrup and mix. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet dough and combine. Stir in chocolate chips and bacon. The dough will be pretty thick.
Make the cookies as small/big as you desire. Leave a few inches in between each round on cookie sheet since they do spread a little. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool a couple of minutes on the sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
This is my first attempt at writing out a recipe for people to follow. It would make me happy if someone tried it and enjoyed it. I will try to post some other recipes as I bake this winter. And no this isn't going to become some blog that only posts recipes! It will also continue to be a blog where no one really posts much at all.
I did take some pictures of the finished product and stuff, but I am not totally sure how to post a photo, and don't really feel like trying to figure it out right now. I am sure it is easy, but frankly, people don't use their imaginations enough anymore, so this is a great opportunity for that. Your welcome.
Happy bacon and cookie eating to all!