Peanut Butter Bacon Chipped Cookies

I am always hooting and hollering about my Mum, so here is my Dad. My Paps is the kind of guy that strikes fear into young children's hearts. Let me rephrase, he is the type of man who intentionally strikes fear into young children's heart. He was that dad who would threaten to split kids up at a sleepover if they didn't stop shooting the flying ballerina across the room. The kind of dad that waited in the living room to slowly lower the newspaper like the Godfather and nod at my friends with the look that said 'you best be well-behaved.'

But it turns out that while he was 'that dad' to other people, he's the perfect Paps for me. He is the calm before the angry storm that my crazy brothers and mother brews, his love for burnt cookies makes my screw-ups feel like total wins, he has the driest humour known to mankind that causes me to snort publicly, he is now a crazy cat man and he is the reason why I love peanut butter and bacon sandwiches.

 My Paps' cooking skillage stretches from raisin bran, toast and jam, pickle or peanut butter and bacon sandwiches. If my Mum ever was out working one of those was our dinner and I love every single one of those dinners. But it turns out I was flying solo for a long time on the peanut butter bacon front until I started reading blogs when it was everywhere. Right then and there food blogs and I became one. Give this combo, like peace, a chance.

Peanut Butter Bacon Chipped Cookies
Adapted from my all time favourite peanut butter cookie recipe

1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup chunky peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar + extra for coating the dough
1/2 brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup bacon, cooked and diced
1/3 cup toffee chips

Preheat the oven to 350º. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, soda, powder and salt. Set aside. In a larger bowl, beat together the butter and peanut butter. Beat in the sugars until it is nice and smooth and fluffy. Beat in the egg, milk and vanilla. Dump in the flour mixture and mix until it is combined. Stir in the peanut butter chips, bacon and toffee chips. Scoop heaping tablespoons and roll them into balls. Place a couple tablespoons of sugar in a bowl. Roll the balls of dough in sugar. Place on a baking sheet that has been buttered or lined with parchment. Slightly flatten them with a spatula. Bake for 12 minutes, alternating halfway through. They will look underdone but they are not! They will be golden on the edges and a little bit on top. Pull them out and let them sit on the sheets for a few minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack. Makes 24 cookies.

Maple Bacon Scones

I'm thee most vague person to walk the planet. It's a pretty bold claim but it's legit. My friends believe I lead a secret life and not like the strange TV show. No werewolves here. But when I used to do gymnastics for roughly ten years of my life, no big, it was a secret. "Of course it is true, those bruises all over my body are from when I fell off the couch the other day. Why don't you believe me?" As I'm writing this I see why everyone thinks it's nuts. 

The Bakers Market down on Prince Albert Street* in Vancouver is my new secret life. (Who is precise now?) It involves me baking up a storm for a few days, packaging like a freaking elf and then trying to look normal so people will actually look at my stall. This market is basically loaded with people who have shops, who rock a business or just straight love to bake like myself. Some people bake gluten-free goods, some make fresh bread, some make pies (ayo!), one lady makes lychee marshmallows that are amazing and it is all making me expand like a balloon. But I sort of love it. 

It's an excuse for me to bake all of my favourite things, not raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, and put my piles of cake plates to use. Double bonus. My list of goods is cookies, some bars and scones. Including these bad boys. Every week I've changed the formula until when this photo was taken because they were perfect. Turns out everyone loves bacon because these are a hit. One fella comes in every week and buys four. Probably my new favourite person. 

Maple Bacon Scones

Rough rough roughly adapted from my favourite recipe a la America's Test Kitchen

scones

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup butter, chilled 

1/2 pound of bacon (half a package), cooked and diced

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup maple syrup

wash

1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream

1 tbsp maple syrup

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400º. This method is the old school method that I use but the food processor instructions are below. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the chilled butter into smaller pieces and toss it into the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter, some knives or your fingers, blend the butter in until it looks sort of sandy with a few pea sized ones here and there. Toss in the bacon and mix it in. Pour the heavy cream and the maple syrup in. Using a spatula, mix this in just until a dough forms about 30 seconds. Then transfer the dough and all the floury bits to a lightly floured surface or a counter with a big piece of parchment. Knead this until it forms a nice old dough, just about 10 seconds. Pat the dough until it is about 1 inch thick and using a 2 inch cookie cutter, cut out little scones. Grab the scraps, and repeat. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Mix together the wash and brush it over the scones. Bake those puppies for about 12-14 minutes, alternating the sheets halfway through. Makes about 10 scones.

Food processor method: Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor. Pulse together about 6 times. If using food processor, remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and pulse 12 times, each pulse lasting 1 second. Add the bacon and pulse once. Dump this mixture into a large bowl. Proceed as you would with the other directions.

Make Ahead: You can shape these and put them on a baking sheet and pop them in the freezer for about an hour. Then throw them in a freezer bag and freeze them for up to a month. Just pull them out and bake as directed, maybe a couple minutes longer. 

* Coincidence? I think not.