Bready or Not Original: Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
These soft, chewy blondies are savory, sweet, and amazing–and my original creation.
The year 2018 was awful in a lot of ways, but it offered one bonus: frequent sales on bacon at my regular grocery stores around Phoenix. I developed quite a strategic stockpile.
I then realized, hey, I should try baking bacon into more sweets. After all, my bacon fat chocolate chip cookies are among my most popular recipes.
I didn’t have a lot of free time, though. I wanted something to bake up fast, without a lot of fuss. Therefore, cookies were out. I wanted bars.
To my surprise, I couldn’t find an existing recipe that appealed to me. I decided that if I wanted soft, chewy bacon and chocolate chip bars, I needed to develop my own recipe.
That’s exactly what I did.
This is a recipe that utilizes sweet and savory together, and it’s a must-bake for any bacon lovers.
Bready or Not Original: Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 14 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 2 Tablespoons bacon fat
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips divided
- 4 slices thick-cut cooked bacon chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with foil and grease with butter or nonstick spray.
- Cream together the butter and bacon fat. Mix in the sugars until pale and fluffy, then add the vanilla and eggs.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet, until just combined. Fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips along with the chopped bacon.
- Press dough into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over the top.
- Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until the middle passes the toothpick test. Cool until room temperature. Use foil to lift contents onto cutting board for easy slicing. Keep stored in sealed containers at room temperature or in the fridge.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Praline Snickerdoodles
Snickerdoodles are a regular theme on Bready or Not, and this time I present you with a praline version!
These Praline Snickerdoodles are absolutely divine. Bits of pecan add a soft crunch, and Heath pieces add an entirely different kind of crunch.
These new textures and flavors add a lot to the already-awesome taste of snickerdoodles.
I had a hard time choosing which pictures to feature. These cookies were incredibly photogenic.
Plan ahead when you make these. The dough needs at least a couple hours to chill. I love to make the dough a day in advance so I can start baking at will.
I wish I could say how long these will keep, but my husband takes these to work and the cookies just… vanish.
Bready or Not: Praline Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup Heath toffee pieces
- 3/4 cup pecans chopped
Topping
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until it's soft and creamy. Add the sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Once combined add the eggs and vanilla, followed by the flour. Fold in the Heath pieces and pecans.
- Wrap dough in plastic and chill at least two hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven at 375-degrees. Stir together the topping ingredients. Use a tablespoon scoop to drop dollops of dough into the topping. Roll to coat. Set spaced out on a greased stoneware pan or parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack then store in a sealed container.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Milk Chocolate Toffee Bars
The time for healthy recipes is over. Time to make an entire casserole dish-worth of candy bars with this recipe for Milk Chocolate Toffee Bars.
These things are chewy and downright dreamy. Seriously, HOMEMADE CANDY BAR. FRESH. SO GOOD.
Ahem. Forgive the caps. I get enthusiastic about this sort of thing. But can you blame me?
I mean, these have it all going on. Chocolate. A crunch from the toffee and pecans. A chewy blondie base.
My husband took these to work and had several co-workers dub this a new favorite. Considering the goodies they get from me, that’s saying something.
Make these to share with a crowd. You don’t want to be home alone with them.
Modified from Brownies & Bars Magazine.
Bready or Not: Milk Chocolate Toffee Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 2/3 cups milk chocolate chips divided
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup toffee bits
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the butter and vanilla. Beat until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 2/3 cup chocolate chips and the pecans. Distribute the crumbs across the bottom of the pan and press down evenly.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden. Immediately sprinkle on the remaining 1 cup of milk chocolate chips. Let sit a minute or two to soften, then use an uneven spatula to spread chocolate across the crust. Sprinkle toffee bits on top.
- Cool in pan on wire rack; if desired, place in fridge to speed the process. Once the pan is cool, use foil to move contents to a cutting board. Slice into bars. Keeps in fridge or at room temperature for up to 2 days.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Glazed Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies
We made it three weeks into 2019 before we hit a maple recipe. Glazed Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies, to be exact.
This is a recipe that involved heavy experimentation for me. The base recipe made maple logs, which were then dipped in chocolate. I found the log-making process awkward. I didn’t want milk chocolate paired with maple, either.
Therefore, I tweaked and twisted things around, and the end result was a cookie that reminds me a lot of Pecan Sandies from the grocery store, just with a necessary oomph of maple.
Instead of making the cookies into logs, I press them flat and used by bench knife to slice them into squares. A drizzle of maple glaze added just the right touch of sweetness after baking.
These are ideal cookies to go along with coffee or tea. They are a little dry and crumbly, but easy to eat in a bite or two.
Plus, you can omit the pecans if necessary! You’ll get fewer cookies, but the texture and maple goodness are still downright scrummy.
Bready or Not Original: Glazed Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1/2 cup pecans finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Glaze:
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 Tablespoon + milk or half & half
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 325-degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and confectioners' sugar. Beat in the vanilla and maple flavor.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour, oats, pecans bits, and salt. Gradually combine with the wet mixture until it forms a cohesive mix.
- Clean off a space of counter or tear off a large piece of parchment paper. Dump the cookie dough out and form it a roughly 8x8 square. Use a bench knife or a pizza cutter to slice into squares about an inch in diameter.
- Transfer cookies to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Add a little space between cookies, but they won't spread much.
- Bake for 14-17 minutes, until cookies are set and lightly browned. Transfer to a rack to cool.
- Once all the cookies are baked and at room temperature, set out another piece of parchment paper. Place the cookies there, close together.
- In a small bowl, mix together glaze ingredients, adding enough milk to create a dribbling consistency. Use a fork to dribble glaze or the back of a spoon to coat each one. Leave out for an hour or so to set, then seal in container at room temperature.
- OM NOM NOM!
