Bacon Cookies with Maple Icing - Guest Post and a Giveaway Reminder!

Happy July 17th! We are officially ten days into my blogaversary giveaway, and in honor of the occasion, my good friend Ginny has sent me a guest post as a blogaversary gift! Isn’t she sweet?

Speaking of sweet, check out what she made for me to share with you..... Bacon Cookies with Maple Icing.

Yep, the cooking school where she and I occasionally take classes also has a “cookie club” of sorts and this recipe popped up on my Twitter page last week. Cookies...good. Bacon.....GOOD. Maple.......GOOOOOOD. After recently making chocolate covered bacon

for a friend’s birthday, this was definitely on my “must try” list. I’ve been dying to make these cookies, but since Ginny beat me to it, I’m going to let her tell you about them. But, not before I remind you about my giveaway!

My two year blogaversary giveaway will run through July 8th. Each comment you make on new posts between now and then earns you one entry into the drawing. And just FYI, I think David wants to win. He has never once posted on my blog even though he’s been following it for quite some time, and suddenly he is commenting on about every post. Competition, folks! May the best blogger win! Oh, and here’s a new hint for you...CAN you smell what I am cooking??? (ok, it’s a bad play on “The Rock” but hey, what can I say?)

Now, on to the cookies...here is the post I received from Ginny. Enjoy!

Okay, so I'm intrigued by Bacon. The current movement of using bacon in everything borders on insane. (Bacon salt, Bacon Mayo, Bacon Vodka...) There are just some things that ruin Bacon. That being said, I decided to try these, because as I said, I'm intrigued.
First, there isn't a lot of sugar in these. When I made the dough, it made me think of shortbread. Very dry, mostly fat and flour. Second, it seemed fairly straight-forward. I used a pastry cutter to mix the ingredients together and it worked very well. There wasn't much need to knead, Ha! I just had to form it into the log shape. The most complicated part of the recipe was getting the fine chop on the bacon, in retrospect I should have just given it a whirl in the food processor. I had bacon bits flying everywhere. I'm sure that the cat will find them...
The final results, I liked them. I used a double smoked variety of bacon and it almost seemed that the maple syrup overwhelmed the cookie. You almost wouldn't know the bacon was there. I found that I liked the cookie better with less frosting, and that is not typical for me. As much as I like bacon, I like frosting too, so it was a little surprising to me. Without the frosting they were like a lightly sweet bacon shortbread biscuit.
At this point Beth is saying DUH! because she recalls me telling her that I am not that fond of maple flavored pork products and that I prefer that the maple syrup from my pancakes not touch my sausage or bacon. (Yep, its true, that is one thing Ginny and I disagree on. I love to dip my breakfast meat in my maple syrup, but the very idea of it grosses Ginny out, which is why I was a tad surprised when she decided to make these cookies) If you enjoy that sort of thing, these may be right up your alley.

Bacon Cookies with Maple Icing
4 slices thick cut, lean bacon, finely chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cut into pieces and softened
1 large egg
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Fry the bacon over medium heat until crisp and then drain on paper towels. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, butter, egg, and cream and mix until well-blended. Add the bacon and knead until the dough is soft and the bacon is evenly distributed, about 1 minute. Roll the dough into one or two logs about 1 1/2 inches thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cut the dough into 1/4-inch thick slices and arrange the slices about 1 inch apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet (use a bit of the bacon grease or use a silicone mat).Bake until the cookies are firm and very lightly browned (they won’t get golden brown), about 12-15 minutes.Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.Then, spread with maple icing and top with a small piece of candied bacon (recipes below).Maple Icing
Mix a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with about 3 tablespoons of Grade B real maple syrup (add a bit more sugar, then a bit more syrup until the consistency is spreadable). Ice the cookies when they are cool.

Candied Bacon, aka Pig Candy (optional)
Lay several slices of maple bacon on a silicone-lined sheet pan. Coat each bacon slice with light brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees until the bacon is crisp, about 25 minutes. The bacon will turn a deep mahogany color; don’t be alarmed. When it’s crisp, let it cool on the rack. Then, cut it into small pieces to put on top of the iced cookies.

~ginny

Here's a quick update from Ginny after she took the cookies in to her guinea pigs, I mean - CO-WORKERS!

Took these to work and yes, people gave me the funny look when I said bacon cookies. That being said, I didn't have one person say they didn't like them. Most thought they were really good, the mildest reaction I got was "Interesting". Not one yuck in the bunch. :-) Most said they wouldn't have known there was bacon in them if I hadn't told them. I even tested it and gave some to people without telling them and they couldn't pick out the secret ingredient. Next time... more bacon, less frosting!

Ok, folks, on that note, I’m off to go fry some bacon! Be on the lookout for another VERY bacon-related post sometime early next week. I have a very pork-fat-friendly surprise in store for the hubs for Fathers Day!