meat's favorite cookie

Folks at the hunting camp tired of petit fours? Need something to bring to a potluck bachelor party? Is your Marine Corps battalion having a bake sale? Are you hosting a pork-themed dinner party? Not enough protein in your dessert?

Fear not. Your problems are solved. Because cookies were once too healthy, I bring you…

Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies!
(makes about 3 ½ dozen)

1 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup Butter Flavor Crisco
2 Tbs milk
1 Tbs vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
½ cup peanut butter chips (heaping)
9-10 slices bacon

Cook the bacon. You want it as crispy as possible. It’s easiest to do in the oven, I think. Cook at 425 for 15-20 minutes. Once the bacon is crisp and cool, crumble it. (I pulsed mine in the food processor a few times.) You should end up with about a heaping ½ cup.

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine brown sugar, Crisco, milk, and vanilla, and mix well. Stir in the egg.

Add flour, salt, and baking soda, and combine.

Stir in the peanut butter chips and bacon.

Use a spoon to scoop out portions of the cookie dough that are roughly 1 1/2 inch in diameter, and drop them on an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 9 minutes. (This is the perfect time for my oven to produce soft cookies - you may need to adjust the time by a minute or two.)

Remove cookies from the pan immediately, and cool on a cooling rack.

** I also made a batch using some dark chocolate chips instead of PB chips. They were good (Kaytie preferred them), but I think the peanut butter bacon cookies are best.