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Friday, September 2, 2011

There's WHAT in this cookie?

So I'm putting this out there now. If you're a vegetarian, devote Muslim, Jew, or Seventh Day Adventist....or if you just don't like/eat swine this recipe is not for you. If you're not open minded or adventurous in your eating you might want to join the non-pig eaters. Go to the next entry. It'll be better.

Okay. Are we alone?
Now let's discuss BACON FAT.

In my house growing up, and even now as an adult, having a coffee cup of rendered bacon grease in the refrigerator. It's something my German great grandmother taught my grandmother, who taught my mother, who has taught me. 

For the longest time it grossed me out beyond belief! The cholesterol... the fat.... cooking with grease! Yuck! But the thing is we don't use it that often or in that much food. To help brown pork chops and the pork roasts. But the one area that we use it in - that often makes people gag unless you too had a German grandparent - we use it in Molasses Cookies!

It's an old German recipe (or so says my family) - using the bacon grease in place of butter or some other shortening. I've tried them without the bacon fat and it's just not the same. So today when The Stir had a chocolate chip recipe using bacon fat I was intrigued. It's too warm for baking but as soon as it cools down I'll be trying this recipe out.

Chocolate Chip Cookies With Bacon Fat
from Chef Ross Sveback

Ingredients

1/2 cup rendered bacon grease
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. maple flavoring
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Sea salt for sprinkling on top (optional)

Instructions

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream bacon grease, butter, and brown sugar together, scraping bowl if necessary to combine.

2. Add eggs, vanilla bean paste or extract, baking powder, baking soda, and salt -- mix on medium low to combine.

3. Add flour and stir to incorporate -- scraping bottom of bowl to ensure all the flour is mixed together.

4. Add chocolate chips and nuts, then stir again. Let dough rest for a half hour.

5. Scoop spoon-sized balls of dough onto baking sheets.

6. Bake for 16 minutes at 350, turning pans or rotating them bottom to top if necessary depending on your oven halfway through the baking time.

7. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack until you are ready to eat them.

5 comments:

  1. some things are better just not known about life. I love bacon fat but I won't admit that publicly (whoops, I just did!). I've never thought about using it in baking, but I do cook with it whenever we have some. I'm not as hardcore as you guys and leave it in my fridge tho. I wonder if you could use it like lard in pastries and such...?

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  2. I think it might depend on how much you have to work the dough. It softens pretty fast and I'd be worried about it not holding up as needed But you might try it. Let me know.

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  3. Oh, and I bought the ingredients to make the cookies this weekend. I'll make sure to post pictures and what we thought of them.

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  4. I was at a restaurant last nite that had bacon powder. I didn't try it cuz it looked too much like flour but... Omg.

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  5. I am honored to have you post my recipe - thank you so much for the shout out!

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