Bacon & Oatmeal Dried Fruit Cookies - Guest Post!

Today's guest post is written by my sorority sister Amy who lives in NYC with her husband Zach.  Amy is an incredible woman and an amazing friend.  We lucked out with this post as she is not often a baker.  She is, however, a really great chef and is excellent at incorporating bacon into everything, from cookies to vodka!  Enjoy!

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Zach with the freshly baked cookies

Zach's work was having a bake sale at to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy, so I once again made Bacon and Oatmeal and Dried Fruit Cookies. I originally found these in a magazine and snipped out the recipe for its incorporation of bacon. Side note: they do not come off as very oatmeal-y, since I had a friend who does not like oatmeal cookies inhale one and then state her aversion to oatmeal. These cookies are awesome because they taste like breakfast as a cookie-- sweet and salty! In fact, they sold out immediately from the bake sale and Zach's boss had to have a talk with him about how if he ever brings bacon cookies to the office building again, the cookies need to first stop in the boss's office!

The original recipe calls for raisins, but since I am not a raisin fan, I substituted a dried berry mix which includes cranberries, blueberries, currants, and golden raisins. You can use any dried fruit here that strikes your fancy.

Ingredients 

• 8 ounces sliced bacon 
• 2 1/4 cups cake flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar 
• 2/3 cup sugar 
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats 
• 2/3 cup dried fruit (chopped to the size of raisins if applicable)

The Work

The process is simple. I chose to make the bacon on a rack over a cookie sheet in the oven so that they crisped evenly; I was able to crumble the bacon right into the batter at the end with the oatmeal and dried fruit, plus I had the added bonus of having a pool of bacon fat to use later on.

Once the bacon is cooking, I start whisking together the dry ingredients mix in a mixing bowl: 2 1/4 cups cake flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Keep this dry mixture on the side for a bit. Then, you start creaming together the butter and both sugars in a mixer. Give that a few minutes before adding in two eggs, one at a time.

Then add in the vanilla- the original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon, but feel free to amp that up; I sure did. Keep the mixer moving-- you are going for a pale and fluffy batter look. Once that is achieved add in the flour mixture from before, little by little until well-incorporated. Then you can turn off the mixer.

After that, you are practically done with the prep. It is time to add in the oatmeal and dried fruit and crumble in the cooled bacon and fold. This recipe calls for chilling the dough: make 1/4 cup scoops of the batter onto two parchment lined cookie sheets (well spaced), cover w/plastic wrap, and chill for at least an hour, but I tend to let it go overnight.

When it comes time to bake the cookies, just preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake cookies for 20-22 minutes and cool first for 10 minutes on their sheets and then move to racks to cool completely. Remember to first put aside cookies for your significant other and boss and then enjoy the rest of the batch! Delicious.

Original Source: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/03/bacon-oatmeal-and-raisin-cookies