The role of today’s food blogger will be played by Connie’s husband, Jamie.

To the surprise of absolutely no one who knows me, I have a confession to make: I am the proud owner of an unbelievably potent sweet tooth.

I know, such a shocking revelation.

For me, temptation from all things sugar is at times too hard to resist. One indulgence in particular, whose appeal I am utterly powerless against, is the cookie.

One cookie leads to two. Two leads to three. Three leads to a number greater than I care to admit.

But at least my craving is satisfied, right? Not exactly.

Every time I venture down this slippery slope, I naively believe this sense of contentment will last. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a mere appetizer, inevitably followed by an entrée of regret coupled with a heaping side of self-loathing (and eventual tummy ache).

To frame this pattern in somewhat simpler terms: sucrose, fructose, glucose, comatose. Ugh.

During my university days, entire packages of Chewy Chips Ahoy were known to disappear at a single sitting—sometimes for dinner. At the time, I wore such feats as a badge of honour, pinned to what seemed to be an ever shrinking shirt.

Since then, I’ve managed to temper the intensity (and frequency) of my gluttony, bringing it to a more reasonable (and sustainable) level. That’s not to say my sweet tooth has been extinguished; rather it now sits dormant…most of the time.

Enter bacon chocolate chip cookies.

In a previous life (OK, earlier this year), I would allow myself one cheat day each week—typically Saturday—during which I would consume a reckless number of carbs. One afternoon, I happened to be on the Instructables website, when I came across a recipe that combined two of my favourite food items, chocolate and bacon, to form my favourite dessert – cookies. How could I resist? (Answer: I couldn’t. Read on.)

Included below is the recipe for bacon chocolate chip cookies that I’ve slightly modified to make it my own. Feel free to put your own spin on it.

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Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter
• ½ c brown sugar
• ½ c granulated sugar (I have used ¾ c of brown and ¼ c of white sugar; it’s up to you)
• 1 egg
• ¾ tsp vanilla
• 1 1/8 c all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ c chocolate chips
• ½ c chopped Turtles (Your favourite chocolate bar or similar treat could also work. Try experimenting to see what works best.)
• 6-10 slices bacon (If buying from the grocery store, I recommend Maple Leaf’s Natural Selections brand)

Directions:

1. Fry the bacon to your desired doneness. The original recipe suggested I use an indoor grill to cook the bacon. Based on my own experience, I wouldn’t recommend it. Instead, try dicing up the bacon, then frying it in a pan. You’ll end up with a more intense bacon flavour and crispier pieces.
2. Once the bacon is cooked, transfer to a plate and dab the pieces with a paper towel to remove some of the grease.
3. Pre-heat your oven to 375F.
4. In a relatively large bowl, add the butter, brown sugar and white sugar, and mix with a beater.
5. Add the egg and vanilla to the mixture and continue beating.
6. In a separate bowl, use a clean spoon to mix together the salt, baking soda, and flour. Once mixed, add to the other bowl and continue mixing with the beater.
7. Add the chocolate chips, Turtles, and bacon to the mixture and mix with a spoon. Note: The original recipe also recommended not exceeding a 1:1 ratio of bacon to chocolate. Eff that. I increased the bacon quotient and suggest you do the same. In fact, try adding some of the grease from the pan to the mixture for more bacon flavour.
8. After mixing the ingredients together, you may want to let it rest in the fridge or freezer for 15-30 minutes. That’s if you can wait.
9. On a lightly greased baking sheet, place the scoops of dough approximately two inches apart (I used a tablespoon, but feel free to make your cookies smaller or larger). You can press the cookie dough down; however, I left the dough in balls.
10. Place the cookies in the oven and let bake for roughly 10 minutes (or until the centres of the cookie are no longer gummy, and the edges are golden brown).
11. Once they are done, wait a couple of minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool.

Yield: approximately two dozen.

On their own, the cookies were a hit. The sweetness of the chocolate and the Turtles was complemented perfectly by the saltiness of the bacon.

But why stop there?

Bacon chocolate chip (and Turtles) cookies make a really great base for an ice cream sandwich (see pictures). Simply add President’s Choice Sprinkle Party Cake ice cream and enjoy!

Hint: If you find the cookies too rich, try placing them in the freezer and eating them frozen or partially thawed (Thank you, Geri).