Oatmeal Candy Bacon Cookie with Bourbon, Apple Cider, Maple Syrup Frosting and Sea Salt

This cookie was eaten on the podcast in episode 055 – Link

Cookie Ingredients

  • 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup toasted wheat germ
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon coarse salt
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 cups packed light-brown sugar (separated)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 lb. bacon

Icing Ingredients:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • ½ liter Bourbon
  • ½ liter apple cider
  • 3 tablespoons maple syrup
  • Sea Salt

Cookie Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. Slice bacon into ¼-inch width stripes.
  3. Render fat off in sauté pan over medium heat and cook until bacon is nearly finished.
  4. Strain bacon from pan and set aside.
  5. Put rendered fat in a liquid measuring cup, should be around ½ cup.
  6. Put bacon back in pan on low heat and add 1 cup brown sugar. Constantly stirring as sugar melts and caramelizes bacon.
  7. Remove bacon from pan set aside to cool. DO NOT WASH SAUTE PAN – it will be used to make icing.
  8. Chop finely when cool enough to handle.
  9. Stir together oats, flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
  10. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  11. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low.
  12. Add oat mixture; mix until just combined. Mix in candy bacon.
  13. Using a 1 ½-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.
  14. Bake until golden and just set, about 14 minutes.
  15. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely.
  16. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Icing Directions:

  1. Add apple cider and bourbon to sauté pan in which you made bacon and reduce for about 5 minutes
  2. While reducing, melt butter and whisk together with milk and powdered sugar.
  3. Add maple syrup to reducing liquid, stir and continue to reduce until it becomes a syrup consistency, about 4 minutes.
  4. Mix reduced liquid and icing until it reaches desired taste and consistency. You may not need all the reducing liquid so all slowly.
  5. Drizzle icing over baked cookie, garnish with sea salt and enjoy. Try to resist eating the batch so you can show off to your friends and family.

Notes:

  • Reduce sauce to your own preference of taste.
  • Wheat germ adds flavor but certainly not necessary.