Cakespy: Bacon, Cereal, and Orange Juice Breakfast Cookies
Note: Jessie Oleson (aka Cakespy) is a good pal of Serious Eats and an all-around super cool gal. Every Monday she will be chiming in with a delicious dessert recipe.
[Photographs: Jessie Oleson]
I had always kind of credited Vosges with kicking off the bacon-and-sweets trend that has pervaded the nation in recent years: after all, it was their bacon-infused chocolates that first alerted me to the phenomenon.
However, when I recently found myself leafing through Cookies by Natalie Hartanov Haughton, published in 1987, I found an intriguing entry for "Get Up and Go Breakfast Cookies," which are described as being "highlighted with bacon, cereal and orange peel--great for breakfast on-the-run." These are basically a breakfast trifecta, with Grape Nuts, bacon, and orange juice all combined into one supercharged cookie.
But don't for one moment confuse these with a savory breakfast biscuit--they very much maintain the structure, taste, and crumb of a cookie. These simultaneously sweet, salty, and citrusy cookies won't be for everyone, but they certainly are an intriguing link in the bacon-baked good puzzle.
Bacon, Cereal, and Orange Juice Breakfast Cookies
- makes 12 big cookies -
Adapted from Cookies by Natalie Hartanov Haughton
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons thawed frozen orange juice concentrate
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 strips bacon or veggie bacon, cooked very crisp, drained and crumbled (I used veggie bacon and it worked just fine)
1/2 cup Grape-Nuts
Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, orange juice concentrate and peel, until light and fluffy. Add flour and baking powder, beating until well blended.
3. Stir in bacon and cereal, stirring only until incorporated.
4. Using an ice cream scoop (I used a big one), drop 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove cookies from sheets while still warm and cool on racks.
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16 Comments:
Mmmm! Bacon! I think these sound great. I can imagine the sweetness and texture of the cookie then geting that salty bacony goodness. I had never heard of combining bacon with something sweet until about a year ago when I came across chocolate covered bacon and that was awsome, now Im hooked. I might even try these with some chocolate chips too.
Thanks Cakespy!
flavorkings at 3:33PM on 09/14/09
I had no idea you could make cookies with Grape Nuts. My husband's a Grape Nuts fiend, so I'll definitely have to try making these!
Mary_Eats at 5:30PM on 09/14/09
i am fascinated by these, especially because i love grape nuts cereal
justcook at 5:57PM on 09/14/09
Wow, those sound fabulous! Now I have to go get Grape Nuts!
InJuneau at 7:54PM on 09/14/09
Sorry, but I'll be VERY happy when the bacon obsession ends.
piccola at 8:45PM on 09/14/09
OMG! I'm making these as soon as possible. I am greatly sorry that piccola does not share the bacon love. I hope there are many other posts that give you excitement and joy. In the meantime, it's bacon cookies for my family!
zilli at 11:24PM on 09/14/09
These are so intriguing! I'm happy to hear that veggie bacon works out, because I think I'll make a batch to send to my veggie soldier, currently deployed in Iraq. I'd be a little nervous trusting that real bacon would stay good for the 10 days it takes to for the mail to arrive there!
licoricewhip at 9:09AM on 09/15/09
Brilliant!
savorysweetlife at 4:13PM on 09/16/09
I might try it out of curiosity!
ChristinaINP at 7:22PM on 09/16/09
Thanks everyone!! I shared some of the doubt expressed in other comments, but after I came across the recipe I just couldn't get it out of my head.
Also, as an added note, I did freeze some, and they freeze well--but I should say that the salty-bacon flavor did develop more in the ones that were frozen and then thawed, so if you like a stronger savory-salty flavor, you might like to allow them to "age" a bit.
cakespy at 7:27PM on 09/16/09
Very interesting! Once again Cakespy teaches me something intriguing!
DanaMcCauley at 9:32PM on 09/16/09
I made these today following the recipe precisely (which is rare for me). They turned out perfectly delicious. I will make them again and double the recipe next time.
Rocquie at 11:17PM on 09/19/09
I think these sound perfectly intriguing!
My Mom is in her eighties and has been cooking with bacon grease for her whole life. She even bakes cookies on a pan which has been greased with it! Not only that, she has never refrigerated the grease. So for that reason alone, Licoricewhip, I'm sure your cookied bacon bits in the cookies would be fine for 10 days on the way to Iraq - and once there, to boot! :o)
Thanks for this interesting recipe!
Cindy H
Brown Sugar
sugarbrown at 11:37AM on 09/21/09
A cookie with bacon...I don't know about this one.
banquet manager at 1:59PM on 09/21/09
Made them and they came out very cake-y. Why?
kdjmom3 at 7:42PM on 09/23/09
I just made them and the flavor is phenomenal. But mine came out cakey too. I am definitely going to make them again and I think I'll squish them down a little, like peanut butter cookies.
They didn't spread out at all so maybe more butter?
Any other suggestions?
kayrob at 12:02AM on 09/27/09