Elvis? Elvis Presley? Make no mistake. These cookies must be named after “the King,” because while you watch them bake, you’ll feel your temperature rising, and after one bite, you’ll scream, Just a hunk, a hunk of burning love! These cookies boast the most interesting juxtapositions: salty bacon and sweet chocolate; crunchy nuts and chewy bacon; fruity banana and peanut butter. What’s not to like? Make these cookies and if you are not sighing, I can’t help falling in love with you . . . as you savor every bite, you should get your taste buds checked.
The Elvis: Peanut Butter, Banana and Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Claudia Sidoti for Cooking Channel
INGREDIENTS
10 slices bacon
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chunks
1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts
1/2 cup sweet dried banana chips, roughly chopped
DIRECTIONS
1. Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp, then drain on paper towels. Once the bacon is cool, roughly chop it (you should have about 1/2 cup).
2. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter, mayonnaise and sugars with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Add the peanut butter and vanilla and beat until combined.
4. At low speed, add the flour mixture in batches, beating until just combined. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chunks, bacon, peanuts and banana chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
5. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 muffin tins with paper liners.
6. Fill the muffin tins about halfway full with the batter (a 2-inch, 2-ounce ice cream scoop gives you just about the perfect amount, and helps prevent spilling).
7. Bake until the tops are slightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. (Keep in mind that the cookies won’t rise and form a dome like a cupcake.) Let cool in the muffin tins on wire racks for about 10 minutes, then unmold the cookie cups and transfer them to the racks to cool completely.
Cook’s Note: The mayonnaise in this recipe makes these cookies especially tender.
Yield: About 24 cookie cups
LINNELL’S NOTES
1. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of the suggested chocolate chunks. They were the perfect size for distribution throughout the dough and thus provided enough chocolate “hits” as one ate a cookie.
2. I used silicone cake cups instead of paper liners. Because of the thick sticky dough, I gently tapped the dough to the edges of each container with a finger moistened with water. After the cookies were baked and cooled, they popped out easily. I did try baking a few cookies in paper liners and they worked fine. They were not as pretty when the paper was removed and they resembled cupcakes more than cookies.
3. In my oven these were golden brown in about 20 to 24 minutes. Since oven temperatures vary, keep an eye on the cookies when they reach the 20-minute mark.
Enjoy!
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