Bachelor in the Kitchen: Elvis Holiday Bacon Cookies

Written by Nick –

One of my favorite parts of being home for the holidays is my mom’s cooking. Regardless of how much you love to cook, there is always something special about your mom baking your favorite cookies every year. But this year I thought it would be a nice surprise to bake her cookies. After looking at the list of top ten recipes from the Nestlé Kitchens Holiday Cookie Contest, I decided to try the Elvis Inspired Hunka’ Burnin’ Love Cookies. I popped in my Elvis Christmas CD and went to work.

I’d love to say I “nailed it” on the first try, but I’m still a novice in the kitchen. Needless to say, the first batch had way too many bananas. Still the cookies tasted great and didn’t last long on the cooling rack - what can I say - cookies never last long around me. The second attempt at the cookies came out great! When it’s not overpowered by 4 times the amount of bananas you really taste all the flavors in each bite. I was pleasantly surprised to learn bacon, chocolate and banana create a delicious sweet and savory treat.

If you’re looking to make something unique this holiday season, you can’t go wrong with these Hunka’ Burnin’ Love Cookies. And with that I’d like to propose a new rule of thumb, “always add bacon.”

Hunka Burnin’ Love Cookies

Ingredients for 3 1/2 dozen cookies:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cup mini marshmallows
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 3/4 cup NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels
• 1/3 cup finely chopped cooked bacon
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped peanuts

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

MELT butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook 2 for 3 minutes, whisking frequently, until butter foams and starts to turn golden. Remove pan from heat and whisk in marshmallows until melted; pour into a large mixing bowl.

ADD brown sugar, peanut butter and banana to bowl. Mix together using a mixer on medium speed until creamy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, baking soda and salt until well combined, about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour, oats, semi-sweet morsels, white morsels, bacon and peanuts until just incorporated.

DROP heaping tablespoons full of dough onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing about an inch apart. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Links:

• Hunka’ Burnin’ Love Cookies
• Get a Toll House coupon
• More Elvis Music

More salty sweet combinations:

Salty and Sweet Chocolate Butter Toffee

Chocolate Dipped Caramels with Sea Salt