Bacon Chocolate Chip Biscuits

Roo has a thing for Mo's Dark Chocolate Bacon Bar from Vosges. In fact he relishes his "chocolate bacon" so much that he received the Mini Bacon Chocolate Library for Christmas. By now we're all well-versed in the trend. Bacon and chocolate, chocolate and bacon. Old news, right?

But how about the crispest brown sugar-crusted bacon to ever grace your lips entwined with gooey, bittersweet chocolate wrapped in the warm buttery hug of a fluffy, buttermilk biscuit?

That's what I thought.

This all started because Deb over at Smitten Kitchen has this recipe in her killer new cookbook (which, in my house is already dog-eared and exploding with butter stains and a rainbow of post-it-notes) for Maple Bacon Biscuits. I like bacon. Bacon is my friend. There's a jar of bacon grease living on my kitchen window sill. It's kind of like a sun catcher but way more utilitarian. But maple syrup? Eh.

Born and raised in the Great Northeast it's a sacrilege to shun maple syrup, but I can't help it. It just doesn't do it for me, unless it's in a cocktail shaker with a few fingers of bourbon and lots of freshly squeezed lemon juice but that's a story for another day.

 Chocolate, though. Chocolate I can get behind in all its guises.

We're going to be candying some bacon in a minute here. It's crucial to point out that once you have completed this process you will never be the same. From this day forward you will in all likelihood require brown sugar-crusted bacon on peanut butter (or in our case, SunButter) toast. You will sprinkle it on frosted cupcakes. You will use it to garnish pasta, spinach salads, and in homemade granola. You might even find yourself tossing the last few crumbles into a French press along with the coffee grounds just to see. I thought I had better let you know.

Bacon Chocolate Chip Biscuits
Inspired by The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
makes 12 2-inch biscuits

6 slices thick-cut bacon (about 6 ounces)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
8 tbsp (1 stick) cold butter, diced
4 tbsp cold bacon fat (or 4 additional tbsp cold butter, diced)
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1 scant cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil (trust me here). Place a metal cross wire cooling rack on top of the foil lined baking sheet. Spread the brown sugar in a shallow dish and dredge the bacon slices from tip to tail on both sides, pressing the sugar to make it stick. Lay the coated bacon on the wire rack. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the bacon is very crisp and dark at the edges. Let the bacon cool slightly, use a spatula to release the strips from the wire rack, then cool completely. Chop into small pieces.

Turn the oven up to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Use a pastry cutter or two forks to cut in the cold butter and bacon fat until the largest clumps are the size of small peas. (If you don't happen to keep a jar of bacon fat on your window sill like me, all is not lost. You can safely substitute more butter for the bacon fat, though I suggest you consider reserving your bacon grease going forward. Try it on roasted Brussels sprouts instead of oil and top with what else? Candied bacon!)

Stir in the chopped bacon bits and chocolate chips. Add the buttermilk all at once and stir gently until just combined. Dump the dough onto a well floured surface and knead it a couple of times until it holds together. The less you handle it the better. Gently press the dough to a 1-inch thickness. Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter or inverted drinking glass to cut out 12 biscuits. Place the biscuits on the parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes until the tops are light golden brown.

Egg-free Sunbutter Cookies

Among the joys I lament Roo missing out on due to his allergies, a tray of peanut butter cookies cooling on the counter ranks near the top, right behind family vacation to Thailand.

It's not just the infatuating aroma of nutty goodness wafting through the fall leaves as he steps off the school bus or the crumbly hunger quelling first bite after swimming lessons, it's the process. I have such fond memories of hovering over a tray while my mom rolled neat balls, poised with my fork, ready to press in the telltale crisscross pattern that proclaims, stop what you're doing, there are homemade peanut butter cookies over here!

We've been using peanut butter substitutes for years on sandwiches, in sauces, on crackers, apples, and much more. To be fair we've all grown quite fond of Sunbutter as a worthy substitute. But, we've already lost eggs in our baking due to, you guessed it, Roo's allergies, and I get nervous when we start over-substituting. Up until now I've avoided making Sunbutter cookies all together for fear of their shortcomings without peanut butter or eggs.

Sometimes someone should shake me. I made these and maybe it's been too long since I tasted real peanut butter, but I could not tell the difference. I kid you not, these are the real deal.

Egg-Free Sunbutter Cookies
adapted from Food.com

1/2 cup sunflower butter (we use Sunbutter)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla
1 & 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the sunflower butter, both sugars, butter and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour, salt, baking powder and soda and mix again until combined. Stir in chocolate chips, if using.
2. With clean hands, roll the dough into balls, about 1/2-inch diameter. Place on a cookie sheet. Enlist your favorite child or children to gently mark each cookie with a fork in a crisscross pattern.
3. Bake 8-10 minutes until light golden brown. Allow tray to sit for a few minutes then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.