Pig-Kissed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Directions

1. Start with the candied bacon so it has time to cool. Heat the oven the 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a jellyroll pan with aluminum foil and set a wire cooling rack on the foil. Set aside.
2. Place 2 strips of bacon in a quart-sized self-sealing bag, along with 2 tbsp of brown sugar. Massage the sugar onto the bacon. Remove from the bag and stretch out along the cooling rack on the pan.
3. Once all the bacon is in place, sprinkle on 1 tbsp of brown sugar. Place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven, flip over the bacon and sprinkle on the last tbsp of brown sugar.
5. Place back in the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes.
6. Once cooled, crumble the candied bacon and set aside.
7. For the cookies, heat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and position the racks upper- and lower-middle positions. Line 2 large baking sheets with bakers silicone or parchment paper.
8. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
9. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk and vanilla until smooth.
10. Add the dry ingredients gradually and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and the crumbled candied bacon
11. Form about 1 tbsp of the dough into a rough ball. Do not flatten; if anything, make the ball a little taller than it is wide.
12. Bake until the cookies for 7-8 minutes, then rotate the sheets front to back and top to bottom, baking for an additional 7-8 minutes.
13. Let the cookies stand on the baking sheets for a minute or two, then transfer them to cooling racks.