bacon chocolate chip cookies

What's not to love about a bacon chocolate chip cookie?  It's sweet and savory in each bite.  First I placed six slices of bacon on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprinkled fresh ground black pepper and brown sugar on each piece. I baked the bacon at 350°F for about 15 minutes - checking every few minutes to ensure that I did not burn it. Next I followed the directions on the Nestle Toll House box, which stated it made four dozen cookies. However, I only had enough dough for two dozen; I made one dozen with bacon (using three strips of bacon). I usually pat the bacon dry with paper towels; but, for this dessert I added some bacon grease to the batter.  They were soft and chewy and much better than the "plain" chocolate chip cookies. 

Bear and Polar Bear Toast

What a cute and simple way to serve toast!  I turned regular whole wheat toast into bear toast with soy butter, bananas, and chocolate chips, then added powdered sugar to create polar bear toast.  You could even substitute the chocolate chips for raisins, make a circular bear head with an English muffin, or change the soy butter to peanut butter.  What's on your bear toast?

Macadamia Nut Cookies with White and Chocolate Chips

M and I made these Macadamia Nut Cookies with White and Chocolate Chips for my Christmas Cookie Exchange.  The original recipe was here, but we tweaked it a bit. We tested the recipe first, which stated that it yielded 4 dozen, but those were TINY cookies.... so the second time around we formed much larger cookies - about 20. 

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. 
 
2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter, shortening, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. 

3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a fork.  Then add them to the above mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract. 

4. Combine the flours, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the macadamia nuts and chips.

5.  Roll the dough into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten and shape the cookies with your hands or fork. 

6. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.