With comedy odes to the cured confection and a smattering of hot young chefs rethinking the salty ingredient, bacon is back on the menu as a decadent treat to finish the meal. Portland’s Voodoo Donut is turning out the maple glazed bacon donut. LA’s Animal Restaurant , which was our LA dining highlight this summer, has found a hit in its Bacon Chocolate Crunch Bar with Salt and Pepper Anglaise. And closer to home, Edmonton’s Kerstin’s Chocolates boldly offered chocolate covered bacon for those salt loving Dads for Father’s Day.

Inspired by pork, salt, chocolate, and those that have gone before, I embarked upon the Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookie project. With a recipe in hand that had only too many disclaimers about adjusting this and that to avoid dryness, I decided that I would adapt my own perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. It goes a little something like this….

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies with Maple Cinnamon Glaze

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2-1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups of cooked bacon bits (Good quality bacon is key. A quick cheat: use the fresh cooked bacon bits from Sunterra Market)

1 cup dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

5 strips of cooked bacon, cooled and cut into one inch strips (to top the cookies)

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp maple extract

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp water

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, and set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla, until light and fluffy. Gradually stir flour mixture into creamed mixture.

Add both chocolate chips and cooked bacon bits. Mix to incorporate.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a cookie scoop (my favorite cookie baking tool next to parchment paper) or your hands, make approximately one inch balls.

Bake for a total of 9-10 minutes. I recommend swapping the cookie sheets racks half way through baking to ensure even baking of both.

While the cookies bake, mix the Maple Cinnamon Glaze by combining the powdered sugar, maple extract, vanilla, and cinnamon, and mix together until smooth and creamy.

Once baked, move cookies to a cooling rack, add a small amount of glaze, and top with the reserved squares of crisp bacon.

Soft, chewy, sweet, salty, indulgent cookie perfection. Warm from the oven, they were so good that I forgot to share.