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Soft Maple Bacon Cookies
Are you tired of the same old boring cookies? Yes. Want to add some excitement to your baking routine? Also, yes. Look no further than these Soft Maple Bacon Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting! Because who needs raisins or chocolate chips when you can have BACON in your cookies?!Â
A delicious variation of our popular Soft Snickerdoodle Cake Cookies, these treats take things to the next level with the addition of everyone’s favorite breakfast meat.
Some may question the pairing of bacon and maple in a cookie, but those in the know understand that these two flavor powerhouses were destined to unite. The salty, smoky goodness of bacon dances harmoniously with the sweet, rich flavor of maple, creating a taste sensation that defies explanation. It’s like a flavor explosion in your mouth, with each bite offering a perfect balance of savory and sweet. So don’t knock it ’til you try it, because once you do, you’ll never go back to boring old chocolate chip cookies again.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love these Maple Bacon Cookies
• Perfect balance of flavors: The combination of maple and bacon in these cookies creates a perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors. The rich, buttery cookie base is perfectly complemented by the smoky, salty taste of bacon and the sweet, syrupy goodness of maple.
• Unique and unexpected: Maple bacon cookies are a unique and unexpected twist on the classic cookie recipe. They are sure to impress your friends and family and add a touch of excitement to any dessert table or party spread.
• Easy to make: Despite their fancy flavor profile, these cookies are surprisingly easy to make. This recipe uses simple, easy-to-find ingredients and requires only basic baking skills. Plus, with step-by-step instructions and helpful tips, even novice bakers can create delicious, picture-perfect cookies every time.
What to serve with Maple Bacon Cookies
• Milk or coffee: A glass of cold milk or a hot cup of coffee are classic companions to cookies, and they also work well with maple bacon cookies. The creamy, slightly sweet taste of milk helps balance out the salty bacon and sweet maple flavors, while a strong cup of coffee provides a complementary bitter note.
• Vanilla ice cream: Maple bacon cookies are also delicious when paired with vanilla ice cream. The creamy, cool ice cream helps cut through the richness of the cookies, while adding another layer of sweetness and flavor.
• Cheese plate: For a more savory pairing, try serving maple bacon cookies with a cheese plate. Choose a variety of cheeses, such as cheddar, brie, and gouda, and add some nuts and fruits to balance out the flavors.
• Apple slices: Another way to balance out the sweetness of maple bacon cookies is to serve them with some sliced apples. The tartness of the apples provides a refreshing contrast to the rich, savory flavors of the cookies.
• Bourbon or whiskey: For a grown-up pairing, serve maple bacon cookies with a glass of bourbon or whiskey. The smoky, complex flavors of these spirits complement the bacon and maple flavors of the cookies, making for a delicious and sophisticated dessert.
Handy Tools/Equipment
Ingredients for Maple Bacon Cookies
The dry ingredients:
• flour
• cream of tartar
• cornstarch
• baking soda
• baking powder
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• salt
The wet ingredients:
• butter
• brown sugar
• granulated sugar
• eggs at room temperature
• maple extract
Frosting ingredients:
• cream cheese at room temperature
• softened butter
• maple extract
• powdered sug
• Flour– a structural component of the cookies. I used regular all-purpose flour. You can use bleached or unbleached.
• Butter– I use salted butter for this recipe. However, I’ve made this recipe with unsalted butter as well and there has been no difference in taste.
• Cream of tartar, baking soda, and baking powder– the power triad. Cream of tartar is a classic staple of the Snickerdoodle that adds a hint of tart and complements the baking soda and baking powder to aid in the leavening and make these little gems so cakey. The cream of tartar also gives these cookies their soft chewy cakiness by preventing the brown sugar and granulated sugar from crystalizing and becoming crunchy. By itself, cream of tartar has no leavening capacity, but when added to baking soda, magic happens.
• Red and Green Gel food coloring
• Maple Extract
How to make Maple Bacon Cookies
- Slice your raw bacon in half inch wide strips. In a large frying pan, cook the bacon slowly, on medium heat. Fry bacon just until it begins to get crisp. You want to find the sweet spot between flopping and crunchy.
- Remove bacon from frying pan and let it drain on a paper towel to absorb extra grease.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 350F. Â
- In a mixing bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar just until light, fluffy, and aerated. This should be the 3 minute mark. Â Creaming the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar introduces little air pockets into the cookie dough and supports the cake-like nature of these cookies. Add eggs one by one, then add vanilla. Â Mix on medium until consistency is smooth and uniform.Â
- Â In a separate mixing bowl, add flour, cream of tartar, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Â Whisk until mixed.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix on low with a hand mixer or stand mixer just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. It’s important not to overmix these cookies. Overmixing your cookie dough will result in overdeveloping the gluten and will result in overly gummy cookies.
- Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes before rolling out the cookies. This will make them easier to form into balls.
- Form 1 inch cookie balls with the palms of your hands (or a medium cookie dough scoop) With the palm of your hand or the bottom of a clear glass, gently flatten the cookie dough balls until they are approximately twice the area of your cookie dough ball.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes and let cool on baking rack completely before frosting
How to make the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream the room temperature salted butter, room temperature cream cheese, maple extract and powdered sugar on medium for 4 minutes. Â If you find that your frosting is too thin, you can add 1/2 cup of additional powdered sugar.
- Add 3 drops of green gel food coloring and 2 drops of red gel food coloring and mix to get your maple brown hue.
- Transfer your cream cheese frosting into a piping or Ziplock bag and get to work! I use either a 12 or 13-piping tip to make the swirls.  Â
- Just a heads up, making the perfect swirls took me a little time to get down. The key to swirling success is to not hold the tip of the frosting bag too close to the cookie. Keep about 1.5-2 inches of distance between the tip of the frosting bag and the cookie for more accessible and more fluid maneuvering.
Recipe FAQs
Recipes like snickerdoodles has a slight characteristic tang to them. These recipes, along with ones like buttermilk pancakes will use both baking powder and baking soda to maintain the slight tangy flavor in the right ratio while keeping the height of these cookies.
Creaming the butter and sugars introduces air into the cookie dough. Mixing, beating, and stirring all work to combine ingredients but creaming works to aerate. Think of it as the 4th leavening ingredient to this recipe.Â
Yes! The frosting does use cream cheese, so definitely stick them in the refrigerator in an airtight container when not enjoying them!
Cookies will keep up to 7 days refrigerated in an airtight container.
I have never tried to make the frosting with any other coloring modality. If you try a different coloring modality, let me know!
Kitchen Pearls
• The key to frosting swirling success is to not hold the tip of the frosting bag too close to the cookie, it will magnify all your movements. Keep about 1.5-2 inches of distance between the tip of the frosting bag and the cookie for easier and more fluid maneuvering.
• I refrigerate my cream cheese frosting for 1 hour before frosting the cookies.  When you’re piping the swirl design, the firmer consistently will keep a crisp swirl design
Storage
• The frosting does use cream cheese, so definitely stick them in the refrigerator in an airtight container when not enjoying them!
• Cookies will keep up to 7 days refrigerated in an airtight container.
Maple Bacon Cookies
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
PRINT RECIPE RATE RECIPE PIN RECIPEIngredients
Maple Bacon Cookies
- 16 ounces thick cut bacon
Cookie Dough
- 3 sticks salted butter, at room temperature
- 1.5 cups granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3 teaspoon vanilla
- 4.5 cups all purpose flour
- 6 tablespoon cornstarch
- 0.75 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 0.75 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 0.75 teaspoon salt
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- 12 tablespoons salted butter
- 4 teaspoon maple extract
- 4.5 to 5 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Maple Bacon Cookies
- Cook bacon strips in a large frying pan until they begin to get crisp. Remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350℉.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light, fluffy, and aerated. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth and uniform.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until just incorporated. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and gently flatten them with the palm of your hand or the bottom of a clear glass.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes and let cool completely on a baking rack.
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream room temperature salted butter, room temperature cream cheese, maple extract, and powdered sugar on medium for 4 minutes. Add additional powdered sugar if needed to thicken the frosting.
- Add 3 drops of green gel food coloring and 2 drops of red gel food coloring to achieve a maple brown hue.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag or Ziplock bag and pipe swirls onto the cooled cookies. I use either a 12 or 13 piping tip to make the swirls.
Notes
- Keep about 1.5-2 inches of distance between the tip of the frosting bag and the cookie for easier and more fluid maneuvering while piping swirls.
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About the Author
Casey Kolp
Cheers! I’m Casey! Get ready for a blog full of wanderlust, culinary adventures, and unfiltered opinions – where I spill the tea (and the wine) on all things food, lifestyle, and travel!
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