In Food

Enjoy a #SplendaHoliday with Peanut Butter Bacon Maple Cookies (recipe)

Author JamiePosted on Leave a comment
Enjoy Maple Peanut Butter and Bacon cookies with less added sugar with SPLENDA®

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SplendaHoliday  #CollectiveBias

Enjoy Maple Peanut Butter and Bacon cookies with less added sugar with SPLENDA®

The first time (OK, the first couple of times) I heard the idea of putting bacon in a sweet baked item, I thought people were nuts. I finally got convinced to try it and was hooked. That’s why I was excited to make my own recipe of peanut butter, maple and bacon cookies. Many of you know I’m glucose intolerant so I don’t eat items with a lot of extra sugar. With SPLENDA® Sweeteners, I’m able to enjoy my sweets but without all the added sugar.

Not a fan of the maple/bacon/peanut butter combo (why not)? You can find more Sweet Swaps™ Recipes to enjoy. I purchased everything I needed for these cookies at Walmart, including the SPLENDA® Sugar Blends. (Check out the end of this post to enter a giveaway for Walmart gift cards!)

You can find many of the ingredients for these cookies in the baking/sweetener aisle. This includes the SPLENDA® Sugar Blends.
You can find many of the ingredients for these cookies in the Walmart baking/sweetener aisle. This includes the SPLENDA® Sugar Blends.

I have a lot of fun coming up with new recipes or at least new ways to do existing recipes. To create this holiday cookie recipe, I found pieces of three different recipes then did my own variations of all those pieces. This time, it took three attempts to get the bacon and peanut butter balance just right and I think you’ll enjoy them. I will also share some of the different variations I tried in case your tastes run a little different.

First, let’s take a look at the recipe I finally came up with.

The maple bacon peanut butter cookies right before they go in the oven.
The maple bacon peanut butter cookies right before they go in the oven.

I’m putting the ingredients and steps together so if you want to print, you can copy and paste them cleanly into a Word document. I’ll show pictures after that (if you’re like me, sometimes I need to see something to really remember it).

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 sticks of butter (room temperature at least)
  • 2 tablespoons of water (divided)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1.5 tsp maple extract
  • Heaping 1/2 cup of SPLENDA® Sugar Blend (or 6 tablespoons if that’s easier to measure)
  • Heaping 1/2 cup of SPLENDA® Brown Sugar Blend (again, you can also use 6 tablespoons)
  • 3/4 cup peanut butter chips
  • 8-10 slices of baked bacon

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place a bakers cooler rack in the sheet
  3. Lay the pieces of bacon flat on the cooling rack.
  4. Bake the bacon for 10 minutes, then turn each piece.
  5. Bake the bacon until the desired level of crispness (I like mine crisp so it was about 12-15 more minutes). Once it’s out, set it aside to cool.
  6. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
  7. While you’re waiting on the bacon to bake, mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a small to medium bowl.
  8. In a separate, larger bowl (the separate part is important, I found out), blend together the extracts, the butter, both SPLENDA® sugar blends, and the eggs. Don’t think you can hand mix this. User a mixer or electric beaters.
  9. Add half the dry mix to the blended wet ingredients, along with 1 tablespoon of water. Mix well.
  10. Add the second half of the dry mix and mix that well, too. Add the remaining tablespoon of water and mix it in.
  11. Mix in the peanut butter chips, making sure they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
  12. Mix in about 7-8 pieces of crumbled bacon (heaping 1/2 cup), again making sure the bacon is evenly distributed.
  13. Drop heaping tablespoon-size hunks of dough in rows on a non-stick baking sheet. I used a “soup” spoon to make it easier.
  14. Gently press down each cookie to help it spread during baking.
  15. Place a chunk or two of the remaining bacon on each cookie, pressing firmly just enough so it’s attached.
  16. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, checking at 10 minutes for doneness. They should be light golden brown (I like the bottoms a little darker).
  17. Set aside to cool.

A few pictures and tips

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place a baker cooling rack inside.
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place a baker cooling rack inside. Make sure to use the foil lining otherwise you will have a huge mess to clean up!

 

Lay the bacon out flat over the cooling rack and bake it. 10 minutes on one side and 10-15 more minutes on the other side (until crisp).
Lay the bacon out flat over the cooling rack and bake it. 10 minutes on one side and 10-15 more minutes on the other side (until crisp). I would use real bacon instead of prepackaged bacon crumbles.

 

Tip: I put both sticks of butter straight from the refrigerator in a glass bowl. I placed the bowl on top of the stove so the heat from the oven below would slightly warm it to room temperature.
Tip: I put both sticks of butter straight from the refrigerator in a glass bowl. I placed the bowl on top of the stove so the heat from the oven below would slightly warm it to room temperature.

 

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a small-medium bowl.
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a small-medium bowl.

 

Mix in the eggs, butter, extracts, and both SPLENDA® Sugar Blends.
Mix in the eggs, butter, extracts, and both SPLENDA® Sugar Blends.

 

Be sure to beat the wet ingredients, don't hand mix. The cookies won't turn out right if you hand mix.
Be sure to beat the wet ingredients, don’t hand mix. The cookies won’t turn out right if you hand mix.

 

Add a tablespoon of water with the first half of the dry ingredients being mixed with the wet ingredients. Do the same with the second tablespoon and second half of the dry ingredients.
Add a tablespoon of water with the first half of the dry ingredients being mixed with the wet ingredients. Do the same with the second tablespoon and second half of the dry ingredients.

 

Add the 3/4 cup of peanut butter chips.
Add the 3/4 cup of peanut butter chips. Make sure they are evenly dispersed throughout the dough.

 

Put a heaping 1/2 cup of bacon pieces (about 7 pieces of bacon) and mix evenly throughout dough.
Put a heaping 1/2 cup of bacon pieces (about 7 pieces of bacon) and mix evenly throughout dough. If you want extra sweetness, sprinkle some of the brown sugar SPLENDA® on the bacon before baking. You will lose the smoky flavor, though.

 

Place heaping tablespoons in even intervals on a non-stick baking sheet. I didn't need to use spray but use your own judgement.
Place heaping tablespoons in even intervals on a non-stick baking sheet. I didn’t need to use spray but use your own judgement.

 

Press each cookie down so it will spread correctly.
Press each cookie down so it will spread correctly.

 

Gently press a small piece or two of bacon in the top of each cookie.
Gently press a small piece or two of bacon in the top of each cookie.

After 10-12 minutes, you get yummy goodness. The bacon flavor is more pronounced as the cookies sit.

Shop_Splenda_Maple_Bacon_PB_Cookies

 

Have you used SPLENDA® to enjoy a sweet dessert with less added sugar? Did you know that the SPLENDA® sugar blends require half the amount compared to regular sugar (and they have half the amount of calories)? I challenge you to try this recipe or any of these SPLENDA® Sweet Swaps Recipes this holiday season!

Now, let’s not forget that giveaway!

J&J Holiday Baking with Splenda

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.