This month I went to the Hold Steady show with a friend from law school. I felt very angelino while going to a show on a weeknight and running around in/from the torrential downpour that occurred at the end of the show. Those of you who are familiar with the phenomenon, those in California can't drive or deal with the rain. It's one of the reasons why no one walks in L.A. it's the rain (or fear of the rain.)
I'd been very curious about the Hold Steady for some time now and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. RRS now stands for "Rebel Rock Steph" as friend from law school says. The Hold Steady is a band which gives you a healthy dose of rock rock rock. Our energetic front man, Craig Finn is like an ultra excited Elvis Costello.
I often do a little research before going to the show and this guy catches a little flack for being a little chubby. "Who really cares?" is my immediate reply. We've been loving that bald Billy Corgan and also chubby Frank Black for years. Get over it fourteen year olds.
One of my favorite songs, and a crowd favorite as well was called "Chips Ahoy"
Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Bacon chocolate chip cookies- (this is for a FULL batch)
3/4 cup butter(It has been suggested that using 1 full cup of butter works best due to cookie dough dryness) 2/3 cup packed brown sugar 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon hazelnut (or almond) extract *Edit- It has been suggested that the almond flavouring may be overpowering to the flavour of the cookie, feel free to add this ingredient to taste* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 egg (It has been suggested that using 2 eggs works best due to cookie dough dryness) 2 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup white chocolate chips 1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 cups bacon bits (if preferred, you can separate the dough into two parts and only make half of the dough into bacon cookies, in which case you'll only want to use 1 cup bacon bits)
*An important note- Be sure to use real bacon bits, not Bacos *See large print at the bottom of this post*
Also, you can make your own bacon bits, just make sure you pat down the bacon chunks with paper towels to remove as much extra bacon grease as possible. *Edit* one of my readers made their own bacon bits and found out that apparently it takes about 2lbs of bacon to make 2 cups of bacon bits, just for future reference.
Directions-
preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
Beat together the butter, sugars, flavouring and eggs until creamy. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and stir together. Dough will be slightly soft. If you want a cakier cookie, add another half cup of flour. Add in chocolate chips and bacon bits. Stir until well integrated. Place dough on a sheet of waxed paper and refrigerate at least an hour. Remove dough from fridge, pinch off 1 1/2 inch pieces of dough and roll into balls. Set dough balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten dough balls slightly with your fingers in the center.
Bake cookies for about 10 minutes, or until the dough starts to turn golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on a cooling rack while you ready the glaze.
Maple cinnamon glaze-
2 cups powdered sugar 1 tablespoon maple extract 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon cinnamon *edit- it has been suggested that 1 teaspoon may be a bit much, so go ahead and add to taste* enough water to make a thick glaze (I used about 3 tablespoons)
Mix all ingredients together until smooth and creamy. If lumpy, use a whisk.
Spread a small amount of the glaze on the top of each cookie and top with a small piece of crisp cooked bacon.
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