Bacon Grease Chocolate Chip Cookies

Leave your cookie monsters guessing about the secret ingredient in these tasty Bacon Grease Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Bacon Grease Chocolate Chip Cookies

Writing this blog I consulted with friends near and far to assess people's bacon saving experience and habits.

And believe me when I tell you I asked around. I was traveling to and from DC when writing this post and asked random people in the airport, on the plane, and in my conference.

Is it really possible that people don't know that bacon grease is liquid gold that's full of rich flavor?

What did I find out? Shockingly, some people don't save the fat that is rendered when cooking bacon. GASP!

If you don't save your bacon fat, we can still be friends. But I'll keep an eye on you. 😉

And, I'll give you some guidance here on how to save bacon grease, why to save bacon grease, and what to do with it.

Spoiler Alert: Make these bacon fat chocolate chip cookies!

What to do with Bacon Grease

Saving Bacon Grease: A friend of mine from Arkansas once told me you can render a Southerner speechless, by saying, "Why don't you just throw that bacon grease out?".

My people saved lots of things in case someone needed them--jars, plastic containers, paper bags, rags, seeds, etc.

However, saving bacon grease, for my people is almost a religion.

Pro Tips

• You can strain your bacon grease from cooked bacon in a jar to use later. Some people find it best to pour the grease through a fine strainer in a heat proof container, such as a Mason jar.
• My sweet baby angel daughter bought me a grease can for Mother's Day this year and I sure love it! I wonder how I ever lived without it! Go ahead and snag one for you (or your momma).
• I stir my cookie dough by hand using a wooden spoon so I have better control over the amount of stirring. If you must use a mixer and paddle attachment, mix on low. And note, the amount of mixing should be minimal when adding the egg, flour, and chocolate chips to ensure a tender cookie.
• Ensure the baking sheets are cool when scooping dough onto them to prevent cookies from spreading out before they enter the oven. I find it helpful to rotate 2 cookie sheets, allowing 1 to cool while the second batch bakes.

Ingredients for Bacon Grease Chocolate Chip Cookies

Utilizing my Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies recipes as a starting point, I found that subbing bacon grease for half of the butter was the "sweet spot", so to speak for delicious chocolate chip cookies that are perfectly tender, sweet, and soft.

I betcha no one can guess your secret ingredient.

• Bacon Grease
• Unsalted Butter
• White Sugar
• Dark Brown Sugar
• Large Egg
• Pure Vanilla Extract
• All Purpose Flour
• Baking Soda
• Kosher Salt
• Semi-Sweet or Dark Chocolate Chips

How To Store Bacon Grease

According to our friends at Southern Living: To safely store bacon grease, you must first get rid of any small bits of bacon that are left behind:

• Place a coffee filter or cheesecloth over the mouth of a glass container, like a Mason jar, or a container made for bacon drippings. Press the filter down so that it fits snugly inside the mouth of the jar.
• Slowly pour the warm (not hot!) bacon grease into the jar—don't rush this step. (It's easier to do this if you transfer the drippings from the skillet into a glass measuring cup.) The coffee filter will trap whatever is left behind in the grease, leaving it nice and clear. You can also use a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth if you don't have coffee filters on hand.

Removing the bacon bits will also help prevent the grease from going rancid and it's best to store it in the fridge.

FAQ

How to Make Bacon Grease Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the room temperature bacon fat into the unsalted butter.

Add white and brown sugars to the butter and bacon grease. Cream them together until they are light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla, lightly incorporate these two ingredients. Don't get to crazy stirring the egg in or your cookies will be a tough.

Add carefully measured all-purpose flour to the cookie mixture. When measuring flour make sure you stir the flour and never tap it or shake it. It should be measured with very light hands. Also add baking soda and salt.

Stir just until the dry ingredients are mixed in. Scrape the sides of the bowl and fold in semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Scoop walnut-sized scoops of dough using a cookie scoop (maybe ping pong ball sized for those who need a different visual) onto the cool baking sheet.

Leave plenty of room for the cookies to spread--3 cookies to a row is usually about right for most people's cookie sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.

Allow cookies to set on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes to firm up before removing them to a cooling rack.

Substitutions and Variations

This recipe is an excellent base recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Feel free to substitute butter for bacon grease, if needed.

Choose a Chip Cookie--Try any flavor of baking chip you enjoy. I think caramel bits and butterscotch chips are close seconds to chocolate in my house.

Bacon Grease Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies--instead of baking individual cookies, pour the cookie batter into a greased 9x9 baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Fruity Bacon Grease Chocolate Chip Cookies--add raisins or dried cranberries to the batter for a little interest.

Nutty Bacon Grease Chocolate Chip Cookies--add nuts along with chocolate chips. Try pecans, walnuts, pistachios, etc.

Bacon Cookies--Add some chopped bacon to the batter if you want to lift up the bacon flavor. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with flaky sea salt, if desired.

Storing Bacon Grease Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies will store well in an airtight container for up to a week. Of course, these last about 1 hour here.

The dough can be refrigerated for 2-3 days.

Or frozen for 2-3 months. If freezing it, I would suggest making it into cookie balls before freezing for ease. Scoop your dough into balls, place on a cookie sheet, and allow to freeze. Then put the cookie dough balls into a freezer bag for easier storage.

Why use bacon grease in Chocolate Chip Cookies?

1. For the love of bacon, it's fun.
2. It's a great way to use bacon grease when I have an abundance.
3. It's cost-effective as bacon grease is considered a by-product by some.
4. These cookies are delicious!

What can I make with bacon grease?

Other than these delicious cookies--I use bacon grease for many savory applications including cooking beans, in salad dressings, to flavor green beans, to cook an egg, instead of oil in cornbread, etc.

Equipment

Cookie Sheets are so handy to have around. You need at least 2 so you can alternate them and allow them to cool between batches.

Cooking Racks are important so your cookies cool without sticking together or to the plate/countertop.

Cookie Scoops make it easy to scoop your dough and keep all the cookies similar in size so they cook evenly.

Related Recipes

I love a good dessert--especially a chocolate one (that's likely evident in our dessert category! Try out our Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies, Espresso Brownies, Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Filling, or Chocolate Chip Mug Cake.

DID YOU TRY THIS RECIPE?

If you have any questions about this recipe, please leave a comment below. I'll do my best to answer you quickly!

Lastly, if you made Bacon Grease Chocolate Chip Cookies following this recipe, please let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and/or giving a rating!

I love hearing from you! I'll do my best to respond to each comment.

And of course, if you do make this recipe, tag @laughingroostereats on Instagram and hashtag it #laughingroostereats! Seeing your photos is our favorite thing!

FOOD SAFETY

• Wash hands before cooking
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended