Marry Me Cookies (Bacon Cookies!)
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If you’re hoping to encourage the special someone in your life to ask a big question this weekend 💍 I have just the thing to nudge them down to one knee.* These “Marry Me” cookies are loaded with caramel, sea salt, dark chocolate and bacon and no one in their right mind will let you out of their sight once they’ve tasted them.
The idea for these bacon cookies started as a Valentine’s idea. Even though I’m baking almost constantly, Zach rarely gets excited about what I’m making. He’s just not much of a desserts person and unless he smells bacon sizzling on the stovetop he doesn’t often come around asking for samples.
So I thought I’d invent this recipe as sort of a love letter to him for Valentine’s Day and I married together one of my favorite cookie bases (my brown butter chocolate chip cookies, though the add-ins would be excellent with my worst chocolate chip cookies, too) with his favorite thing in the world: bacon.
I tripped over him in the kitchen not long after he heard the bacon sizzling and, even though I’d kept the bacon flavor to a minimum to keep it from overwhelming the other (incredible) flavors, after one bite he told me that if we weren’t already married he’d propose to me right then and there. He’s asked me to make them three times since then and we’ve just been referring to them as the “Marry Me” cookies. And while I can’t guarantee you’ll also receive a marriage proposal (belated or not), after careful analysis I believe this recipe is at least 85% likely to procure you one. I mean, just look at it.
If you follow me on Instagram you already got a sneak peek at these cookies and in fact, I’m only even publishing the recipe today because so many of you asked me to share. Let’s get to it!
What You Need
The base recipe is essentially a chocolate chip cookie base (a really, really good one) with a few over-the-top add-ins. Let’s discuss just a few of the key ingredients:
- Butter. We’re browning the butter for best flavor (more on that below). NOTE: I also tried a few variations of this recipe where I substituted a small amount of the butter with bacon grease but Zach and I were both shockingly underwhelmed by the results.
- Flour. You’ll use all-purpose flour. As with all of my recipes you want to measure the flour accurately, but it’s especially critical with this recipe as it’s already prone to being stiff and slightly crumbly and accidentally using more flour than called for can make the dough too crumbly to work with.
- Bacon. Use real bacon you’ve cooked to crisp yourself! What I love about this recipe is that the bacon flavor is present without being overwhelming. I use 1/2 cup of crumbled bacon, but feel free to up this to 2/3 cup or even a bit more if you really want a lot of bacon flavor.
- Caramel. You may use caramel baking bits or, if you can’t find them, just buy classic soft caramels and use a sharp knife to cut them into small pieces (which is what I did).
- Chocolate. You could use a scant cup of chocolate chips, but I prefer to finely chop a quality chocolate bar. The easiest way to do this is to use a large sharp knife and go over the chocolate bar in a mincing motion just as if you were mincing garlic. It makes for a melty chocolate experience in every bite.
Remember, this is just an overview of some of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Why Brown Butter?
Browning your butter is one of the absolute best thing you can do for most of your baked goods. If you’ve never done it before I recommend checking out my post on how to brown butter before beginning, though I do briefly walk through the (easy) steps in the recipe card.
Essentially you’re cooking out much of the water and browning the milk solids that remain. This gives the butter (and in turn the cookies) a rich and deep flavor.
The butter will need to cool to room temperature before you can add your sugar to make your cookie dough. Use this cooling period to cook your bacon!
How to Make Bacon Cookies
- After browning (and cooling!) your butter, add your sugar, vanilla, and eggs and stir well.
- Whisk together your dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then gradually (in 4-5 parts) stir the dry mixture into the batter.
- Stir in add-ins; we’re using caramel, chocolate, and BACON.
- Scoop, roll, and bake until light golden brown.
Frequently Asked Questions
This is a more dry dough by nature. We’ve cooked out a lot of the water from the butter (so the liquid is reduced there) and added cornstarch and the end result is a dough that’s stiff but actually perfect for making without waiting for it to chill. Because of that, it’s extremely important that you do two things properly:
1) Add your flour gradually (I add mine in 4 parts). Adding it all at once makes it nearly impossible for the dough to properly absorb all of the flour, making for a crumbly dough.
2) Measure your flour properly. This means using a scale (ideally!) or stirring the flour in its container, spooning it lightly into your measuring cup, and then leveling the top of the measuring cup with the back of a knife.
I do not recommend it. Bacon bits made with artificial flavoring will give your cookies that same artificial flavor (yuck!) and the ones made of real bacon are too dry and chewy to work well here.
This dough is a fairly dry and crumbly one by nature. Unfortunately, the longer it sits the more dry it becomes. I recommend scooping/rolling all of your cookies shortly after mixing the batter. If you want to store, save the rolled cookies, but don’t store the dough by itself in a bowl with the hopes of scooping later.
These cookies will keep up to a week in an airtight container at room temperature.
Marriage proposal likely but not guaranteed and will be dependent on the work you put into the relationship prior to sharing cookies. I can’t do all the work here, my goodness.
Risk of receiving an unwanted marriage proposal is medium-to-high so share with caution.
More Recipes You Might Like
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!
Bacon Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar
- ⅔ cup (135 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups (340 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- flaky sea salt for sprinkling, optional
- ⅔ cup caramel bits or chopped caramels, I cut 12 soft caramels into 6 pieces each
- 4 oz (113 g) semisweet chocolate bar, finely chopped
- ½ heaping cup crumbled bacon, about 5 slices
Instructions
First, brown your butter:
- Place butter in a medium-sized saucepan and melt over medium/low heat.1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter
- Once butter has melted, increase stovetop heat to just above medium heat and stir constantly. The butter will begin to bubble and sizzle. Keep stirring.
- Once you notice bits beginning to turn golden brown on the bottom, remove the butter from heat and pour into a large heatproof bowl. Let this cool to room temperature before proceeding.
Cookie Dough
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Once butter is no longer warm to the touch, add sugars and stir well.1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, ⅔ cup (135 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and stir until completely combined.2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt (not the sea salt, reserve that for topping).2 ¾ cups (340 g) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Gradually (in 4-5 parts) add your flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until ingredients are completely combined after each addition. Batter will be stiff, this is normal.
- Add caramel pieces, chopped chocolate, and crumbled bacon and stir until combined.⅔ cup caramel bits or chopped caramels, 4 oz (113 g) semisweet chocolate bar, ½ heaping cup crumbled bacon
- Scoop dough into 2 Tablespoon-sized scoops and gently roll in your hands to form a ball. Place on prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies 2” apart.
- Bake on 375F (190C) for 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are beginning to turn golden brown. Immediately sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt.flaky sea salt for sprinkling
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet then enjoy.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
*I don’t need to disclaim that this is tongue-in-cheek and meant to imply that these are incredible cookies, right? Right.
These are INSANELY great!!! Great tailgate item and conversation starter! Thank you!
So glad they were a hit for you, Melissa! ❤️
I’ve made this recipe three times now, and each time they disappear within about 2 days. It’s become a regular crowd pleaser. This time, I browned the butter ahead of time and then just warmed it in the microwave to reduce the prep time, and this latest batch was the most delicious yet (although they’re consistently the best cookies I’ve ever made).
I’m so glad everyone has enjoyed them so much, Megan! 🙂
HI , Sam. Made these cookies over the weekend. Family and neighbors like them very much. The only change I made is I minced the bacon first then cooked over low heat till crisped. These cookies good OH so well with coffee..
Thank you.
We’re so happy these cookies were a hit for you, Philip! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 😊
What kind of brown sugar did you use? I typically only have dark brown sugar on hand would that impact the flavour or the bacon?
Hi Marshall! This recipe was designed to use light brown sugar, but dark brown could work too. It will have a stronger flavor though, so just keep that in mind.
I would love to ship these to my brother in Cali. How long do you think they will keep?
They should keep for up to a week in an air tight container. 🙂
OMG!! THESE ARE THE BOMBEST BAVON COOKIE EVER!!
We’re so happy you like the cookies, Joanne! Thanks so much for your review ❤️
I made these this weekend for an annual Friendsgiving. Each year we have a food competition, and the theme of this year was pork. Everyone LOVED these cookies, and I ended up winning the competition! These cookies are incredibly delicious!! It’s my new go-to recipe for special events!
I made these this weekend. Everyone loved them. I’m a little more critical about things i make. So I have a question. In the video you indicate that the dough might be a little dry, I thought mine was a little wet or sticky. Didn’t seem dry. Then I baked the cookies until the edges started to brown. I thought the cookies were not moist at this point. Dryer than I expected. What do you think I did wrong? I browned the butter. I stirred the flour in the container first. Baked for 9 or 10 minutes. I may try 8 min next time. Would a little more butter help me?
Hi Jill! I wouldn’t use more butter, I would make sure the butter is not hot or even warm when you add the other ingredients to it and yes I think baking a bit less time would also help. Let me know how that works for you, I’d be happy to help troubleshoot further if needed!
I made these this morning. Fantastic! I would marry me.
The dough was not as dry or crumbly as I expected. I think my eggs were on the large side (I always buy large but the size definitely varies. Go figure.) so maybe that’s why? Anyway, 9 1/2 minutes on convection bake and they’re perfect.
😂 We’re so happy you liked them, Mirea! Yes, that could definitely be the case. We’re glad they turned out for you regardless 😊
Hi!!! this cookies look amazing! This totally might be a silly question! I watched the video and saw you mixed everything by hand. Can i use a mixer for this or will it cause the batter to get overmixed?
Thanks so much!
Hi Tara! You could use a hand mixer, but the dough is so easy to make it’s not really needed here. You also want to be careful to not break up your add-ins too much when stirring them in. 🙂
Hi what is crumble bacon.
You can make bacon and crumble it, or you can buy premade bacon crumbles in the store. I typically find them by the salad toppings. 🙂
Hello!
Question, can you substitute mini chocolate chips for the semi-sweet chocolate bar?
I have a hard time finely chopping things.
Hi Jay! Yes that will be totally fine. Enjoy!
I’ve made these twice now but use toffee bits because I don’t ever have caramels on hand and they are perfect! Sweet and salty all in one! My favorite cookie right now!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Karla! My husband keeps telling me I need to make them more often. 🤣
Made them for my husband and girls today, they were loved by all! Great recipe, thanks!
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Lara! 🙂
Hi. How many days are these good for?
Hi Whitney! They should last at least a week in an air tight container at room temperature. 🙂
Short story, I first made your white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and they turned out INSANE. Like, holy pants on fire insane, my entire family couldn’t get enough of it, I had relatives who I hadn’t heard from in years, who received a sample from another relative, just to ask me how I baked something so amazing. And then a day later I realized I was mildly allergic to macadamia nuts and they were causing some uncomfortable side effects. So I went on a quest to make those into a chocolate chip variety, and found your brown butter chocolate chip version, and they too came out quite amazing, though maybe a slight notch below the white macadamia version, minus the throat swelling. And now you’re telling me there is a bacon version?! What next, self driving brown butter cookies? Well I know what I am doing this weekend, I just finally got both a cookie scoop and a girlfriend who is mandated by the government to be stuck inside with me on valentines day, so this is going to be great! Wish me luck and thanks for another great recipe.
🤣 I’m so glad you have enjoyed the cookies so much, Jay! I’m glad the reaction to the nuts weren’t too horrible. That’s really scary! I hope everyone loves these just as much as the others. 🙂
Great idea never thought of that before!
I’d marry you without the cookies Sam!
🤣
I made these with homemade soft caramels…. SO GOOD.
That’s all I have to say.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! My husband could not stop eating them!!
I noticed that you hand mix/stir everything. Will using a stand mixer change the outcome at all? Can I use a stand mixer?
Can I double the recipe out of the gate, or will that affect the balance and outcome of the cookies??
Thanks for your help! Excited to try this!
Hi Mary! You can use a stand mixer here without issues. You shouldn’t have any issue doubling the recipe right from the start. 🙂