Yeaaaahhhh, so I grilled cookies. {O.M.G.} Even if you don’t have a Big Green Egg, you can do the same thing in your grill. Or almost the same thing in your oven.
With The Big Green Egg (or any other smoker) you can add wood chips, AKA add smoke, AKA grill and smoke cookies. Holy moly. AAAAND, I didn’t just grill any cookies. No, no. no. I grilled bacon chocolate chip cookies.
The idea came about after I shared Grilled Pizza Brava. I was raving to my pal about the amazing smoky flavor it added to the pizza <–FAB-U-louuuuus, by the way. She mentioned that her parents do that on their Egg and then they grill chocolate chip cookies. Oh my gosh.
So I got this idea into my head about grilling cookies. “Cookies” immediately make me think of my fav: Peanut Butter Chip & Chocolate Chunk Cookies (AKA PB3C Cookies). But I didn’t know if they would be good grilled. Then I though about bacon in cookies. I’d heard of this before cause my sister made them. Originially I was like, “you did whaaa?” Sounded kinda gross to be honest. But then I thought about it. That salty sweet thing. So I warmed up.
Bacon already has smoky notes so it just seemed to be a natural fit. I used the framework of PB3C cookies and used bacon instead of PB chips. Yowza. #winning. Being new Denver-ites, Dan and I were tickled to be invited over to a friend’s house for drinks. We brought these over (cause you can’t show up empty handed!) not knowing that the husband loves to smoke things and has a smoker!! Seriously could not have been a better audience to receive these puppies. When we finally opened them up to taste and revealed to our hosts what they were, they said, “Ooooh, that’s why your hair smelled like a campfire when I hugged you!” Whoops. Too much time standing by The Egg. #warning.
Now that you know a little about where the recipe came from, let’s talk about making it.
Dan is The Egg Master of the family. He heated The Egg to 350 F. If you’ve used The Egg before you know that the heat can fluctuate and keeping it steady can be challenging. (If you have mastered this please leave a comment and share your secret!!) So Dan aimed to keep the temp at a minimum of 325 F and a max of 375 F.
{Rule of Thumb: To heat up The Egg, open vents to allow more air into The Egg which fuels more fire and thus more heat. To cool The Egg down, close off vents to cut off air going into The Egg decreasing the fire and thus the heat.}
I fit up to 1 dozen cookies per baking sheet, so I ended up doing 3 rounds of baking, as one cookie sheet fits in The Egg at a time. The first two rounds I assumed we had enough residual wood chips in there from a previous grilling experience. Boy was I wrong. The cookies came out somewhat “blonde” which didn’t alarm me; that’s how PB3C cookies look when I bake them in the oven. However when we tasted them, they lacked a strong smoky flavor. So I learned that you can regulate just how smoky you want them!
For the third and final round, we threw in about four wood chips, and WOW. We like the smoke-forward taste, so for us, we will use that much wood for all rounds next time. The more smoked they are, the more they also look as if they’re more brown (versus blonde) but they’re not crispy and over cooked, they’re just smoked! Bam! Just whatcha want.
We used cherry wood but you could use apple, hickory, mesquite, or whatever wood you have. Either way, I highly suggest using it to add a real grilled, smoked flavor. Soak the chips for at least 3-4 hours prior to when you’ll be cooking. When your grill is at temp and you’re just about to add your cookies, add 3-4 wood chips to the coals. Then add the cookies to the grill and close the lid. NO PEEKING! I know, it’s so stinkin’ hard not to look. Set a timer for 11-14 minutes and viola! If the bottom of the cookies is slightly browned they’re done. The tops might look ever so slightly underdone, but that’s just what you want. Overdone = crunchy = no bueno because I like soft, chewy cookies. Plus, as the cookies cool once you’ve taken them off the grill, the top/center becomes a little more cooked anyway from the residual heat or “carry over cooking”.
If you don’t have a grill or smoker, you can still make these cookies (minus the smoke) by baking them at 350 F for about 12-14 minutes. You might even try adding some liquid smoke when you add the vanilla extract to the dough?!
Getchyur grill on people!! Be sure and leave a comment below and tag me when you post pics — @ShawLeesha on Instagram and @LaughterandLemonadeFoodBlog on Facebook.
- 3-6 wood chips (try apple, cherry, mesquite, or hickory wood)
- 12 oz raw bacon, diced
- ¾ cup brown sugar (not packed)
- ¾ granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, at room temperature
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2¼ plus ⅛ cups all purpose flour
- 3.4 oz package Jello Instant Pudding mix, cheesecake flavor
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 12 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips
- Soak 3-6 wood chips for a couple hours. (Use more for a more intense smoke flavor.)
- Heat your Big Green Egg (or oven) to 350 F.
- To a cold sauté pan, add the diced bacon then turn heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally until some of the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy (it took me about 15 minutes). Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine both sugars. In a large bowl combine flour, pudding mix, and baking powder and mix well. Set both aside.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the butter and both sugars. Using a hand or standing mixer, cream both together until sugar is dissolved and mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time until fully incorporated. Add vanilla and combine.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour a little at a time, just until fully incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and bacon.
- Using a spoon, drop about 2-3 tablespoons of dough per cookie onto a baking sheet.
- Add two wood chips at a time to the hot coals just before you bake the cookies. (Replace the chips as the smoke dies down.) Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes until the edges are just lightly browned, careful not to over-bake or they won't be as chewy! (When using the egg, just place the cookie sheet right on the grates.)
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