Author: Emily

Peanut Butter-Bacon Cookies – Tried, True, & Delicious!

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, and I’ve been getting ready by taking down my spooky Halloween decorations and replacing it with fall decor. My favorite part about this holiday is all the baking and food prep – well, besides spending the day with family/friends, eating an abundance of delicious food, and watching football of course! 😉 But on the baking note, I decided to test a new recipe: Peanut Butter Bacon and Chocolate Chip Cookies! The inspiration came to me after I posted an October 9th Facebook comment linking to the recipe, to which I received very mixed reviews. Thinking that the recipe needed a chance to show itself, I took to the kitchen with measuring spoons in hand.

The only thing I’d do differently? Bake the cookies for less time – my cookies were a bit crunchy (although delicious with a cup of coffee!).

Oh, and a local shout-out to El Salchichero, a Santa Cruz community butcher with sustainable practices and delicious meats. I bought your bacon – my husband and I LOVE your bacon! Although this recipe calls for an applewood smoked bacon, I just went with whatever El Salchichero had. I also may have bought a bit extra for dinner that night J

Happy Friday, and enjoy some baking over the weekend. Share your results with us on Facebook – we would love to hear how your cookies turned out!


Adding the bacon and chocolate chips…

Into the oven they go…

…time to taste test!

 

Peanut Butter-Bacon Cookies

Makes 3 dozen

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup peanut butter (chunky or creamy)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 pound apple wood smoked bacon, fried and roughly chopped

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream margarine and sugars together, using an electric mixer set on medium speed. Beat in peanut butter, egg and vanilla until well combined. Sift flour, baking soda and salt together and slowly beat into peanut butter mixture until a soft dough forms. Stir chopped bacon, chocolate and peanut butter chips into dough by hand until well incorporated.
  3. Drop cookie dough by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes.

 

Per cookie: 170 calories (61 percent from fat), 12 grams total fat (4 grams saturated), 17 milligrams cholesterol, 11 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams protein, 295 milligrams sodium, trace dietary fiber.

Source: Bert Lawson with Farmland Foods

Please Support Breast Cancer Awareness

10/16/2012

Norma,

            After a year that has gone by, we, your co-workers and very close friends at Pacific Cookie Company, still miss you as if you left us yesterday. We know that you can see us and hear us because not a day goes by that we don’t remember something about you: your jokes, your laughter, your good food, what a hard worker you were, how strong and good a friend you were. We cannot believe you are gone, but you are forever in our hearts.

                         Love,

                        Angie, Mary and Yolanda

Norma was a hard working employee of Pacific Cookie Company and is still very much missed by her friends here. In an effort to keep Norma’s memory alive and to promote breast cancer awareness, we will donate $10.00 of every Norma Gift Box sold in the month of October to WomenCARE, a local Santa Cruz, CA organization that provides FREE cancer advocacy, resources, education, and support to women with all types of cancer. They also advocate for research into the CAUSES of cancer and strive towards providing a healthy environment for women affected by cancer first or secondhand.

We hope that you will join in our effort to raise funding for this organization.

Norma Gift Box – $18.95

 

For more breast cancer statistics and to become more aware yourself, visit: http://www.onlinenursingprograms.com/code-pink/

 

Lights! Camera! Action!

It was a hot summer day as Sharon and I drove up together to McDill and Associates in the hills of Soquel for the Pacific Cookie Company photo shoot with Lisa Keenan (photographer), Lynn Piquet (our designer and stylist), and team. This year has been dubbed “ReImagine 2012” as we have been working to freshen up our style piece by piece. You can see some of the results of this at our retail bakery downtown, where we have undergone some renovations: new paint, gluten-free cookies, a stainless steel bar and an IPAD to conduct transactions to name a few. But more about that another time!

As we passed multiple horse properties and fenced-in green acreage with roaming animals, I knew that the location would be simply breathtaking. Missy McDill of McDill and Associates was kind enough to let us conduct the photo shoot on her property.

Upon arriving, my eyes immediately locked on a classic red barn at the bottom of the property. The character exuding from every red wooden board on that barn as it stood there amidst the surrounding water fountain, grape vines, and peaceful gazebo was stunningly picturesque in every way.

Stepping from Sharon’s electric blue VW Bug in my green Toms, wedding dress in hand, the wind picked up forcing the sun to peek from behind the clouds – the perfect day for a photo shoot. In search of a bathroom in which to change into my wedding dress for our first shot (I know what you’re thinking – wedding dress?!), I had the opportunity to explore the barn. Amongst the well-organized prop collection neatly stacked to the attic’s ceiling, I was surprised to see a conference room/dining room and a full working kitchen (with my dream refrigerator, needless to say – industrial sized and taller than me with full length sliding glass doors so you can actually SEE  inside without having to open the fridge!). But I digress.

The idea behind this photo shoot and our “ReImagine 2012” concept was to introduce our cookies along with a few new packaging ideas in a way that fits more of a lifestyle mentality – ideally YOUR lifestyle. We wanted to show you how to incorporate our cookies into your life, rather than just into your tummy!

This wedding shot I speak of was meant to introduce our cookies as wedding/party favors as this has become quite a popular special request over the past year or two (many couples call in requesting their favorite cookies for each guest’s place setting). These stacks of six one-ounce cookies tied off with a simple yet elegant wired ribbon were arranged on a classic white cake platter amongst a table setting of fancy silverware, beautiful bouquets of white hydrangeas, and quaint Venetian-style champagne flutes. Oh, and the mysterious man in the red pumas? He was my stand-in “father of the bride” (who requested to remain anonymous). 😉

I learned quite a thing or two that day regarding the food photography industry – that those beautiful shots you see in Gourmet, or Bon Appetit or Saveur magazines are not just an easy point and shoot. The multiple shots, minute changes, and additions and subtractions of “props” are just a few ways in which to achieve the perfect shot. Not to mention the MANY cookies we baked and brought with us to ensure the perfect selection of cookie for each shot

Cookies Waiting for their Shining Moment

Small paintbrushes were used to brush away unwanted crumbs.

One technique that I thought especially clever was painting olive oil onto the chocolate chips in each cookie with a fine tip brush to achieve a “melting” look. That’s just one in a million ideas to make your food look more appetizing in photos – here are a few other ideas I came across online.

It was really something to see these ladies at work. Shifting the cookies around to the left or right, arranging the crumbs in a particular way to really capture that taste bud tantalizing effect…their level of patience with such an eye to minute details was stunning.

All in all, after a hard day’s work, we came away with a beautiful selection of photos showing our delectable cookies in all of their sumptuousness. Keep checking back to our website to see the final images of our photoshoot…

 

Okay, okay…here’s a sneak peek!

 

 

Sharing the Office Love

We thought we would share some recent pictures sent from one of our customers. Look at all the smiling faces and eager reaches to pick their favorite cookie! They certainly enjoyed every last cookie on that platter!

 

With the holidays coming up, we make catering your own holiday party easy with cookies available for purchase in bulk. Whether you want 144 of our smaller catering size cookie, or 48 of our 2oz (about the size of your palm – must call to order) cookie, we provide a gourmet affordable option for individuals and businesses looking to spoil their family, friends, and employees with a delicious cookie!

They definitely do not stay around the office for long!

 

(Note: Cookie tray not provided by Pacific Cookie Company).