I Might Have Invented a New Cookie

What happens when you volunteer to make cookies for a fundraiser at your kid's daycare and you discover at 10 p.m. that you're 1/2 stick of butter left?  You discover a whole new cookie: peanut butter bacon cookies with banana buttercream frosting.  That title is a mouthful.  How about Elvis Cookies?  Or if the Elvis Presley estate is concerned about that, how about King Cookies?  Salty, fruity, peanuty, bacony goodness.  You don't have to like the sandwich to love this cookie.

King Cookies
Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies

• 1/2 C unsalted butter
• 1/2 C cold bacon grease
• 1 3/4 C crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 C PB2
• 1 C white sugar
• 1 C packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 1/2 t baking soda

Procedure

• Cream together butter, bacon grease, peanut butter, PB2, white sugar, and brown sugar for at least 10 minutes. 
• Beat in eggs.
  In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add your dries to your wets and mix slowly until totally combined. 
• Cover and refrigerate overnight, or as long as you can stand to wait.
  When you're ready to bake your cookies, take the dough out of the fridge and let it reach room temperature. 
• Preheat the oven to 350.  
• Roll into 1 inch balls and set on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand to about 5/8 inch thick.  You might have to push the edges back towards the center with your fingers if the edges break.  
• Bake for about 14 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake. Take them out and allow them to cool on the cookie sheet.

Banana Buttercream Frosting

• 1/2 C mashed fresh bananas, not frozen (cold banana will make the butter harden)
  1/8 t citric acid (1/2 t lemon juice could be used as substitutes)
  1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 C butter
• 3 1/4 C confectioners' sugar
• yellow gel paste food coloring (optional)

Procedure:

• Mash together the banana, citric acid, and vanilla.
• Cream the butter alone. Add half of the confectioners' sugar 1/2 C at a time, creaming it in completely after each addition.
• Add the banana mixture. Take some time to cream this in, scraping down the bowl completely a few times to make sure the butter isn't separating and stuck to the side of the bowl.
• Add the remaining confectioners' sugar 1/2 C at a time, creaming it in completely and scraping down the bowl after each addition.
• Add the gel paste food coloring until the frosting reaches a shade of yellow that will reassure nonbelievers that this is really banana-flavored.

Assembly:

• Check that the cookies are no warmer than room-temperature.  If they're at all warm, the frosting will melt and possibly slide off.
• Frost the the cookies thickly.  The volume of the frosting should equal the volume of the cookie to balance the salty/bacony powerhouse of the cookies with sweet/banana-y awesomeness.
• Twirl the frosting in the middle to make a little pompadour. Get it?

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