We go together like peanut butter… and bacon.

I just love days like this.

John and I just came down the hill after a hike with Cholula. The weather is perfection today- sunny, warm but not hot, and just chilly enough as the sun set to remind us it’s September.

For some inexplicable reason, I didn’t feel well today. I had things I wanted to accomplish, but spent a lot of the day laying down. I did manage to spend a little time in the kitchen (more on that in a minute), and am so glad I got outside into the fresh autumn air. We saw evidence that the elk herd is nearby, passing through an area where they rest. There were hoof prints everywhere.

We spotted a den that is likely home to a few of the many red-tailed foxes who frequent our backyard. I’ve only seen one once, but John’s seen a whole pack of them on our back hill!

It was pretty cool to head down the hill toward our rusted metal roof and end our trek on lovely rock stairs into a newly-landscaped backyard.

And now, John’s in the kitchen, making us what will surely be a delectable meal. Like I often say, we make a pretty good team. He’s on dinner duty- and I already made dessert.

I received the Joy the Baker cookbook in the mail the other day. I think I squealed. I know I squealed.

I’ve talked about Joy the Baker before. Her blog is fantastic. I’ve made quite a few recipes from it, too. Remember the BLT Corn Wraps that I brought to the outdoor movie?

Oh, and then there were the Toasted Marshmallow Squares. Otherwise known as toasted CRACK.

Oh, and one of my favorite meals in recent memory, cooked by candlelight in a power outage- the French Onion Soup Sandwiches.

Joy’s cookbook is filled with interesting and scrumptious-looking goodies to make. As I perused the recipes, I paused on one with this line in the description:

I know what you’re thinking: DUH. What made me pause when I read that men love bacon? Everyone knows that. Well, I lingered on that page because it was a recipe for COOKIES.

Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies. 

The ‘bacon in dessert’ craze isn’t new. And I’m totally on board. I’ve had bacon chocolate- delish. I’m totally intrigued by the maple bars with bacon crumbled on them. I always put more syrup on my bacon than on my pancakes. How could I NOT make these?

The ingredients weren’t what I was expecting for cookies. What you see above is literally all that went into them. I mixed peanut butter, sugar, and molasses together first. I just love molasses. It tastes like you’d think it would taste: thick and sweet and dark.

After that, I added an egg, some baking soda, and some nutmeg. I also love nutmeg and the warmth it brings to any recipe. (Hello, fall.)

That’s really it! The dough was a tad dense, not fluffy. I folded in some chopped roasted peanuts and the bacon crumbles. This was crazy! This was GOOD.

I formed the dough into little balls. It was kind of crumbly, as the recipe warned it might be. The little dough balls rolled around in a pile of sugar and then got criss-crossed, old school style, before baking.

As the cookies baked, John came wandering into the kitchen, led by his nose. Do you remember Pepe le Pew? He was a cartoon skunk, and he’d catch the scent of a lady friend’s perfume and basically float to the source of the aroma. That’s how John was. Adorable. As I pulled the batch out of the oven, he hovered until he asked if we should split a cookie. So we did.

I didn’t know what to expect. The flavors were rich and sweet, with salty crunches of peanut and bacon. The cookie was indeed kind of crumbly, but the molasses added a chewy texture and deep flavor that isn’t usually found in a traditional peanut butter cookie. It was an awesome mouthful. John called them “naughty” and “dangerous” in between happy “mmmmmm” noises.

I’m pretty glad I made it out for a little hike. If I’m going to make this kind of goodness from Joy the Baker’s cookbook, I’m going to have to hike every day. 

These cookies have a lot going on. Salty. Sweet. A little nutty. Enticing. Addictive. Unexpected. Satisfying. Smile-inducing.

I’d describe “us” in pretty much the same way.