This bacon fat peanut butter cookies recipe is, in and of itself, sufficient reason to never, ever discard your bacon drippings. It’s a brilliant and frugal use of kitchen scarps conjured by Emily Wight of the clever and reliable Well Fed, Flat Broke cookbook blog. It just sorta happened one day when she tweaked the classic peanut butter cookie recipe by Fannie Farmer to accommodate the closest thing she had to butter in the house. And wouldn’t you know, what resulted is even better than the original—at least to us. “The slightly smoky, porky taste of the fat makes peanut butter taste peanut-butterier,” says Wight of the tender cookies. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.–Renee Schettler Rossi
Bacon Fat Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup bacon fat
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch salt
- Granulated sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- In a large bowl with a stand mixer or an electric mixer on medium-high, beat the bacon fat, peanut butter, and sugar until it lightens in color and the texture becomes creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg and keep beating until completely incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Slowly add the flour to the peanut butter mixture, beating until all the ingredients are combined well. Roll the dough into balls about 1 inch (2 1/2 centimeters) in diameter. Place the cookie dough about 1 inch (2 1/2 centimeters) apart on a baking sheet and gently press the top of each cookie dough ball with a fork dipped in granulated sugar to make criss crosses.
- Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, until barely browned around the edges. The cookies may look a little underdone and may appear slightly puffed and that’s okay.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes and then gently transfer the tender, delicate cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. [Editor's Note: Hah. As if you could resist the aroma of these little lovelies for that long!]
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This recipe was fantastic. I loved the finished product but was a bit skeptical when making it. The dough for the cookie had a very crumbly texture. I had to press it together quite hard to form the cookies, but when I took them out of the oven and tasted them, I was so surprised at the flavor. The bacon fat wasn’t apparent until after I finished a whole cookie. The smoky, bacon flavor hit the back of my throat a few minutes after eating it. The cookie was a crowd favorite at a party I threw last night. Definitely recommend.
I used half chunky and half creamy peanut butter in the recipe. There weren’t too many nuts, and it wasn’t too creamy.
BACON! BACON + PEANUT BUTTER! What a glorious combination. A flavor explosion in my mouth. A marriage of two of my favorite categories of foods into my third favorite—baked goods. Peanut butter cookies have been a favorite of mine since childhood. My mother and grandmother both made delicious recipes—this recipe surpasses the old standard and modernizes it with a fun new twist.
I like the fork tine criss-cross, which keeps the cookie classic. I tasted the peanut butter in the first two or three chews and then got a big hit of the bacon. I was so amazed at the flavor combination that I couldn’t wait for the next bite, and the next…did this recipe really make 2 dozen? I may need to make another batch since I promised to share. I used crunchy natural peanut butter. The cookies were done when they had golden brown, slightly crisp edges. The cookies had great texture—chewy in the middle, crisp at the edges. People loved this treat.
I must confess that I made this peanut butter cookie recipe twice—once as written and once with chocolate chips. For the plain version, the taste is the same as you’d expect in a peanut butter cookie. The cookie has the right texture and is very mild. This is a standard peanut butter cookie recipe. Essentially, bacon fat replaces butter.
The chocolate chip version was very good. Both right out of the oven and several hours after cooling, the chocolate chips were still a bit melty. My family is partial to the combination of peanut butter and chocolate, so if you like chocolate, the chip are a good addition.
Renee Schettler,
My mom and grandma always used bacon grease to bake and when I decided I wanted to try it, I was surprised and delighteddto find a recipe! I am using the recipe for our Easter Supper! Thank you!
Christine, thank YOU. Your charming comment brought back some very lovely memories of my grandmother’s kitchen and that old coffee can that she kept alongside the stove where she would deposit bacon drippings from breakfast each morning and then, at supper, scoop some out to make home fries. So glad this recipe speaks to you. I hope you enjoy the cookies as much as I do—to me, they’re the perfect mix of smoke, salt, and sweet. Thanks again!
I had peanut butter cookies with bacon grease as a little girl & never thought I would see a recipe for them or have them again. Ah…the internet!!! Those cookies were WONDERFUL!!! I am delighted to see the recipes & thankful to know I wasn’t imagining this all my life!!!
Magnificent, Cindy! I know the elation of finding a recipe from childhood that you’d never thought you’d experience again. So grateful that this cookie recipe recreates that memory for you! And so thankful to you for taking the time to let us know. As an aside, I’ve made this recipe several times and I agree, the cookies are WONDERFUL!
New to the site, this recipe calling for bacon fat brought a smile to my face. My entire childhood was filled with mom baking with bacon grease. In my teens, I told her she must find a healthier substitute sometimes. She stopped baking with bacon grease after her heart surgery and became a picture of health. She seldom baked after that and has since passed but I remember all that bacon grease baking. Wonderful memories! I will be trying this recipe for sure. Thanks for the memories!
Rhonda, you’re very welcome, and thank you for taking the time to share your story. I love that this recipe brought back memories for you. Food has a way of doing that. I’m so glad you found us and I look forward to hearing about the next recipe on the site that gives you pause….