Sweet Corn Bacon Skillet Cookie #CreativeCookieExchange

This sweet corn bacon skillet cookie is the perfectly sweet and salty combination adored in Momofuku corn cookies, made more delicious with the addition of bacon. And made easier as one big cookie to slice and serve.

A couple of years back, my elder daughter introduced me to what was then her new favorite cookie. Rich, buttery, sweet but a bit salty, those Momofuku corn cookies were chewy and completely more-ish. When this month’s Creative Cookie Exchange theme of “Big Cookies” was announced, I couldn’t wait to recreate them as a cast iron skillet cookie and, of course, add some bacon.

Because bacon makes everything better.

Sweet Corn Bacon Skillet Cookie

This recipe is adapted from my version of the original Momofuku corn cookies. If you like salty and sweet together, make the originals or make my bacon version. This is going to be your new favorite cookie too!

Ingredients - Makes 1 (12 in or 30.5cm) skillet cookie
3 slices or 75g smoked bacon, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat
3/4 cup or 170g room-temperature butter
1 1/2 cups or 300g sugar
1 egg
1 3/4 cups or 220g all-purpose flour
1/2 cup or 65g freeze-dried corn powder (See note below)
1/4 cup or 45g corn flour (corn masa flour, like you’d use for tortillas, not corn starch. You can also use Harina P.A.N.*
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Note: I used Karen’s Freeze Dried Corn* in this recipe, measuring out 65g and then blitzing it into powder using a food processor.

Method
Fry bacon bits in your iron skillet until just crispy. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat to use in the dough. Wipe the skillet with a paper towel so it’s just greased enough to bake the big cookie. Set aside.

Use a stand or handheld electric beaters to cream the butter and sugar together on medium high until they are fluffy and pale yellow, about 2-3 minutes.

Add in the bacon fat and egg and mix them in with the beaters on low. Increase the speed to medium high again and beat for eight minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in another bowl. Set aside 1 tablespoon of the bacon bits and then mix the rest into the flour.

Add all of the dry ingredients into the other mixing bowl and with your mixer or beaters on low, beat just until it all comes together as a dough.

Cover your work surface with cling film and tip the dough out onto it. Press the dough into a circle of about 11 inches or 30cm across. Cover it with another piece of cling film and smooth out the surface. Slide the dough circle onto a cutting board or baking pan and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

As you come to the end of the chilling time, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Remove the cling film and ease the dough circle into your iron skillet greased with bacon fat. Sprinkle on the reserved bacon and pat the pieces in gently so they stick.

Bake for 18-22 minutes, turning the skillet around halfway through to make sure that cookie bakes evenly.

Leave the cookie to cool in the iron skillet. You can serve straight from skillet or turn it out onto a serving plate. Cut it into wedges with a sharp knife.

Enjoy!

* Amazon affiliate links

Many thanks to this month's host, Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories! Check out the other Big Cookies you'll want to make:

• Big O Cookies from All That's Left Are the Crumbs
• Kitchen Sink Cookies from The Spiced Life
• Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Sweet Corn Bacon Skillet Cookie from Food Lust People Love

Creative Cookie Exchange is hosted by Laura of The Spiced Life. We get together once a month to bake cookies with a common theme or ingredient so Creative Cookie Exchange is a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board. We post the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

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Toffee Apple Bread Pudding Bundt #BundtBakers

Tart apple, sticky toffee and vanilla custard filled bread come together in this toffee apple bread pudding Bundt to create a dessert that is way more than the sum of its parts.

My husband is a huge fan of bread pudding but I must confess that it’s not my favorite dessert. I do love that is uses up leftover stale bread though, so I make it from time to time. The problem is that he eats just two or three servings, and then I have leftover bread pudding! First world problems, I know, I know.

I hate waste so I’ve started working smarter. This recipe is made in a 6-cup Bundt pan (<Amazon affiliate link) so that’s four generous servings or 5-6 skimpy ones. I promise you, no one will want a skimpy serving of toffee apple bread pudding!

Toffee Apple Bread Pudding Bundt

This recipe is adapted from one on the BBC Good Food site. The caramel can be homemade or store-bought. All caramel is good!

Ingredients
3 brioche buns (Mine weighed 6 oz or 170g.)*
2 eggs
3/4 cup or 180ml full-fat milk
1/2 cup or 120ml whipping cream
4 tablespoons golden caster sugar (You can substitute granulated sugar.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 green apple (I used a Granny Smith)
1 cup or 312g thick caramel
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled, for buttering 6-cup Bundt pan.

Optional: extra caramel for serving

*Note: You can substitute another stale bread but buttery brioche makes a richer bread pudding. Also, the crusts are tender so they don’t have to be removed.

Method
Cut the brioche buns into small cubes and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla extract together with the 4 tablespoons sugar.

Core and peel the apple, then chop it into small chunks. Toss the chunks immediately into the egg mixture so they don’t turn brown.

Stir the bread cubes through the apple/egg mixture. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

When the refrigeration time is up, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Using a pastry brush, liberally butter the Bundt pan with the melted butter and pour the rest of it into the bottom of the Bundt pan.

Spoon 1/3 of the pudding mix into the pan. Spoon about 1/4 of the caramel into the pan.

Top with another 1/3 of the pudding mix, followed by another 1/4 of the caramel.

Finish with the rest of the pudding mix followed by another 1/4 of the caramel, reserving the final 1/4 of the caramel for pouring over the finished apple bread pudding.

Put the Bundt pan inside another larger cake pan and put your kettle on to boil.

Put the pans in the preheated oven and carefully pour boiling water into the bottom pan to about halfway up that pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden and the custard has set. You should see some butter bubbling up around the edges.

Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack then invert on a plate. This toffee apple bread pudding Bundt can be served immediately with the reserved caramel on the side. Or continue cooling it completely and drizzle on the additional caramel before serving.

If you have even more caramel than the recipe calls for (My store-bought jar held more that one cup.) serve those leftovers with the pudding. Because more caramel is always better.

Enjoy!

Many thanks and happy birthday month to our host Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the lovely apple Bundts we are sharing today!

• Apple Bundt with Caramel Glaze by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Apple Butterscotch Bundt Cake by Katin špajz|
• Apple Crumb Ring Bundt by Living the Gourmet
• Apple Zucchini Nut Mini Bundts by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Black Bottom Apple Bundlets by Sneha's Recipe
• Caramel Apple Bundt Cake by Merce`s Cake
• Quinoa and Apple Bundt Cake with Rum by Cookpad
• Reduced Carb Apple Pecan Spice Cake by Palatable Pastime
• Toffee Apple Bread Pudding Bundt by Food Lust People Love
• Vegan Apple & Oats Mini Bundt Cakes by Patty's Cake

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

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Ponco - Bacon-fried Batter #BreadBakers

Ponco is a traditional Welsh breakfast recipe of batter fried in flavorful bacon fat. Made with flour, milk and eggs (or sometimes just flour and milk) ponco is cheap and filling but, oh so delicious!

A few months ago, I visited Wales for the first time to stay with a dear friend who had recently moved there. Despite still learning her way around, she was an excellent tour guide, enlisting her mother and father in a couple of our expeditions since they have lived in Wales for many, many years.

But one day we struck out on our own to climb the town and castle walls around Conwy which date back to medieval times. High up above the town, we had lovely views of houses and shops and even the sea. We enjoyed a delicious pub lunch in town and headed home by way of the beach road, popping into a few shops on the way.

In one tiny book store, I came across a small book of recipes called Croeso Cymreig - A Welsh Welcome. Recipes for Some Traditional Welsh Dishes. Published in 1957 by the Wales Gas Board, it was full of old-fashioned and traditional recipes, many with vague instructions and random units of measure, when they were included at all. Of course, I had to buy it.

This month for Bread Bakers, our host Felice from All That’s Left Are The Crumbs chose breakfast bread as our theme. I like to try different breads from different cultures so I googled British breakfast breads, among other things.

A Welsh recipe call ponco popped up a number of times. It sounded like a cross between an American pancake and a French crepe but fried in bacon fat, an idea I was totally for. The recipes I found didn’t have very accurate measures but the idea was to make a batter with eggs, milk and flour or sometimes, I guess when times were tough, just flour and milk. Or even, God forbid, water.

It suddenly occurred to check A Welsh Welcome. Sure enough, ponco was there! Its measurements were just as sketchy though. And this was the first time I saw the suggestion to eat it with meat and vegetables. Everywhere else it was a breakfast dish.

Sure two teacups of flour, but how much milk? And no eggs in this case.

Ponco - Bacon-fried Batter 

Without a definitive recipe to go on, I winged it.  This makes one large ponco about 9-10 inches or 23-25cm across. If you have a cast iron pan, use that for the frying. Cast iron won't cool as fast when you pour the batter in, which means the bacon grease stays hotter too and that means a more even color and slightly crunchy ponco. Which is what we want.

Ingredients
1 cup or 125g flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 – 2/3 cup or 120-156ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml bacon grease

Method
Whisk the flour together with the baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Add in the egg and 1/2 cup or 120ml of the milk. Whisk briskly.

Add more milk as necessary to get a medium thick batter – not a thick as for American pancakes, not as thin as for French crepes.

Warm your bacon grease in a large pan over a medium high heat, until it starts to shimmer. (Ideally, you will have cooked your bacon in this same pan and removed all but about 1/4 cup or 60ml of the grease, so that there are little sticky bits from bacon still in there.)

All at once, pour in the batter and turn the heat down to medium.

Cook the ponco until the bottom is golden and little bubbles form and pop all over it, with just the very center still liquid. This takes just a few minutes. I let it cook just a minute or so longer than this.

Turn it over very careful so you don’t splash hot bacon grease on yourself and cook the other side till golden. You can see here how some of the sticky bacon bits have become one with the ponco. So good!

I placed the ponco on a couple of paper towels briefly to absorb excess grease when I took it out of the pan, but honestly, it was surprisingly not very greasy. Some of the Welsh ponco recipes I found said to serve it with butter and bacon. I’d also suggest some golden syrup or honey to join the butter in filling those wonderful holes.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to Felice from All That’s Left Are The Crumbs for hosting this month. Check out all the great breakfast bread recipes!

• Blueberry Buttermilk Scones by Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Blueberry Scone Bread by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Breakfast Monkey Bread by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Butter Enriched Milk Bread by Ambrosia
• Carrot Paneer Parathas by Sneha's Recipe
• Easy Sourdough Popovers by Cook's Hideout
• Jalapeño and Cheddar Bagels by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Low Carb Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits by Palatable Pastime
• Multigrain Aloo Methi Paratha by Sizzling Tastebuds
• Paczki with Lemon Cream Filling by All That’s Left Are The Crumbs
• Ponco - Bacon-fried Batter by Food Lust People Love
• Spice Island Breakfast Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Vegetable and Tofu Steamed Bao by Herbivore Cucina
• Yogurt Honey Wholemeal Loaf by Cook with Renu

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars #BakingBloggers

When you are craving sugar cookies but can’t be bothered with rolling out dough and using cookie cutters, make frosted sugar cookie bars instead! They are super simple and are as pretty as they are tasty.

There’s a certain pace and skill to baking sugar cookies that can’t be rushed. Once you’ve mixed the dough, it needs to chill well before rolling. And you can’t roll it all out at once or it softens and won’t peel off the work surface. And you can’t roll it too thin or it breaks when you try to peel it off. It’s a practice makes perfect operation.

That’s where frosted sugar cookie bars pull out ahead in the tasty but easy race. One bowl dough, no chilling, no rolling, no cutting until after they are baked! Are they pretty shapes? Well, they aren’t Christmas trees, but they are neat squares. Who doesn’t love a good square?

Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

This recipe was adapted from A Little Bit Crunchy A Little Bit Rock and Roll, which makes a huge 13x18 in or 33x46cm pan. If you are feeding a crowd, you will want to head over to the original recipe and maybe just add in some lemon.

Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
Zest 1/2 lemon
2/3 cup or 132g sugar
1/3 cup or 75g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 2/3 cups or 208g flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

For the frosting:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons shortening
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups or 187g powdered sugar
3-4 teaspoons milk

To decorate: sprinkles

Method
Prepare your 8x8 in or 20x20cm pan (You can use a 9x9 in or 23x23cm pan for slightly thinner bars.) by greasing it or lining it with baking parchment. Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°F.

Beat the sugar and lemon zest together. Add in the butter and cream until fluffy.

Add the egg and egg yolk and beat until well combined.

Add the vanilla and lemon juice to the creamed mixture.

In another bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Then with the beaters on slow, add the dry ingredients into the batter bowl.

Tip the dough into your prepared pan and spread it out evenly, all the way into the corners.

Bake in the preheated oven for 14-16 minutes, or until it is just starting to brown.

Cool the cookie bars on a wire rack until completely cool before frosting.

While the cookie bars are baking, you can make the frosting.

In a mixing bowl, beat the shortening and butter together. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat well until the shortening and butter are fully incorporated into the sugar.

Gradually add the milk, one teaspoon at a time, beating well with each addition until you get a spreadable frosting. You may not need all of the milk.

Once the sugar cookie bars are completely cooled, get your sprinkles ready. Pile the frosting on the cookie and smooth it out. I like to leave some dips and ridges to catch the sprinkles.

Immediately shake on your sprinkles so they’ll stick. I used two different sizes of sprinkles because I have a huge collection and it seemed like the right thing to do.

Chill for about 10-15 minutes, uncovered, then use a sharp knife to cut them into squares.

The frosting will firm up as it dries out. Once this happens, cover with cling film or store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Do you love the ease of baking brownies or cookie bars too? You are going to love this month's list of recipes from my fellow Baking Bloggers. Many thanks to our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for her behind the scenes work. 

• Chocolate Brownie Cake by Sneha's Recipe
• Chocolate Butterscotch Caramel Pecan Bars by Kelli’s Kitchen
• Cream Cheese Brownies starting with a Box Mix by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Dark Magic Brownies by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Easy Salted Caramel Brownies by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Egg-Less, Butter-Less, Chocolate Ragi Brownie by Cook with Renu
• Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars by Food Lust People Love
• Milk Chocolate Sour Cream Cake Brownies by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• No Bake Reese’s Bars by Jonesin’ For Taste
• Nutella S'Mores Bars by Palatable Pastime
• Oreo Cheesecake Brownie Bars by Cookaholic Wife
• Peppermint Patty Brownie Bites by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pineapple Bars by Simply Inspired Meals
• Triangle Delight Bars by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interesting in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

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Grilled Zucchini Summer Salad #FoodieExtravaganza

Grilled zucchini summer salad is beautiful and tasty, the perfect plate of cheap and abundant zucchini and ripe grape tomatoes. Throw a few edamame on there for color and protein! It’s a great side dish or even main course for hot summer nights.

I’ve heard tales of zucchini patches so prolific that neighbors leave bags of produce on porches in the middle of the night, just to get rid of them. I’ve never been so lucky. It would just about make my day to come out one morning to find a free pile of zucchini on my porch! Along with their Cucurbita Pepo sibling, yellow crookneck squash, zucchini is probably my favorite summer vegetable.

If you’ve been reading this space for a while – I completely missed celebrating/mentioning my seven year anniversary in June! – you might already know that. I have so many zucchini recipes! At least a baker’s dozen, including Parmesan and Brie Topped Zucchini in a semolina crust, Zucchini-Wrapped Cheesy Pea Burgers, Baked Zucchini with Spicy Tomatoes and the not very beautiful but oh-so-tasty savory Zucchini Clafoutis.

If you are as big a fan of zucchini as I am, make sure you scroll down to the bottom of this post and check out the link list to many more delicious zucchini recipes from my Foodie Extravaganza friends.

Grilled Zucchini Summer Salad

This recipe builds on one I found originally in Jamie Oliver’s Happy Days with the Naked Chef.* I first made it in 2002 and have been adding ingredients to the zucchini, as the whim and what’s fresh take me, ever since. This recipe is easily doubled or trebled for a crowd.

Ingredients
1 large zucchini – about 8 oz or 225g
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 red chili pepper
1/2 clove garlic
Several fresh mint leaves
Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup or 55g shelled edamame (I buy these frozen and thaw.)
Small handful red grape tomatoes
Small handful yellow grape tomatoes

Method
Use a wide potato peeler to cut long strips off of the zucchini from end to end, discarding the first and last strips that are all peel.

Heat your grill pan until very hot and lay the zucchini strips on it single file, a few at a time. Watch them carefully and remove them from the pan with tongs when the grill lines become medium brown and come through to the top of the strips. No need to turn the strips over.

Arrange the grilled strips on your serving plate, making sure not to pile them on top of each other. You want them to be able to cool off. Piled together they’d just keep steaming and cooking.

When you’ve grilled all the zucchini, sprinkle them lightly with some flakey sea salt and a few good grinds of fresh black pepper.

Mince the chili pepper and garlic and mix the two together. Sprinkle them on the zucchini from a height so they don’t clump together.

Cut your grape tomatoes in half and add them to the plate. Scatter the edamame around as well. Give the whole plate a good squeeze of fresh lemon and a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Top with some washed mint leaves and serve.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month's wonderful host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out all of the zucchini dishes we are sharing in honor of National Zucchini Day on August 8th. How will you celebrate? 

• Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread from Cookaholic Wife
• Greek Inspired Breakfast Casserole from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Grilled Zucchini Summer Salad from Food Lust People Love
• Sugar-Free Bread and Butter Zucchini Pickles from Palatable Pastime
• Zucchini Corn Fritters from Caroline's Cooking
• Zucchini Frittata from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Zucchini Pizza Rounds from Our Good Life
• Zucchini Sandwich Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Zucchini Stir Fry from Sneha's Recipe

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays, and we all post recipes using the same ingredient. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

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