This year, Santa wants Bacon, and to share that message, I’ve partnered with Farmland Bacon. This post is sponsored by Farmland, but all opinions are my own.

Bacon. I love bacon. Like… so much. But the problem is, I never get any bacon– my son always insists on stealing it from my plate. I’m pretty sure stealing bacon means he should end up on the naughty list… right? Luckily for him, Santa has offered a very great way to, well… improve your chances of not being on the naughty list. It’s easy– just give him bacon. That’s why this year, I have an idea so you don’t have to compromise between the traditional milk and cookies (yum) and what Santa really wants for Christmas– BACON (even yummier). Maple. Bacon. Pinata Cookies. That’s right– bacon filled cookies with a hint of maple flavor. I’m not joking. There’s a full slice of delicious Farmland bacon in every cookie.

To start, you’ll want to mix 5 1/2 cups of all purpose flour with 1 teaspoon of salt. Sift this mixture together.

In a separate bowl, cream together 2 cups (4 sticks) of butter at room temperature, and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar until light and fluffy.

Next, add in half a cup of pure maple syrup (you want the real deal here, not the imitation syrup), half a teaspoon of maple extract, and an egg yolk (just save the egg white for a Farmland bacon omelette in the morning!). Once that’s well combined, slowly add your flour and salt mixture, a little bit at a time. You’ll get a nice, thick dough.

Flatten the dough slightly, then wrap it in saran wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour.

When your dough is done chilling, pull it out and roll it out on a floured surface– just about 1/4 inch thick. Then, cut it into circles. You’ll need two whole circles for each cookie (to act as the top and bottom to hold the bacon in) and then cookies with the center cut out. I just used a smaller cookie cutter to cut a few openings, but a knife also works.

Now, here’s where you can customize your cookie– if you want a full piece of bacon in the middle, you’ll want to cut out two center cookies for each finished cookie. If you want less bacon (who would want less bacon?!) or more cookies, then cut out one center cookie– this can be a little bit easier to get a bite of. It’s up to you. For my purposes, I cut two center cookies. If you do the same, you’ll want two whole cookies (top and bottom) and two cookies with holes (middle) for each finished cookie you want.

Beat an egg, then brush the surface of each cookie with the egg wash.

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until cookies are golden brown, then let them cool completely. Once cooled, it’s time to assemble your bacon cookies! Start by making a circle of royal icing around the bottom cookie (you’ll want to leave the middle untouched so the bacon doesn’t get stuck to the frosting– if it does, you won’t get the “pinata” effect). I just used storebought decorating icing, but you can use any royal icing recipe you’d like.

Place one of the cookies with a hole in it on top of the frosting. If you’re stacking the cookies higher (with two middle cookies), then you’ll repeat this process for another center cookie.

Now, select some bacon for the middle of your cookie. Farmland has a great selection of different flavors and types, but for these cookies, I like the bacon that’s fully cooked– this way, you don’t need to take the time to cook and drain your bacon. If you choose uncooked bacon, go ahead and cook that and let it cool before you assemble the cookies.

Chop your bacon into small pieces, then fill the center hole with bacon. Place the final cookie on top to seal the bacon in, and give the cookies a few minutes for the royal icing to fully set.

Using green decorating icing or royal icing and a star tip, create a circle around the edge. For a fuller wreath, I found creating triangles with 3 stars next to each other tightly (as illustrated in the first picture) really helped.

Next use red decorating icing (or any color you’d like, or multiple colors) with a small round tip to add little ornaments to your wreath.

You can finish it with a bow in the bottom center if you’d like– just make two loops with the frosting, then two lines.

Store the cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to leave them out for Santa. We decided that Santa might want a little extra bacon for the trip (or for the reindeer), so we also left him a package of Farmland bacon to go along with his bacon cookies.

But here’s the deal– the idea of Bacon for Santa is great for the big guy himself (because who doesn’t want a big package of bacon under the tree?), but it’s also doing real good to fight hunger. Farmland and Royals legend Mike Sweeney have teamed up to spread the word about how bacon is the perfect thing to leave for Santa! From now until December 24, YOU can pledge to leave bacon for Santa by using the hashtag #BaconForSanta on your social media channels like Twitter or Instagram. For every person that makes this pledge using the #BaconForSanta hashtag, Farmland will donate one pound of protein to Harvesters- The Community Food Network, up to 25,000 pounds total. That could feed SO many families, so make sure you’re making the pledge by using the hashtag #BaconForSanta. 

I cannot wait to leave Bacon for Santa this Christmas. It’s pretty clear that, much like my family, the man in the big red suit can’t resist the smell and taste of Farmland bacon… how do I know? Because I have some photographic proof.

I wanted to make sure my kiddo didn’t steal the bacon and land on the naughty list, but it looks like my hidden BaconCam caught quite another bacon fiend!

Maple Bacon-Filled Pinata Cookies

2015-12-11 11:20:20

Yields 2

Take a bite of these maple shortbread cookies, and bacon spills out!

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Ingredients

1. 5 1/2 C all purpose flour
2. 1 tsp salt
3. 4 sticks (2 cups) butter, room temperature
4. 1 1/2 C sugar
5. 1/2 C pure maple syrup
6. 1/2 tsp maple extract
7. 1 egg yolk
8. 1 egg, beaten
9. Royal icing in red and green
10. 24 slices cooked Farmland bacon (or 2 boxes of Farmland Pre-Cooked Bacon)

Instructions

1. Sift together flour and salt. Set aside.
2. In separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. To butter mixture, add egg yolk, maple syrup, and maple extract, mixing until well combined.
4. Add flour mixture gradually, mixing until a thick dough forms.
5. Flatten dough, wrap in saran wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, until dough is firm.
6. Preheat oven to 350.
7. On floured surface, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness.
8. Cut out 2 whole circles and 2 donut-type circles (with middle whole cut out) for each cookie.
9. Brush each cookie piece with beaten egg, then bake for 10 minutes at 350.
10. Cool completely on wire racks.
11. On top of bottom cookie, make a circle of royal icing. Place cookie with a hole in it on top of the whole cookie. Make another circle of royal icing and place another cookie with a hole on top.
12. Fill cookie with diced bacon.
13. Make another ring of royal icing, placing a whole cookie (without hole) on top. Allow stacked cookies to dry.
14. Using red and green royal icing, decorate bacon cookies with wreath design (or any design you'd like).
15. Allow icing to set, then store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator (to allow bacon to stay chilled).
16. Serve to Santa with milk and extra bacon, if desired.

Mama Plus One https://www.mamaplusone.com/

Are you going to leave Bacon for Santa this year? Let me know in the comments below, and don’t forget to use #BaconForSanta in your social media posts from now until December 24, helping Farmland donate protein to Harvesters.

Are you a die-hard bacon fiend? Don’t forget to visit the Farmland website before December 31 to learn more about the Bacon for Santa campaign and enter to win a Santa Bacon Sweater!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Farmland.