Bacon Peanut Butter Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 F. Arrange bacon on jelly roll pans and bake for about 20-30 minutes, flipping each piece halfway through cooking. When all the fat has been rendered and the bacon is very crispy, drain the strips on paper towels. Reduce oven to 350 F. Pour the rendered grease into a metal bowl and chill in refrigerator (or freezer) until cool and solidified–stirring occasionally to speed cooling process. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Chop bacon or crumble by hand into small pieces, about 1/4” square. Using mixer beat butter until creamy. Mix in 8 Tbs. of the cool bacon fat. Add sugars and beat until creamy, about 3 or 4 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Beat in peanut butter until thoroughly combined. Add eggs, one at a time; add vanilla. Scrape sides of bowl, and on low speed, mix in dry ingredients. Stir in ground peanuts and bacon until mixed. Form dough into golf ball-sized rounds and place on a sheet pan, about two inches apart. Dip fork in water and press tines into surface of dough two times, to slightly flatten cookie and to form crisscross pattern. Sprinkle cookies with generous amount of turbinado sugar. Bake two sheet pans at a time, for 10-12 minutes, rotating pans midway through baking. The outer edges of the cookies should only just begin to turn golden while the center of the cookie will still look a bit pale. Cool 2-3 minutes on the sheet pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 48.