Ken's Chocolate, Beer, Bacon Cookies

A friend of mine, Ken, was deployed to Afghanistan.  I should mention Ken is a Marine and Marines enjoy beer and bacon.  However, it's really hard to just send beer and bacon overseas.  So I needed some way to get these two things over to Ken without just shipping over a 12 pack and a giant slab of bacon.  So after brainstorming with some friends, I decided that if a picked a dark chocolate stout and combined it with some super crispy bacon, I might be able to make a cookie that wasn't totally disgusting.  I found a recipe online from Betty Crocker but I realized I couldn't garnish them with the chocolate or bacon pieces because they wouldn't stick when I shipped them overseas.  The first batch I made wasn't perfect, so here is the perfected recipe.  I know that they sound weird, but they are actually really good and a guaranteed way to make any man, woman  or bacon lover in your life happy. 

Recipe
6 slices crisply cooked bacon 
1 pouch Betty Crocker® double chocolate chunk cookie mix

1/2 c. butter, softened     

1 egg                                                                                                                             

1/4 c. dark, chocolate, stout beer, the darker the better     

1/4 c. packed brown sugar                                       

1 c. dark chocolate chips                                          

  If you're not going to send these off to Afghanistan, then you can add the ganache, or shiny chocolate coating on top that is on the recipe above, click on the Betty Crocker link. 

Bake the bacon on a rack for 20 to 30 minutes at 400 degrees until it is super crispy.  Let cool. 
Heat oven to 375°F.
Crumble the slices of the cooked bacon into small pieces; place in large bowl. Add cookie mix, butter, egg and 1/4 c. of beer; stir until dough forms.  Scoop the dough into 2-inch balls; place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 11 to 13 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

    Enjoy!