Drunken Breakfast Cookies

Makes 30 cookies

3 to 4 slices bacon Bourbon maple caramel: 4 tablespoons ( ⁄2 stick)

1 butter

1 cup heavy whipping cream

14 ⁄ teaspoon salt

1 ⁄4 cup corn syrup

1 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar

4 ounces bourbon

1 tablespoon maple extract Cookie: 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

12 ⁄ cup powdered sugar ⁄2 cup (1 stick) butter, 1 room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

Maple buttercream icing: 1 ⁄2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons maple extract

2 teaspoons bourbon

3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

2 to 3 slices of bacon for garnish

Fry remove bacon to until paper crisp; towels. break or When cut into cool, small crumbles. Make caramel: bourbon In a heavy maple 2-quart saucepan cream and over salt medium until butter heat, melts. melt Remove from butter, heat but keep warm.

In syrup, a heavy swirling 4-quart pan; saucepan, do not stir. combine Wipe down sugar sides and with corn damp forming. pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from

Clip immersed candy in thermometer the sugar. Do to not side stir. of pan Bring so sugar the sensor mixture is to a boil and then to 250 degrees. Turn off heat.

Slowly pour in the warm cream and butter mixture, while whisking gently. Stop whisking once all the milk mixture has been incorporated.

Over medium heat, let the caramel come to a boil without stirring. When the caramel reaches 250 degrees, remove from heat.

Quickly whisk in the bourbon and maple extract. Let caramel cool in pan — do not cover. Caramel will be a soft chewy consistency.

While caramel cools, make cookies: Preheat oven to

375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl fitted with flat beater, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Scrape side of bowl as needed. Add butter and vanilla; beat until creamy. Add flour 1 ⁄2 cup at a time, scraping bowl as needed. Mix until well incorporated.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Make indentation in each ball. Fill with a few bacon crumbles and 1 ⁄4 teaspoon of the bourbon maple caramel.

Cover indentation with extra dough to enclose caramel completely. Shape into desired shape. For a uniform shape, press dough into a floured cookie cutter and shape/seal inside before gently pressing out onto a cookie sheet. Place cookies on parchment- lined cookie sheets.

Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes. The cookies will still be pale but will have darkened slightly Transfer to cooling rack; cool completely. While cookies cool, make maple buttercream icing: Mix butter, sugar, salt and extract and bourbon until smooth. Add cream 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

Warm icing in top of double boiler over low heat or in the microwave, stirring often. Dip tops of cooled cookies in warm maple bourbon icing and place on wax paper or cooling rack to dry. Decorate as desired.

To decorate with curlicue bacon, cut bacon into 1⁄4-inch-wide strips about 2 1⁄2 inches long and wrap tightly around a ⁄4-inch wooden dowel. Place the

1 dowels on a plate and microwave 30 seconds. Remove from microwave, wrap the bacon tighter and cook another 30 seconds. Repeat this process until bacon is crisp, about 3 or 4 more times.

Use a paper towel to dab off excess grease and let bacon cool on the dowels. Once cool, gently slip bacon off and adhere to cookies with a dab of icing.