I first tried bacon-chocolate-chip cookies at a farmers' market two years ago, and I've been looking for a reliable recipe for the salty-sweet treats ever since. Happily, I just discovered 101 Things To Do With Bacon [2], a cookbook by local author Eliza Cross [3], and its recipe for—you got it—bacon-chocolate-chip cookies.

The straightforward concoction calls for the usual suspects—flour, butter, brown sugar, semi-sweet chocolate chips, etc.—and adds in 10 strips of cooked and finely chopped bacon. I used the maple-cured house brand from Tony’s Market, [4] which added a subtle note of sweet smokiness. The result: warm, soft cookies with several layers of smoky depth.

Bonus: The spiral-bound book, which lays open easily (yay!), includes two pages of insightful tips, such as the fact that bacon cooked at lower temperatures curls less, and that nitrate-free bacon is sometimes saltier than regular bacon due to processing.