Bouchon Bakery Cookies

Bouchon bakery is a fancy pants French patisserie with outposts in Manhattan Las Vegas and Beverly Hills.  A thoughtful friend gave mom the Bouchon bakery cookbook for Christmas

Its full of yummy recipes for cake, cookies, and bread.... and it even has a dog treat recipe!  

"These look good mom, make 'em!"

Now usually mom tries to make pretty healthy recipes for us, but there is no denying it: these cookies are really indulgent.  Sometimes you have to live it up.  

Bouchon Bakery Bones (Slightly Adapted)

1 1lb bacon diced (yes that is a lot of bacon, this makes a lot of cookies)
1 1lb chicken livers (the recipe called for 13 oz but mom decided to use the whole container)
3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp of corn meal
3 cups plus 3 tbsp all purpose flour (We like King Arthur Brand)
1 cup chicken broth or stock
Ketchup Glaze
3 tbsp ketchup 
1 egg white

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.   Cook the bacon in the skillet until brown but not really crispy, about five minutes on medium high.

Drain the bacon on paper towels and pour of all but a film of the bacon fat.  (Save your bacon fat, its delicious for cooking hash browns.  I like  Pioneer Woman's recipe).

Transfer the drained bacon to the food processor and process quickly with two or three pulses until it is very finely chopped.

In the same skillet in which you cooked the bacon (where the film of bacon fat is waiting) cook the chicken livers over medium high heat for five minutes until they are no longer pink.  Stir them around and break them up with the wooden spoon so they get mushy.

Put the chicken livers in the processor with the bacon and mix until you get a pate like paste (at the bakery these cookies are made with foie gras trimmings)
Add the corn meal and process again until you get a thick even paste.

Transfer the mixture to a stand mixer and add the flour and mix until totally combined.  

Then slowly pour in the chicken broth while continuing to mix

The dough should come together in a ball.   (At this point I divided the dough in half as I knew this was going to make a ton of rich cookies.  I wrapped one half and put it in the freezer for later use).

Take two big sheets of plastic wrap and line a wooden cutting board with one.   Take one half of the dough and cover it with the second sheet of the plastic wrap.  I just patted the dough until it was about 1/2 inch thick, but you could use a rolling pin.

Use a bone cookie cutter to make the cookies, gather any scraps and re-pat and cut them.

Put the cookies in the oven.  

The recipe said to bake for 3 hours at 250 until completely dry but I felt mine where getting to brown so I lowered the temperature to 200 and took them out after 2 and a half hours.

Take the cookies out of the oven and whisk together the egg white and ketchup and then brush this glaze over the cookies.

"Are they ready yet?"

Put back in the oven and bake until the glaze is hardened, about 25 minutes.

The Finished Product:

Taste testers approved:

Store at room temperature in a covered container.

(Mom Note: These cookies are not grain free.  We use grain free dog food, but none of the hounds are totally grain intolerant so I do allow some grains in the dog treats.  If your dog is grain intolerant substitute Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour for the all purpose flour and the corn meal).

Of course mom being a desert-a-holic had to make something for herself and Dad too.  So she made chocolate chip cookies and she said they were very good, maybe even better then her old favorite: Cowboy Cookies.

Bouchon Bakery Chocolate Chunk Cookies

1 1/2 cups plus 3 tbsp King Arthur brand all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp, packed, dark brown sugar
1 3/4 tsp molasses
1/2 cup plus 1 tsp granulated sugar
6 ounces, chocolate chunks 
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 sticks of butter at room temperature
1 egg

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.   Put the brown sugar and granulated sugar in a small bowl and stir in the molasses.   Combine the chocolate chunks and the chocolate chips in another small bowl.

Beat the butter at medium low speed for about 3 to 4 minutes until very light and creamy.   Add the brown sugar mixture and beat again for 3 to 4 minutes until fluffy.  Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl very well in order ot make sure no unmixed sugar or butter sticks to the bottom.  Add the egg and mix on low speed for 15 to 30 seconds (the book emphasizes that it is very important not to over mix the egg).  Add the flour mixture in two additions beating at low speed for 15 to 30 seconds each time and scraping the bowl well.  Add the chocolates and pulse on low speed ten times.   

The dough needs to be refrigerated for at least an hour before baking.  I wrapped mine in parchment paper in plastic wrap and stored it in the fridge for a day.

Preheat then oven to 325 and line a pan with parchment paper.  Roll generous scoops of dough into balls and place on the lined pan.   Bake 14 minutes, rotating once half way through.