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Take some favorite breakfast ingredients like oatmeal, maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, espresso, and yes– bacon, and cook them in a waffle iron. Yeah, these are a breakfast lover’s dream.
The bacon is diced and cooked until brown and crisp. The drippings are poured over the oats to soak up all that good bacon essence. It is then mixed with all the other ingredients including the cooked bacon. Now comes the fun part– cook tablespoons of batter into the sections of a waffle iron until golden.
The original recipe suggested dipping them in white or semisweet chocolate, but with all those breakfast flavors, I knew an espresso icing would take these beauties over the top– and it does! They are best enjoyed the day they are made, but they will keep for another day. Zap them in the microwave for about 2 seconds to bring out the warm breakfast flavors without melting the icing and you are good to go. In fact, these are a portable dessert breakfast on the go. We enjoyed these ourselves and shared a few with neighbors, but I would suggest surprising brunch guests with these on the buffet or whip up a batch for a kids’ slumber party. They will surely be a hit!
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Oatmeal-Bacon Waffle Cookies with Espresso Icing
Equipment
- Standard waffle iron
Ingredients
For the Cookie Batter
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 8 strips of bacon, finely diced
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Icing
- 1-2 tablespoons milk, warmed
- ¼ teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
For the Cookies
- In a large bowl, combine the oats and cinnamon; set aside In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until browned and crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon pieces to a paper towel-lined plate. Pour the bacon drippings over the oat mixture to soak.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla until the sugar dissolves.
- Preheat a standard (not Belgian) waffle iron (I set mine on a heat setting of 3 ½). Add the flour mixture, sugar mixture, and reserved bacon pieces to the oat mixture; stir to combine. Spray the hot waffle iron with non-stick spray and drop about 1 tablespoon of batter into each section of the iron. Close the iron and cook until the cookies are golden, about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool. (The cookies will be soft, but will crisp as they cool). Repeat with remaining dough.
For the Icing
- In a small bowl, dissolve the espresso in 1 tablespoon of the warm milk. Add the vanilla, butter, and confectioners’ sugar and whisk until smooth. Add up to an additional tablespoon of milk if icing is too stiff. Dip the top grid pattern of the cookies into the icing and transfer to a rack to rest until the icing has set. Once set, cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 2 days. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Wow, your pictures alone would convince me to purchase a waffle maker! These cookies look fabulous and down right addicting.
Jess-
Yes, it really is hard to eat just one:)
Waht a cool idea! Very pretty too. …Susan
I am so upset that I have a belgian waffle maker because I want to make these! Found you through TasteSpotting – they look awesome!
I thought at first the combination is a bit weird…But coe to think of it, every major ingredient is a breakfast staple. Makes sense! I bet this'll be a hit. Makes me more excited to try…
nicole, what an interesting combination. i will definitely keep this in mind the next time i want to make waffles!
greetings from germany!
so fun! I love the idea of waffle cookies 🙂
my hubbie is going to be sooo exhited when i make theese!! why can't you use the belgian waffle iron? tnx
A standard waffle iron creates a thin crisp cookie with a slight soft interior. The grates of a belgian waffle make are to big and deep.
Thank you:)