Bourbon Bacon Jam Pig Newtons (Sweet and Savory Snack Cookies)
These Pig Newtons are a sweet and savory spin on the fig-filled cookie I grew up with. Soft golden cookie dough wraps around chocolate bourbon bacon jam for a cookie that is smoky, salty, sweet, and rich.
I teamed up on this recipe with the Missouri Pork Producers Association to show that bacon isn’t just for breakfast – it makes for incredible sweet and savory desserts.
The dough gets its soft, slightly chewy texture from brown sugar and honey. A little whole wheat flour gives it a nutty flavor that works especially well with the bacon jam. The filling cooks down slowly with bourbon, molasses, apple cider vinegar, onion, brown sugar, and dark chocolate until it becomes thick enough to tuck inside the dough.
These are the cookies to make when you want something familiar at first glance and completely unexpected after the first bite.
Ingredients for Bourbon Bacon Jam Cookies
Here’s what you need for the bacon jam:
Start with thick-cut bacon. It gives the jam better texture and stands up to the long simmer better than thin bacon.
Bourbon adds warmth and depth. Use one with a flavor you like.
Apple cider vinegar cuts through the richness of the bacon, brown sugar, and molasses.
Use regular molasses, not blackstrap. Blackstrap molasses is much more bitter and can take over the filling.
Dark chocolate is the surprise ingredient. It isn’t there to make it a chocolate cookie, but to add a bitter, savory depth that balances the bourbon and molasses.
The dough uses both all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. The all-purpose flour keeps the cookie tender. The whole wheat flour adds a light nutty flavor that makes the cookies taste a little more like the snack-cookie inspiration.
Brown sugar and honey sweeten the dough and help keep it soft.
Cinnamon adds warmth without taking over.
The milk helps to make the dough soft and pliable.
How to Make Pig Newtons
First, make the bacon jam.
I always make a little extra for snacking. It’s great on a sandwich, spread over cornbread, or you could use it as a filling for thumbprint cookies!
Cook the bacon until it is browned but still has some chew. Avoid taking it all the way to crisp since it will continue cooking in the jam.
Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. After it cools for a few minutes, pour off most of the bacon fat. Leave just enough in the pot to cook the onion.
Cook the onion until soft and translucent. This gives the jam a savory base and balances the sweetness.
Add the bourbon, vinegar, water, molasses, and brown sugar. Bring everything to a boil, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Add the chocolate and cooked bacon. Stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture looks even.
Simmer the mixture on low until most of the liquid has cooked off. The jam should be thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon.
Blend the jam until mostly smooth, leaving a little texture. Chill it completely before filling the cookies.
To make the dough, cream the butter, brown sugar, and honey until smooth.
Mix in the egg and vanilla until fully incorporated.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Stop as soon as you no longer see dry flour.
Add milk until the dough feels soft and pliable, but not sticky. Wrap and chill the dough before shaping.
Roll the dough on a floured surface into a long rectangle about 1/4″ thick. Use a pig cookie cutter [paid link] to cut out pig shapes. You could also cut into rectangles, but what fun would that be? Grab the scraps, reroll and cut again. Repeat until all the dough is used. If the dough becomes too warm, it will become too sticky to roll. Return it to the fridge for 10 minutes to cool it off.
Spread a 1/2 inch thick layer of bacon jam on half of the pig cutouts going all the way to the edge of the pig.
Place another pig on top of the covered cookie and press down lightly.
Bake at 350 F for 12-15 minutes until the cookies are set and lightly golden. Let them cool on a rack.
Expert Tips
Cook the bacon until browned, not crispy. Crisp bacon can make the filling feel dry.
Cook the bacon jam down until thick. Loose filling will leak during baking.
Bring the filling back to room temperature before assembling. Cold jam is harder to spread.
Give chilled dough a few minutes at room temperature if it cracks while shaping.
Let the cookies rest for several hours before serving. The dough softens around the filling, giving them a better newton-style texture.
How to Serve Them
Eat them however you want, but serving them after a dinner of pulled pork sandwiches or ribs would be a fun surprise treat for everyone!
I like them at room temperature, but Pig Newtons are also great slightly warm. A few seconds in the microwave softens the filling and brings out the chocolate, bacon, bourbon, and molasses.
Storage
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.
For longer storage, refrigerate them. Bring them to room temperature or warm them slightly before serving.
The cookies soften as they sit, so the texture is best several hours after baking or the next day.
FAQs
Yes. The bacon jam is easier to use after it has chilled. Make it a day ahead, refrigerate it, and remove any solidified fat from the top before filling the cookies.
Yes, though the flavor will change. Most store-bought bacon jams lack the dark chocolate and bourbon notes in this filling, so the cookies may taste sweeter or sharper depending on the brand.
The chocolate gives the bacon jam a darker, richer finish. The cookies do not taste like chocolate cookies.
Yes. Replace it with water or apple juice. The filling will lose some depth, but the cookies will still work.
The whole wheat adds that signature nutty flavor and soft bite without making it health food.
The cookie softens around the filling as it rests, and the flavors settle into each other.
Bourbon Bacon Jam Pig Newtons (Sweet and Savory Snack Cookies)
Equipment
- Immersion Blender
Ingredients
Chocolate Bourbon Bacon Jam
- 3/4 pound thick-cut bacon cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 small yellow onion diced
- 1/3 cup bourbon
- 2 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2/3 cup water
- 2 1/2 tablespoons teaspoons molasses not blackstrap
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 ounces dark chocolate
Cookie Dough
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon milk plus more if needed
Instructions
Make the Bacon Jam
- In a heavy-bottomed pot, cook bacon over medium heat until browned but not crispy, about 15 minutes.
- Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Cool for 5-10 minutes and then pour off all but about 1/2 tablespoon of bacon fat into a heat-proof container.
- Add diced onion and cook on medium heat until soft and translucent, about 5-6 minutes.
- Stir in bourbon, vinegar, water, molasses, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits.
- Add chocolate and cooked bacon. Stir until melted and combined.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours, stirring every 20-30 minutes, until most of the liquid is gone.
- Use an immersion blender to blend until mostly smooth but with some texture remaining.
- Cool completely, then refrigerate. Remove and discard the solidified fat from the top, if present.
Make the Dough
- Cream butter, brown sugar, and honey until smooth.
- Add egg and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix just until combined.
- Add milk, adjusting as needed, until dough is soft and pliable but not sticky.
- Wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
Assemble and Bake
- Preheat oven to 350 F and line baking sheets with parchment.
- Roll dough on a floured surface into rectangles about 1/4 inch thick.
- Cut out pig shapes with a cookie cutter or cut into rectangles.
- Re-roll scraps and cut out again. Continue until all the dough is used. (Chill again if the dough becomes too sticky to work with.)
- Place half of the pigs onto baking sheets leaving 2 inches of space between pigs.
- Spread bacon jam on half of the pigs, about 1/2 inch thick.
- Place the remaining pigs on top of the pigs with the jam and press down lightly.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, until set and lightly golden. Swap trays in the oven halfway through for even baking.
- Set cookies on a cooling rack to come to room temperature.
Video
Notes
- You will have leftover bacon jam. Use it as a spread on bread or crackers or mixed into vanilla ice cream.
- The filling should be thick, not runny. If it spreads, cook it down more.
- Cookies will soften and improve in texture after sitting for several hours or overnight.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 48 hours. Then, move to the fridge for up to a week – bring to room temperature before serving.
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