Maple Bacon Cinnamon Roll Recipe

With Vanilla Maple Icing

© Carol Hilker

Nov 5, 2009

Maple bacon cinnamon rolls with maple syrup icing sounds like a toughie, but it isn't. Maple bacon cinnamon rolls consist of making a cinnamon roll, cooking bacon until it's cooked, but still soft enough to roll, adding it in the cinnamon roll and covering it with butter and cinnamon-sugar, the flavors all bake together. The result is a fluffy and soft cinnamon roll with the occasional hint and crunch of the sweet bacon. Additionally, because the recipe is baked and not fried, you don't have to feel too bad about the bacon...or The icing.

Bacon-Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Makes 18 small or 10 extra large rolls

Dough

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, divided into two bowls
• 1/2 cup sugar (bakers fine if possible)
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt

Filling

• 1 pound of maple bacon, leaving 4 pieces to the side for topping. (any bacon will do, maple bacon just has a sweeter taste)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

Glaze

• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 slices of cooked bacon, chopped fine into little bacon bits

Making the Dough

Making cinnamon roll dough is the only part of the recipe that makes it seem like it is complicated. The only time consuming part about making cinnamon roll dough is waiting for the yeast to rise. Take a few minutes to do the dough and let the yeast do the rest of the work.

1. Combine milk and butter in a small saucepan and heat over a low flame until mixture is just warmed to 120-130 degrees F. Alternately, the milk and butter can be heated in the microwave. Keep in mind that 120-130 degrees is not extremely hot, so make sure to not burn the yeast. Burning the yeast will result in the rolls not rising.
2. Pour milk and butter into a large bowl
3. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, eggs, yeast and salt.
4. Beat with the mixture for 3 minutes by hand or use a dough hook in a standing mixer.
5. Add 2 1/2 cups flour.
6. Beat until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, stopping to make sure to scrape down sides of bowl periodically.
7. If needed, add more flour, one tablespoon at a time until dough begins to form ball and not stick to the side of the bowl.
8. Turn dough out onto lightly flour work surface.
9. Knead for about 8 minutes, until the dough ball is smooth and has elasticity, add more flour periodically if needed.
10. Form into ball.

The Rising Period

To make sure to let the dough rise correctly, lightly oil a large bowl and transfer dough inside, turning once to coat.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area (a pantry or the next to a lit stove at lowest temperature until it's size has doubled, usually 1-2 hours. While the bacon cinnamon rolls rise,prepare the rest of the recipe.

Cinnamon Sugar and Bacon Filling

Making the perfect cinnamon roll filling consists of cinnamon and sugar and just that. This recipe will be adding bacon, which offsets sweet overkill with a salty note.

1. Mix the cinnamon-sugar at any point during the rise, just to get it done.
2. After the dough rises to a point where it looks doubled, cook your bacon.
3. To make the bacon, fry or bake it lightly in oil until it is medium-done, but not crispy. If it is crispy, it wont roll into the cinnamon roll dough without breaking.
4. Leave three pieces in pan until well-done.

Roll Out

This is the point that the rolls are formed.

1. Uncover the dough and give that ball a good punch to deflate it.
2. Flour a counter-top surface and turn dough ball to surface.
3. Roll out to a large rectangle.
4. Spread the room-temperature butter over dough, starting in the middle and working outwards, leaving 1/2-inch border un-buttered.
5. Sprinkle your cinnamon-sugar mix evenly over butter.
6. Spread the bacon (except for the three well done pieces) over the cinnamon sugar making sure it covers the rectangle evenly.
7. Starting at a long side of the rectangle, roll dough into log, stopping to pinch it gently - making sure it doesn't come unrolled.
8. With seam side down, holding the rolls together, cut dough into the rolls, slicing every 2-3 inches.

Rise Again

This time the dough will need a second rise to get more body and lightness to the roll.

1. Spray down a baking or casserole dish with Pam or melted butter. Due to the rising, two baking dishes might be required.
2. Arrange rolls cut side up with pretty much no space between them.
3. Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap and let dough rise until almost doubled in volume, 30-40 minutes.

Maple Syrup Icing

1. Chop your remaining 3 pieces of bacon finely
2. Combine powdered sugar, vanilla and maple syrup in a medium bowl, until a glaze is made. If icing starts to come out sticky, add milk by the teaspoon until desired consistency to thicken and spread maple syrup out

To Bake

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and give it about ten minutes to warm up.
2. Bake rolls for 20 minutes until the tops are golden and the rolls look done.
3. Remove from oven and immediately invert.
4. Let cool
5. When slightly cool or room temperature, drizzle glaze over rolls and immediately sprinkle with chopped bacon.
6. Serve warm

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