BACON CINNAMON BUNS

 

BACON CINNAMON BUNS.. the perfect weekend breakfast treat! for a long long time i have been meaning to incorporate bacon into one of my desserts after seeing a maple bacon doughnut at a local bakery. these seemed like the perfect opportunity. the cinnamon bun recipe was given to me by my boyfriends mom BUT the recipe calls for raisins, which i hate (don't get me started on raisins) so i added a glaze and replaced the raisins with bacon bits. that works right? replacing dried fruit with cured meat? ok cool, moving on. don't judge the fact that margarine is used over butter, it is what i was told to use AND THEY TASTE PERFECT, so don't you change it! when i was making these, i had a hard time deciding if the bacon should be sprinkled on top or rolled into the buns. then i realized, i don't need to choose one over the other, i chose both.

ingredients

for the dough

  • 2 1/4 cup + 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 envelope instant yeast
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup margarine
  • 1 egg

for the filling

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup margarine
  • 1 cup chopped bacon [reserve 1/2 cup to sprinkle on top]

for the glaze

  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 1 tablespoon butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon milk

directions

  • in the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook mix 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar, and salt.
  • heat milk, water, margarine until warm and add to the flour mixture followed by the egg.
  • once the mixture begins to come together add the remaining 1 cup of flour until a soft dough is formed.
  • knead dough for 5-10 minutes then let rest for an hour, covered.
  • once the dough has doubled in size roll into a thin square and begin to add the filling.
  • start with the margarine, brown sugar, cinnamon and lastly the bacon bits.
  • roll dough and cut into 2 inch slices.
  • place in a 9x12 square baking dish and let rest a second time for 30 minutes, covered.
  • bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
  • while the cinnamon buns are baking, make the glaze by whisking the icing sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and milk in a mixing bowl. to get to desired consistency either add more icing sugar or more milk.
  • brush the cinnamon buns with the glaze hot from the oven and sprinkle with remaining bacon bits.