Moist cinnamon rolls are filled with brown sugar and bacon bits, smothered in a smooth cream cheese icing, and topped with sweet candied bacon. That's right - Bacon Cinnamon Rolls are totally a thing, and they might just be the best breakfast ever!
1cupcooked and chopped bacon, about 8-10 slices of bacon
For the Cream Cheese Icing:
8ozcream cheese, softened
5tablespoonsbutter, room temperature
½cuppowdered sugar
1tablespoonvanilla extract
¼cupmilk, or half & half
For the Candied Bacon (optional):
6slicesthick cut bacon, must be thick cut
1cupbrown sugar
Instructions
For the Cinnamon Rolls:
Warm milk for about 1 minute in the microwave until lukewarm. My go to test to determine whether the milk is too hot and will kill the yeast is to place a clean pinkie finger halfway into the milk and if it is too hot to leave there for more than 3 seconds, it is too hot. If it is cold, continue to heat it in 15 second increments until it is warm enough to bloom the yeast. Once the milk is warm, mix in 1 Tbs of sugar and the yeast. Set aside to bloom to determine that the yeast is still active.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Set aside.
Once the yeast has bloomed and gotten fluffy, transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add in the eggs and sugar. Using a whisk or paddle attachment, whisk those together. Add in the flour and mix to incorporate. Switch to a dough hook attachment and let it knead on medium high speed for 2 minutes. Add the butter 2 Tbs at a time giving it time to incorporate. Once all of the butter is added, continue to knead for 5 minutes on medium high speed.
After the dough is done kneading, scrape the sides down, spray the top with baking spray and cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and set aside to rise for an hour or until doubled in size. The dough will be very soft and sticky at this point.
While the dough is rising, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
If you would like to make candied bacon, do so now while the dough is rising so that it has time to cool down completely.
Once the dough has doubled, turn out onto a floured surface. Using your hands, press the dough out into a rectangle, working to keep the corners as square as possible to make it easier when rolling it out. Use a rolling pin and roll the dough out into a long rectangle about ½” thick. The longer your dough rectangle is, the more spiraled and thicker your rolls will be. If your rectangle is wider and not as long, you will have more cinnamon rolls with less spirals. Spread the softened or melted butter over the entire surface of the dough. Top with the cinnamon brown sugar mixture. Once I have spread the sugar mixture over the dough, I like to gently press it down into the dough with my hands just so that it doesn’t boil out and into the bottom of the pan which can result in blackened bottoms. Sprinkle with cooked bacon bits.
Roll the dough up starting at the bottom. Press the edge of the dough into the rolled dough to seal it. Slice into 2” thick rolls using a sharp knife. The easiest way to have same sized cinnamon rolls is to start by cutting the ends off, cut directly in the middle and then cut in the middle of each middle to have 4 sections of rolls. Slice 4 rolls from each section. The best way to cut through the dough so that you do not seal the cinnamon rolls closed is to use a really sharp knife dipped in flour and pull through the dough and start again, pulling the knife through with each slice. Let the knife do the work. Do not push the knife down through and do not saw through the dough. This will result in misshapen rolls.
Place rolls into a greased baking pan leaving about ¼” of space between them to allow them to rise. They should not be stuffed into the baking dish as that will result in them rising up and over the sides. Cover with a damp towel and set aside to rise for 30-45 minutes or until doubled in size.
After the rolls have begun to rise, preheat the oven to 350 F. Once the rolls have doubled in size, place into the preheated oven to bake for about 45-50 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. I like to bake mine for 25 minutes, cover with tin foil and bake for the remaining time. If, when they are done baking, they aren’t browned enough, I remove the foil and let them bake for another 2-3 minutes to further brown. Tenting some tin foil over the rolls will steam them, allowing them to bake through and preserve the softness.
While the cinnamon rolls are baking, make the icing.
Once the cinnamon rolls are baked, remove them from the oven and set them on a cooling rack. Spread cream cheese icing on top right away for a thin, “melted” layer or wait for 15 minutes for a thicker icing. You could also wait until they are completely cooled to ice so that it stays thick, however, most of us cannot wait that long for a hot cinnamon roll.
If you chose to make the candied bacon, garnish the cinnamon rolls with a small piece of bacon. Serve and enjoy!
Icing:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Using the paddle attachment, beat the ingredients together on medium high speed for 2 minutes. Add in the milk or half and half and beat again for another minute.
For the Candied Bacon:
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Lay bacon onto the baking sheet. Do not overlap the bacon. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar on top of the bacon. Place into the preheated oven for about 8-10 minutes or until the brown sugar has melted and begins to bubble. Remove from the oven and flip the bacon. Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over the bacon and place back into the oven for another 10 minutes or until the brown sugar looks caramelized.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely to room temperature before using. I let mine cool for a minute then, using tongs, I removed it from the pan and placed it onto a plate. Once the bacon is cooled and the sugar has cooled, it becomes extremely difficult to remove it from the pan.
Video
Notes
Cinnamon rolls should be stored in an airtight container or baggie in the fridge for up to 7 days.
For freshness and optimum softness, warm cinnamon roll up for 30 seconds to a minute after they have been stored.