Maple Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

It may sound gross, but trust me, it's not. I like the little sweet and salty along with the crunch the bacon brings to these delicious cinnamon rolls. And if you're just not that into bacon, then just leave it out, or sub out pecans. They'll still taste amazing. I baked these beauties in muffin cups to sell them at the farmer's market during the summer, more portable and easier to package. However, I do prefer to bake them all together in a dish when I bake them just for my family, I like them to be gooey and soft and when you bake them in cupcake liners, they aren't quite as chewy or soft. But still delicious! Enjoy! :o)

Ingredients:

• For the cinnamon rolls:
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• 3 to 3 ½ cups flour
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 ¼ teaspoon yeast (I usually use active dry)
• 1 egg
• Bacon filling:
• ½ pound of bacon cooked and crumbled
• 4 Tablespoons (½ stick) butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar 
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• Maple Icing:
• 2 lb bag of powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons maple extract
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup (½ stick) butter
• ¼ cup brewed coffee
• pinch of salt

To make the cinnamon rolls: add the 1 cup of milk to the melted butter and heat in a microwave safe container for 1 to 1 ½ minutes in the microwave. Stir and check temp. If it's lukewarm then add your yeast. If it's still piping hot then let cool until it feels lukewarm. After you stir in the yeast let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. In your stand up mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix 3 cups of flour, sugar and the salt, whisk with a fork and then slowly add your milk/butter/yeast mixture. Add the egg and beat with dough hook on medium speed, adding more flour as needed (¼ cup at a time). When the dough begins to pull away from the bowl and form a ball, turn the speed up and beat a little longer, about 5 more minutes. Remove from bowl to a greased bowl, turning dough once to get it greased on both sides. Cover with a damp towel and let it sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

To make the filling: while the dough is rising, cut up your maple bacon and fry it until crisp. Remove to paper towel to drain off grease. Soften or melt your butter, set aside. Mix your ½ cup sugar and 1 Tablespoon (more or less to taste) together and set aside.

To make your icing: mix ALL of the icing ingredients together and blend well. If icing seems too runny, add more powdered sugar. If icing seems too thick, add more milk and/or coffee. It should be pourable and spreadable, but hold up to spreading on hot cinnamon rolls. This icing recipe makes a lot of icing, I usually freeze the extra icing for the next time I make these delicious rolls!

Assembling the rolls: once the cinnamon roll dough has doubled in size, punch down and lay out on a floured surface. Roll it out into a large rectangle (about 14x9). Spread out your butter evenly over the entire surface, then sprinkle your cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the butter, then the cooked and cooled maple bacon. Starting with the longer side begin tightly rolling up the dough, pinching in the ends to seal it up. Cut the rolls into about ¾ inch to 1 inch thick slices and place in a greased pan or cupcake liners. This recipe will make about 24 cinnamon rolls so you might need several pans. Cover with a dishtowel and let sit for about 20-25 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and back for 12-16 minutes, or until cinnamon rolls start to turn golden around the edges. Pour icing on hot cinnamon rolls and eat while warm.

Freezer Directions: After you have cut up the cinnamon rolls into slices, place them into a freezer container (I usually put them in a 9" round aluminum throw-away pan and then put the pan into a gallon size freezer bag and label the bag with instructions). Freeze for up to 6 months. When ready to eat, remove pan from freezer, let come to room temperature, and have grown a little in size, about 1-2 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is. Then bake as mentioned above.

Yields: 20-24 cinnamon rolls.