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The perfect weekend breakfast: Bacon Maple Cinnamon Rolls! A wonderful buttery cinnamon roll dough filled with maple brown sugar and bacon filling, and topped with a maple glaze!
Have you ever heard of Voodoo Doughnut? It’s a doughnut shop in Portland, Oregon. It’s been on all the food and travel TV shows. Heck, it was even referenced in the 50 Shades of Grey. Every time it came on the Travel Channel I would salivate over the Bacon Maple Bar. Just the thought of the Maple Bar frosting and the salty, crunchy bacon made my mouth water.
A few years ago, we happened to be in Portland after visiting my parents at their house in Mapleton (aptly named for this post, methinks). Of course, I required a stop at Voodoo Doughnut! A few things I learned there:
I’ve never seen a busier doughnut shop. EVER.
If you visit you will have to drive around the block 10 times and fight with your husband about “to park or not to park”.
If you bring a child over the age of four, be prepared to answer questions about some of the doughnut names. Or, the shape of, er, the doughnuts. If you’ve ever been to their website, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Luckily…Jordan was young. She had no clue, other than we were getting doughnuts.
Anyway, I think of that Maple Bacon Bar often. VERY often. I love maple, so, so very much. And I love bacon, so it’s pretty much a match made in heaven.
Recently I was craving cinnamon rolls and wanted to make a “new” version. Being a blogger, that’s hard to find! There are so many great versions out there. Cake Batter, Red Velvet, Chocolate, Carrot Cake. The options are endless.
But I wanted maple. And when I thought of maple…my mind went to bacon. Enter: Bacon Maple Cinnamon Rolls.
When these popped into my head, I may have been subliminally remembering the cinnamon rolls my friend Cristina from Oven Adventures made. When I did a google search they popped right up and I smacked my forehead and was all, riiiiight I remember those now! I remembered drooling over those as I’m drooling over remembering these as I type.
These cinnamon rolls are probably my favorite flavor so far. The yeast dough is rich and sweet from the sugar, butter, and egg. The filling is butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and I added maple syrup and maple extract for an extra punch of flavor. Then I sprinkled in some cooked bacon, for good measure. The bacon gives the filling a slightly salty taste, with a little bit of crunch. Mixed with the maple, it’s a wonderful combo!
{See? If you look close in that picture, you can see all the bacon goodness!}
And then, the frosting. Is there anything better than maple frosting? I could literally drink it. {Side note: does anyone else think of Laura Ingalls Wilder whenever they think of maple syrup?}
These were so, so good I had to force myself to stop at eating one!
Well…maybe one and a half…
Bacon Maple Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 1/8 teaspoons active dry yeast 1/2 packet
- 1/2 cup warm milk heated 30-40 seconds in the microwave
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter softened
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour up to 2 1/2 cups as needed
For the Filling:
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon maple extract
- 10 slices bacon
For the Frosting:
- 3 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon maple extract
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add the yeast to the warm milk and let it sit for five minutes, until it starts to foam.
- Using the paddle attachment, mix the butter, sugar, salt, and eggs in the bowl of a mixer. Add the yeast/milk mixture and stir.
- Switch to the dough hook. Add the flour slowly. Start with one cup and then add an additional cup. I only needed 2 cups, but you can use up to an extra 1/2 cup if you need, for the dough to come together). The dough will be sticky, but not so much that you can’t handle it.
- Once dough comes together, spray a large bowl with cooking spray, place the dough inside and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours. (It helps if you do this in a warm place. My dough didn’t quite double, but it still worked!)
- While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. Dice the raw bacon. Place in a medium sized frying pan and cook about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned or until it’s the doneness you prefer. Transfer to a plate covered with paper towels to drain.
- Add all filling ingredients (except bacon) to a small bowl and stir with a fork. It helps if the butter is soft! Set aside until ready to use.
- Once the dough is ready, roll it into a rectangle (about 10x14 inches). You may need to use a little flour when rolling, that’s okay. Spread the filling evenly in the center and sprinkle with your bacon. Starting at a short end, roll the dough tightly. Slice into thirds and then thirds again, for a total of nine cinnamon rolls. Place in a 9x9” baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. (You can also slice them into 12 pieces and use a 9x13" pan for smaller rolls.)
- Let the rolls rise for 1 hour at room temperature. If you are eating them right away, proceed to baking. Or, you can then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight until you are ready to eat. Remove from the refrigerator and let sit on the stove while it is preheating, then bake.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake about 2-25 minutes until golden.
- While the rolls are baking, make the frosting. Beat together butter and powdered sugar. Mix in maple syrup and both extracts until smooth. Spread on warm cinnamon rolls. Sprinkle with extra bacon, if desired.
Recipe Nutrition
Have you checked out my Breakfast Pinboard? Come hungry, leave happy.
Sweets from friends:
Maple Bacon Cinnamon Buns by Oven Adventures
Cake Batter Cinnamon Rolls by Chef in Training
Maple Bacon Muffin Tops by Something Swanky
Last Updated on February 2, 2023
Girl, you cray cray. (I could NEVER get away with saying that in real life, so I’m bustin’ it out here.)
Those look friggin’ amazing. I LIVE in Portland and have yet to have a Voodoo doughnut. I know, it’s blasphemy.
Thanks Mindy! You MUST GO! 🙂
Bacon & maple are right up there with chocolate & peanut butter for best pair! And MAPLE + BACON + CINNAMON ROLLS? Ultimate guilty pleasure. Love it 😉
Thanks Valerie!!!
I flipping love maple bacon together…and cinnamon rolls with this combo have been on my list forever. Yours are absolutely gorgeous…
Thanks Aimee!!
*cringe at awkwardness of children and apparently dirty doughnuts*
Anywayyyy. I can’t let Michael see these. He’ll never let me hear the end of it until I make them if he does, and you know…I’ve got stuff to do! 😛
LOL! He’d be your slave forever if you made them for him. 🙂
Ok I don’t eat bacon but I am very intrigued by the dough recipe. It’s looks soft and fluffy and the fact that you only use 2 to 2.5 cups of flour (not 4-ish like most cinn roll recipes call for) means that this batch size is not crazy huge. I also love that you worked maple in! Was that the only change you made from the carrot cake rolls (just glanced at that dough base too). I am always on the hunt for new dough bases that make smaller!! batches than 12-14 huge, jumbo cinnabon style rolls. Our family of 3 does not need that! They’re gorgeous, Dorothy!
I think it was one of the only changes. This is half a recipe – but it grows into a 9×9 pan nicely, 9 rolls. Perfect for a small batch! The recipe I worked from (which, you reminded me I forgot to put in the post, fixing that now) is my favorite cinnamon roll dough! 🙂 (It’s from Baked Bree) http://bakedbree.com/cinnamon-rolls
I agree! I am also glad for the smaller batch. LOL there is only 3 in my family. This means its easier to have some and not being tempted to eat like 3 in one day!
LOL, totally. It makes 9, there are three in my family, my daughter eats 2 my husband eats 0, and the math is not in my favor!! 🙂
These sound amazing!! 🙂
Thanks Becky!
I have been to VooDoo Doughnuts and I know exactly what you are talking about 🙂 They are worth the wait though – am I right? I can’t even remember how many doughnuts I ate there…too many I’m sure 🙂 Maple Bars are my favorite – and you just upped the ante my friend! Now I’m thinking of how I can make a maple/bacon something or other too 🙂 Oh, and I will be making this recipe ASAP.
I want to make maple bacon EVERYTHING Trish!
These look wonderful. If you make them this weekend, be sure to save me one (or four) for Monday!!!
Love, Mom
I just made something else yummy for Monday. If it makes it to the freezer. 🙂
Every time I see one of your new posts I find myself dying to cheat on my diet. If there is one thing in this world that I love, it is bacon. I could eat bacon every day for the rest of my life and still never tire of it. I am making these this weekend! My wedding dress diet will just have to wait! I have been wanting to come up with a cupcake incorporating bacon and maple somehow. I think you may have inspired me to make it happen! 🙂
OMG a cupcake would be awesome Sabrina! I, too, could live on bacon. And sugar. 🙂
It is so hard as a food blogger to come up with new ideas. Half the time I think of something that someone else has made, and of course they made it amazing. These look delicious and I love the crispy bacon on top! I couldn’t live without bacon!!!!!
I know, it’s so frustrating! EVERY combo has been done! Thanks Elizabeth for always coming to visit!
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