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These Bacon Cinnamon Rolls are the best cinnamon roll recipe! They are fluffy cinnamon buns with crispy bacon and tons of maple flavor in every bite. We love the maple bacon combination – these are EPIC.
Homemade Bacon Cinnamon Rolls
These golden brown cinnamon rolls with suit anyones needs! Bacon in any dessert recipe is so fun because it brings in a savory and salty element, which is such a great combo. I first had maple and bacon together when I tried a doughnut while traveling in Portland and I became obsessed.
My Maple bacon cinnamon rolls use active dry yeast and you can even make them ahead – prep them the day before and let them rise overnight in the refrigerator. They’re the perfect breakfast or brunch – they even have a maple cream cheese frosting!
Ingredients Needed
- Active Dry Yeast: Make sure you pay attention to what yeast you buy. This recipe is written with active dry, not instant yeast.
- Warm Milk: I use this instead of water for a richer dough. Same goes with the egg!
- Bacon: The heart of the filling – make sure to crisp it up and let it cool.
- Brown Sugar: Remember to always pack your sugar when measuring.
- Pure Maple Syrup: This is not cheap pancake syrup – buy the real thing.
- Maple Extract: Adds TONS of maple flavor and should not be skipped.
How to make Cinnamon Roll Dough
- Heat milk to between 100-110°F, approximately 30-40 seconds in the microwave. Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar to the warm milk and let it sit until it starts to foam.
- Using the paddle attachment, mix the butter, remaining sugar, salt, and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the yeast mixture and stir.
- Switch to the dough hook. Add the flour slowly. Start with one cup and then add the rest. 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 the greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.
How to make Bacon Cinnamon Rolls
- Slice strips of bacon into small pieces. Cook bacon until crispy. Set aside to drain and cool. Stir together brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Once the dough is ready, roll it into a rectangle. Brush the rectangle with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture, then sprinkle with bacon.
- Roll the dough tightly.
- Slice in half with a sharp knife, then each half in thirds to make 12 rolls.
- Place in a 9×13-inch baking pan that’s been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
- Let the rolls rise for 1 hour in a warm place. If you are eating them right away, proceed to baking.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake about 2-25 minutes, or until golden.
- While the cinnamon rolls are baking, make the maple frosting: Beat together butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar. Mix in maple syrup and both extracts until smooth. Spread on warm cinnamon rolls.
Expert Tips
- I recommend using a stand mixer if you have one because it makes life so much easier. If you do the recipe by hand you’ll need to knead the dough for several minutes on a flour dusted surface.
- Get an instant read thermometer to test your milk temperature so you know it’s the proper temperature to activate the yeast.
- Instead of baking right away, you can 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.
FAQs
Can you make these ahead of time?
Yes you can! If you are making them ahead of time, cover them with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge!
Can you freeze these cinnamon rolls?
Yes you can! Store them in an airtight container in the freezer!
Bacon Maple Cinnamon Rolls
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!
Total Time 4 hours
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 packet (7g) active dry yeast
- ¾ cup (177ml) warm milk
- ⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 3 cups (372g) all purpose flour
For the Filling:
- 1 pound bacon
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter , melted
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ¾ cup (150g) packed brown sugar
For the Frosting:
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter , softened
- 4 ounces (113g) cream cheese , softened
- 2 cups (226g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) pure maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon maple extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat milk to between 100-110°F, approximately 30-40 seconds in the microwave. Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar to the warm milk and let it sit for five minutes, until it starts to foam. (Just take the teaspoon of sugar from the ⅓ cup called for.)
- Using the paddle attachment, mix the butter, remaining 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 the rest. 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.
- 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.
- Stir together brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Once the dough is ready, roll it into a rectangle (about 10×14 inches). You may need to use a little flour when rolling, that’s okay. Brush the rectangle with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture, then sprinkle with bacon. Roll the dough tightly. Slice in half, then each half in thirds to make 12 rolls. Place in a 9×13-inch baking dish that's been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
- 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, or until golden.
- While the rolls are baking, make the frosting. Beat together butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar. Mix in maple syrup and both extracts until smooth. Spread on warm cinnamon rolls. Sprinkle with extra bacon, if desired.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- You can mix by hand but then you’ll need to knead the dough for about 5-8 minutes on a floured surface before letting rise for the first time.
- It’s helpful to have an instant read thermometer to test your milk temperature so it’s warm enough to activate the yeast but not too hot.
- Make these ahead of time and cover with plastic wrap. Store in refrigerator up to overnight to bake in the morning (allow to come to room temperature first).
- You can freeze unbaked cinnamon rolls or freeze leftovers.
Recipe Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 321kcal
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
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!! 🙂
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