Sticky Bacon Buns: A Sweet and Savory Delight
If you’re a fan of soft, pillowy rolls and the irresistable combination of sweet and savory flavors, this Sticky Bacon Buns recipe is about to become your new obsession. Imagine the fluffiness of Texas Roadhouse rolls combined with the caramelized decadence of candied bacon, all topped with a luscious cinnamon honey butter glaze. These buns are the perfect indulgence for brunch, holidays or anytime you want to treat yourself!
The Inspiration
This recipe came about when I was in the kitchen trying to make kolaches. I had some leftover candied bacon and threw that in one of my dough balls. It was far and away the best thing to come out of that round of recipe testing. So much so that I scrapped the other fillings and focused solely on using candied bacon. I realized the buns reminded me of the pork buns I got in Chinatown. Perfectly sweet, salty and sticky.
The Dough
The dough is the same recipe I use for my Texas Roadhouse Rolls copycat recipe. It renders a very soft roll. This recipe does call for more sugar however. It’s easiest to use a stand mixer attached with a dough hook to bring the dough together and knead. Don’t be tempted to add more flour to the recipe early on in the mixing. The dough will get less sticky as it kneads. While the dough rises, make your candied bacon.
The Candied Bacon
The candied bacon is all that is in the center of these buns. Thick cut bacon is topped with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon then baked, flipped and baked again until perfectly browned and caramelized. The bacon hardens for thirty minutes and then is easily broken into pieces to fit in the dough balls. The candied bacon warms in the center of the dough during bake time and creates a similar flavor profile to my World’s Best Cinnamon Rolls, but not quite as sweet. Once out of oven the buns are slathered in a cinnamon honey butter glaze to take them over the top.
Sticky Bacon Buns
Ingredients
Rolls
- 1 packet instant yeast
- 1 1/4 c milk 2% or whole
- 2/3 c sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 4 tbsp salted butter melted
- 4 c all purpose flour
Candied Bacon
- 1 lb thick cut bacon
- 3/4 c brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Cinnamon Honey Butter Glaze
- 4 tbsp salted butter
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat milk over medium heat until it reaches 105 degrees. Use a candy thermometer or instant read thermometer to check temperature.
- Add warm milk to a large bowl or stand mixer followed by the sugar. Stir. Add the instant yeast, egg, salt and 2 cups of the flour.
- If using a stand mixer put the dough hook attachment on and turn on low.
- Pour in melted butter.
- Once the ingredients have come together, slowly pour in the remaining flour a little at a time. The dough will be very sticky at this point.
- Turn speed up to medium and allow to knead for 10 minutes until the dough creates a ball and no longer sticks to the sides or bottom of the bowl. The dough will not be sticky at this point rather a little tacky. You should be able to handle it without it coming off onto your hands.
- Roll the dough ball on all sides in a greased bowl, cover with saran wrap and place either in a mircrowave (not in use) or cover with a dish towel and place in an oven that's been preheated to 200 degrees and turned off. You need a warm environment without drafts for the dough to rise. Let rise for an hour.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Place bacon on a parchment lined sheet pan.
- Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle half the brown sugar mixture over the bacon and press into each piece.
- Bake on the top rack for 20 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and flip the bacon. If the sugar is already burning on the pan, transfew bacon to a new parchment lined sheet pan. Be sure to flip each piece over.
- Cover in the rest of the brown sugar mixture, pressing down on each piece.
- Put back in the oven on the top rack for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. Transfew each piece of bacon to a fresh piece of parchment paper. Allow to harden for 30 minutes.
- Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- Remove risen dough from the bowl onto a very lightly floured surface.
- Press dough by hand into a 10x10 square and cut into 20 equal pieces.
- Gently flatten a piece of dough and place some of the crumbled bacon in the middle. Fold the sides up into the middle like a dumpling. Press the creases together. Place each "bun" on a parchment lined sheet pan.
- Once all the buns have been formed brush with eggwash and bake on the middle rack for 15 minutes.
- While those bake, make the glaze in a pot set over medium heat. Melt the butter. Add the honey, powdered sugar and cinnamon. Whisk until everything is melted and incorporated. Make this in the final couple minutes of bake time.
- As soon as the rolls are done remove from the oven and brush the entire top with the glaze.
- Let rest for 5 minutes then eat.