Maple Bacon Jam Rolls

YUP, you heard that right. Bacon. Maple. Rolls. All the good things. 

Okay. 

YOUR DOUGH:

• ¾ cup warm milk
• 2 ¼ teaspoons quick rise or active yeast 
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg & 1 egg yolk
• ¼ cup butter, melted 
• 3 cups flour 
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
  *set aside an extra egg for the egg wash at the end! 

YOUR FILLING: 

• 1.5 - 2lbs of bacon (thick cut is preferred, but not necessary)
• 2 yellow onions
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbs thyme 
• 2 tbs of stock (whatever you got! you can also just use water!)

Instructions: 

*If you have a stand mixer, it will come in handy! 
*you can also use your bread maker on "dough" setting

Warm up your milk a little bit by sticking it in the microwave for 30-40 seconds. Then sprinkle the yeast on top. 

Mix milk & yeast, along with all the other wet ingredients first. Then, gradually add your dry ingredients. For the dough to be fully combined, you might need to knead it by hand towards the end depending on your mixer. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes (either by hand or with the dough hook attachment for your mixer). 

Place dough in a bowl and cover lightly with oil. Cover the bowl in saran wrap. Leave in a warm place for  ~1.5 hrs, it should double in size. 

About 30 mins before your dough is due to be ready, preheat the oven to 350C and start your bacon jam: Dice bacon up into small cubes. In a pan, fry up until brown.

Dump out most of the bacon fat. I like to use a strainer, & add back a couple of tbs of the fat back into the pan. Fat won't reduce, so skipping this step will just give you a really oily jam. 

Dice up your onions & add them to the pan. Let the bacon fat coat the onions & let them cook on low/medium head for a few minutes. Don't let them get brown or crispy! 

Add the remaining ingredients! 

Let everything simmer until the sauce is a thickened consistency. 

Take off the heat & let sit. 

Roll the dough out on a floured surface. Aim to make a large rectangle. But really, it doesn't have to be perfect. It's going to be delicious regardless so don't be too hard on yourself, okay? Okay.

Spread your bacon jam evenly across the dough, leaving about a 1/4" margin on the sides. 

Roll up the dough from the long side of the rectangle. Make sure that while rolling, you don't push all the bacon out. You'll want to make sure that every crease has a solid layer of your bacon jam! 

Butter the inside of your baking pan. 

Cut your rolls & carefully place into the baking pan. 

I like to do an egg wash: whisk an egg & brush it onto the tops of the rolls. 

Bake for 30 minutes or until done. The tops will become a toasted brown. 

Let them cool off just enough to devour them. You're welcome. ENJOY!