Maple Bacon Sticky Buns

There are definitely things I miss since going dairy free last year, for example going out to any bakery anywhere and having any cinnamon roll. My favorite cinnamon rolls are at the Lake Oswego Farmers Market, in the back toward the stage area. They use a brioche dough which makes them super light and fluffy and they have a perfectly sweet glaze on top, yum. Most things I'm ok going without, but sometimes I just get a craving and a Saturday morning that allows me the time to fix it, today was just that day!

As I was shoveling my face patting myself on the back taking my first bites the boys came running down singing "Hallelujah" and screaming "Yes, yes, yes!!!" I always ask for feedback, my fear is  that my DF creations have an "off" flavor that's just not quite right. There response was "Perfection!"

Maple Bacon Sticky Buns

Sticky Buns

1 t sugar

1 pkt dry yeast

1/2 c very warm water

1/2 c hemp milk (or rice/almond/soy)

1/4 c sugar

1/4 c shortening or butter substitute (I like Earth Balance)

1 t salt

2 eggs, beaten

4 c ap flour

1/4 c butter substitute, room temp (Earth Balance)

1/2 c bacon, cooked & chopped

3/4 c brown sugar

Maple Glaze

2 c powdered sugar, sifted

2 T maple syrup

1/8 t salt

1/4 t vanilla

1/2 t maple extract

1-2 T warm water

1/4 c bacon, cooked & chopped

In a small bowl combine 1 t sugar, yeast and water, mix well and let stand for 10 minutes, til thick and bubbly. While that's working, in a small saucepan warm the hemp milk just til it begins to bubble, remove from heat and add in 1/4 c sugar, 1/4 c butter sub and salt, mix well til completely combined. When milk mixture is tepid (mine was after the cold butter was melted) pour into a large mixing bowl along with the yeast, eggs and 1 1/2 c flour, mix well. Continue mixing while adding remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time. Swap out mixing blade for dough hook and knead on low for 10 minutes. Loosely cover bowl and let rise til doubled in size. To do this, I warm my oven to 175 degrees, place bowl in oven, turn oven off and allow to rise in oven with the door closed for about 30 minutes.

When the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, dough will be very soft. Roll dough into an 8x14 rectangle. Spread room temp butter sub onto dough, leaving about 1/2" around edges. Sprinkle brown sugar over the butter sub and then the bacon on top of the brown sugar. Roll from the longer side all the way, pinching at the end to secure. Using a long piece of dental floss, scoot under the long roll, bring both ends up and cross over to cut into 12 individual rolls. Place in a lightly greased casserole. Cover and rise again using the oven method above.

After the second rise, warm oven to 375 degrees. Bake sticky buns until lightly browned on top, about 25 minutes. While baking, mix the 1st 5 ingredients in the glaze in a medium bowl. Add just enough water to make a thick glaze for the buns. Pour onto warm sticky buns and top with bacon, enjoy!