Comforting Cinnamon Rolls Get Triple The Flavor When You Add These 2 Ingredients

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A chewy, moist cinnamon roll out of the oven, slathered in icing or frosting, is one of life's greatest pleasures. Whether filled with just cinnamon and butter, or packed with raisins or chopped nuts, these gooey treats are already full of flavor. If you're craving something different, with complementary notes of savory and sweet, you can do it by adding just two more ingredients: bacon and maple cream. Whether embedded into homemade creations or added on top of the best store-bought canned cinnamon rolls, this upgrade is certain to be requested again and again.

If you're not familiar with maple cream — sometimes called maple butter though there's no dairy — you're in for a surprise. It's real maple syrup, whipped to the consistency of a thick icing or a thin frosting. It's deliciously rich and airy at the same time, and works equally well as a filling or topping on cinnamon rolls. Contrasting the rich, almost caramel sweetness of maple syrup with the tang and crunch of crisp, salty bacon chunks enhances the delightfully doughy goodness of cinnamon-infused rolls.

There are a number of approaches to adding these ingredients, and none are too involved. For example, thick-cut bacon adds plenty of savory flavor and texture while store-bought maple bacon enhances the comforting, aromatic notes along with the cream. You can also use any leftover or packaged, precooked bacon. Maple cream comes ready-made, but you can also easily make your own or swap it out for whipped, maple-infused cream cheese. You can even reduce this two-ingredient addition to one if you can find maple-bacon cream cheese through specialty bagel shops.

This hack may take a little planning and prep, particularly if you're cooking the bacon. Cook bacon up in a large skillet until it's cooked through, but not charred. Remove it and pat dry before dicing or chopping it into chocolate chip-sized bits.

You can find a number of maple cream brands, such as Nova Maple Cream. Trader Joe's carries a seasonal version available in the fall. You can also make your own by heating real maple syrup on the stove until it reaches between about 220 and 235 degrees Fahrenheit, plunging it into an ice bath to cool to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and stirring by hand or with an electric mixer until you get a thick, creamy sauce.

You're ready to incorporate your ingredients. When making your own rolls, after you roll the dough into a rectangle, add chopped or crumbled bacon and maple cream along with cinnamon filling. You can also unroll canned cinnamon rolls and add the ingredients, rolling them back up. If you're baking cinnamon rolls in a skillet, use the one you cooked the bacon in, draining excess bacon fat, but retaining enough to grease the pan. This adds even more flavor to your finished rolls. Rather than filling rolls, you can top them with maple cream rather than the packaged icing and finish each roll with a sprinkling of bacon bits.