Bacon + Cinnamon = Brunch Heaven

By now you know I love bacon.  It's one of those foods that goes with just about everything and is appropriate for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  With the spring forward time change, I found myself in a weird place last Sunday where I wanted breakfast, but it was already 11 am and I wanted some savory for lunch too.  I had a can of "whomp biscuits" (you know, the kind you whomp on the counter to open?), about 4 slices of thick cut bacon, and my pantry at my disposal.  Then, lightbulb!  I thought about cinnamon rolls and thought "bacon cinnamon rolls!"

I had to put this in here as a preview of what's to come! :)

But cinnamon rolls involve making a dough, allowing time to rise, etc.  And I didn't want brunch at 2 pm, so, why not speed up the process by using that can o' buttermilk biscuits and creating muffins?  And I've seen recipes before involving snipping biscuits and making monkey bread.  Winner!  But how to do it?!  So, in case you're wondering, here's a step-by-step pictorial of how it's done!

1. Prep your bacon for cooking.  I chose to bake mine at 350 degrees
for about 20 minutes (thick cut bacon) until it was crispy, but still a little chewy.

2. While the bacon cooked, I prepped my other ingredients  -
combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl,
Melt 6 Tablespoons of butter in a separate bowl, and open the biscuits

3. After opening the can of biscuits, I put them on a cutting board
and used a dough scraper (from the dollar store) to cut
 the biscuits into 4 pieces for a total of 40.
(You can cut biscuits with scissors or a knife too)

4. After bacon was cooked, I let cool for a few minutes
and then chopped up into small pieces.  A few pieces may
have been for my kitchen helpers (aka my kitties)

5. I sprayed the muffin tin with non-stick spray, then
began the dipping process.  The dough was dunked into the
melted butter, then the brown sugar/cinnamon/salt mixture.
I put two nuggets into the tin, then a little bacon, then two more
pillows of love, followed by more bacon.  A total of 10 muffins.

6. Here are the prepped muffins topped with bacon
and some of the leftover brown sugar mix.

7. Into the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes
(put a cookie sheet under the tin to catch any bubble-overs)
or until done.  (Your oven may be hotter or cooler,
so keep an eye on them after 10 minutes) 

Cinnamon-Bacon Monkey Bread Muffins

1 can refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10 count)

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

6 Tbsp butter, melted

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray.  Open can of biscuits and cut each into 4 pieces (total of 40 pieces). In a bowl, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.  Mix to combine.  In a separate bowl, melt butter in microwave (about 1 minute on high). Dip two dough pieces in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon/brown sugar mix.  Place two pieces in the tin, then sprinkle a little bacon over.  Dip two more pieces of dough and place on the first two pieces.  Sprinkle with a little more bacon.  Press down slightly to help the 4 pieces stick together.  Repeat this process for the remaining 9 muffins.  Place in oven (put a cookie sheet under to catch drips) and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes (keep checking after 10).  Remove from oven and serve immediately (there will be gooey caramel at the bottom of each tin).  Happy eating!