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A white cast iron pan with bacon and cheese rolls baked in it.

Easy Cheese and Bacon Rolls – In a cast iron skillet

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  • Author: Emma Lee
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Resting Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 3hours 25 minutes
  • Yield: 8-12 1x
  • Category: Skillet Baking
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Australian

Description

 It’s an Aussie staple. Well, this is my version. Light, fluffy homemade bread rolls with a good bit of bacon and cheese thrown into the mix!  


Ingredients

Scale
  • 200g + 50g bacon, cut into a rough 1cm dice.
  • 100g + 50g vintage cheddar cheese
  • 250ml warm milk
  • 2 tsp dried yeast
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp runny honey
  • 500g bread flour
  • 2 tsp sea salt flakes
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 egg
  •  
  • Butter for greasing the skillet and glazing the buns (about 2 tbsp)

Instructions

  1. Grate the cheddar cheese and pop it aside.  Saute 200g of the bacon bits in a small frypan for a couple of minutes on medium heat. Once cooked, transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towel and leave to cool. 
  2. Place the milk, yeast, sugar, and honey in a bowl. Give it a quick stir to combine it with a fork. Set aside. 
  3. In a stand mixer bowl place the flour, salt, olive oil, and egg. 
  4. Add the milk mix to the dry ingredients. Turn the mixer onto speed two. When just combined, reduce the speed to one and add the cooked bacon bits and 100g of the grated cheddar. Continue to mix for a further 10 minutes. By this stage, your dough should be super smooth and elastic with the bacon and cheddar fully incorporated.
  5. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and leave to stand at room temperature or a warm place (on a cold day) for 90 minutes to allow the dough to rise.
  6.  While the dough proves, grease a 30cm cast iron skillet with a little butter and set aside. 
  7. Remove the dough from the bowl and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
  8. Divide the dough into 12 pieces for small dinner rolls or 8 pieces for hamburger-size rolls. Shape each piece of dough into a ball.
  9. Pop the dough balls into the greased skillet. They should be close but not touching to allow for the dough to rise during the second proof. Cover with a tea towel and place in a warm spot for 1 hour.
  10.  Melt the remaining butter and Brush the tops of the cheesy bacon rolls. Sprinkle the remaining uncooked bacon and shredded cheese on top. 
  11. Bake in a preheated 190 degrees Celcius oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes

Ideally, when you have incorporated the bacon and cheese into the dough, there should not be any bacon bits poking out to ensure they don’t burn. While this is sometimes unavoidable, you’ll get a better result if the bacon stays hidden on the inside!

Don’t have a cast iron skillet? This recipe can also be baked on a  greased baking tray.

Never shaped bread rolls before? Check out this tutorial by King Arthur Baking.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: I roll
  • Calories: 519
  • Sugar: 4.7 g
  • Sodium: 935.4 mg
  • Fat: 26.8 g
  • Carbohydrates: 50.8 g
  • Protein: 18 g
  • Cholesterol: 70.7 mg