| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 3 hr 15 min |
| Prep: | 1 hr |
| Inactive: | 2 hr |
| Cook: | 15 min |
| Yield: | 72 pieces |
Ingredients
- 1/2-pound lean bacon
- 1 small onion, optional
- 2 pounds ham
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2-pound (2 sticks) butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 package dry yeast
- 5 eggs
- 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus up to 1 cup more if dough seems really sticky
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Filling: Chop bacon into small pieces; fry until crisp and drain off the fat. If adding onion, chop finely and cook with the bacon. Chop ham into small pieces. Combine ham with bacon mixture and grind in meat grinder or food processor. Cool in refrigerator. This may be done 2 to 3 days in advance. This mixture also freezes well.
- Dough: Heat milk in a saucepan. Add butter to melt. Add sugar and salt and cool. Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of this liquid until yeast is activated, about 5 minutes. Beat 5 eggs slightly and add to remaining milk and butter mixture; blend and add to the yeast mixture. Add flour and use a dough hook to mix in a standing mixer for at least 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl until doubled in size. Punch down and let rise until doubled again.
- Roll out dough on a floured board to 1/8-inch thickness. Use a 4-inch round cutter or a clean tin can to cut the dough. In each circle place a lump of filling in the center, close the dough over, pinch all corners together, seal, and turn over so that seam is on bottom. Place on a baking sheet in rows. Let rise until doubled.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine egg yolk and water in a small bowl and brush over top. Bake for 15 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 72 servings |
| Calories | 124 |
| Total Fat | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 12 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 2 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Cholesterol | 30 mg |
| Sodium | 289 mg |
Reviews
This is a wonderful recipe with nice flavor. The combination of
ham, bacon and onion is hard to beat inside a soft and rich dough.
It is necessary to use more flour than recipe calls for. In order to
roll dough I used additional 5 cups of flour.
ham, bacon and onion is hard to beat inside a soft and rich dough.
It is necessary to use more flour than recipe calls for. In order to
roll dough I used additional 5 cups of flour.
I make this recipe for family holiday parties and they are a great
hit. They freeze wonderful so you can make them ahead and
always have a treat available.
I’ve had the privilege of having these AMAZING creations on a number of occasions thanks to the generosity of the family (I honestly wouldn’t give even one up if it were up to me!) Nothing beats baking day when they’re fresh out of the oven but even having some delivered a day or two later is like Santa making an extra visit! The bread is the perfect density but nothing compares to that first bite when you’re unexpected and delightful center jumps out at you in a heavenly surprise. Got time? Make them. You won’t regret it.
Even as I enter my comments Grampa Ray is making another batch of bacon buns. No, it is not 100% bacon, that would make the buns very dry. Yes, it is a rich and sweet bread dough but it’s delicious. Grampa Ray makes these buns for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and just about any day the family gets together. Today he is making buns to ship to his youngest grandchildren in Florida. At the taping Emeril said he could smell something great baking. He took two bacon buns and before he left the kitchen he had two more! Ray told him that everybody did that…you can’t have just one or two. Emeril’s kitchen staff failed the bread dough stating that it was too wet. On that date it was 100 deg and 90% humidity, it would have affected any dough! Grampa Ray has enjoyed his notoriety and he is comfortable in knowing that he has a HUGE fan club devoted to Bacon Buns. I am his first fan known as GG (Gramma Gloria) and in the 50 years we have been blessed with a daughter and four sons, eight granddaughters and two grandsons and a wonderfully loving family.
When I made the dough it was so wet that it seemed more like sticky cake batter than bread dough. Adding more Flour fixed this but I had to add more than was recommended by at least a half cup.
I didn’t like that the written recipe did not indicate how much meat to put in the bun. A rough idea would have been good. I ended up trying to portion so that I would have no meat left. Even with this effort I had meat left over which is fine I froze it to use another time.
I found the recipe to be overly rich with all that meat in a lump right in the middle. Perhap mixing it in with the bread would be nicer for my tastes. I also would love to see some cheese mixed in with the meat. In short, the recipe was a nice starting place for me but I really think I will need to experiment with it to make a bun that is not so meaty.
and have posted my reviews on the chicken w/gremolata butter & pizza skewers, I just dropped by to rate this (yet unmade) delight! I can tell by seeing Grampa Ray and his family that I will be loving this heretofore “secret” family recipe! Just as soon as I reach my weight-loss goal to turn a 5-year T2 diabetes journey around to the right path (35# lost and 15# to go…no thanks to the ADA high-carb diet regimen), GRAMPA RAY’S BACON BUNS are on my top 5 “things to cook” list as a new very occasional “decadent indulgence”! Thanks Mr. Adamonis for sharing your secret recipe! If I am going to indulge in “high carb” delights carefully in the future, I only want to splurge on the tastiest of treats when I take a plunge!