This delicious Brown Sugar Butter with Bacon recipe is a must for your Thanksgiving dinner rolls and beyond! It's the perfect combination of sweet, salty, and savory. If you have a sweet tooth, you need to make compound butter!
Yup, Brown Sugar Bacon Butter. Remember that healthy smoothie recipe I posted about? Yeah, I still drink it.
And I still really like it. But sometimes I have to pump my body full of total amazingness, which is what this bacon butter is.
It's become a holiday tradition that people ask for. And I can't wait to shovel it in my mouth.
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You Need to Make Brown Sugar Bacon Compound Butter
A friend shared this recipe with me years ago. And I was hooked. So when Thanksgiving rolled around, I decided I was going to make it.
You see, I'm usually told what to bring (green bean casserole) and there is no deviation.
Bringing this bacon compound butter could be seen as stepping out of line (you know how family functions can be).
But I took that chance. Because this compound butter is that good. And I wanted to cram it in my face with freshly baked dinner rolls. (But it's great on waffles, pancakes, banana bread, etc).
Related post: Cinnamon Toast Bar for holiday brunches
Brown sugar, bacon, and butter are pretty good together. But you add in the vanilla and you get a symphony for your mouth.
The vanilla takes it just to the edge of tasting like cake batter stopping just short of being too sweet and allows it to pair perfectly with the bacon. This recipe does NOT call for cinnamon. I prefer it this way, but you could add it if you prefer.
I'm not 100% behind the bacon-in-sweets school of thought. But THIS I can get down with.
What is Compound Butter?
It's easy to make homemade Compound Butter. Compound butters are just flavored butters that you can mix together with sweet or savory flavors.
You often find compound butter in steak houses. Blue cheese, truffle, and herb butter are all delicious on a steak. But you can make them sweet as well, as I have with this brown sugar butter.
For very little work, you can make a dish seem fancier than it truly is. It's a great hack for when you have company over.
And all you have to do is soften butter, add more flavors and then pop it back in the fridge to harden back up. So simple.
Ingredient Notes
- butter, I use salted
- bacon
- brown sugar
- vanilla
- Freshly baked rolls
And by fresh-baked rolls, I mean frozen (I like the Bridgford Frozen Dinner Rolls). But I totally thawed them and baked them myself. So that counts as homemade.
The brown sugar is a tad gritty in the butter so it has this really velvety texture. Your mouth will really like it.
I usually use pre-cooked microwavable bacon for this recipe. Out of pure laziness. I also like that it doesn't make a huge mess.
And it usually crisps up really nicely and doesn't have those gross fatty parts that regular bacon can have.
Nobody wants gross fatty pieces in their bacon butter.
How to Make Compound Butter with Bacon and Brown Sugar
1. Soften the butter
Soften the butter to room temperature so it will mix well with the brown sugar and bacon. This will take a few hours. You can put it in a medium bowl and let it sit on the counter until you're ready to use it.
2. Cook the bacon
Cook bacon in microwave and set aside to cool. This will take about 15 minutes to cool.
Use kitchen shears to cut up the bacon. I like to use shears because this doesn't need to be precise and I also hate getting out the cutting board. (#lazy)
3. Add the rest of the ingredients
To the softened butter in the bowl, add the brown sugar, chopped bacon, and vanilla. Then mix well.
4. Mix well
I find a fork works great for this.
5. Chill
Cover and refrigerate until firm.
What to Serve it With
Serve this sweet recipe for compound butter with fresh baked rolls of all kinds. I like a traditional french roll, but sourdough and wheat would be lovely too. Even bagels would be delish!
I originally used this recipe on waffles and pancakes for the kids. And I love to lightly heat my banana bread and add a little to that too. Once you taste this butter, you'll come up with all kinds of ways to use it. This recipe is so good!
Tips
I never remember to leave the butter out ahead of time though. Here are 3 ways to soften butter in case you forget to.
Kitchen shears are my favorite way to cut up bacon. Actually, I use them to cut pizza and all kinds of other things too!
Glass dishes with lids are my favorite. They are so simple and are perfect for going from the fridge to the table.
This is seriously so easy to make. You'll look like a Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving hero without hardly doing any work.
That's my kind of recipe.
Don't sleep on this Brown Sugar Bacon Butter. It's the best way to turn ordinary dinner rolls into something amazing!
You seriously need to make this! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can keep flavored butter in the fridge for 5 days. But trust me, this brown sugar bacon butter won't last that long.
You can freeze compound butter for a few months. It must be wrapped very tightly and well to prevent the butter from pickup up other odors.
Yes! You can make this recipe in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer to ensure that everything is creamed together. However, it's not that important. To keep things super easy, just mix it by hand.
More delicious holiday recipes
- Brown Butter Corn Side Dish
- Apple Cookies with Butterscotch Chips
- Frozen Peanut Butter Pie
- Pumpkin Dump Cake
- Sherry Wine Cake
- Strawberry Angel Food Cake Dessert
Brown Sugar Bacon Compound Butter
Ingredients
- .5 cups Butter (1 stick) I use salted
- 3-4 pieces bacon cooked
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- Fresh baked rolls
Instructions
- Soften butter to room temperature.
- Cook bacon and set aside to cool a smidge.
- Use kitchen shears to cut up cooked bacon.
- In a bowl mix the softened butter, brown sugar, chopped bacon and vanilla.
- Mix well.
- Cover and refrigerate until firm.
- Serve with fresh baked rolls.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in May 2012, and has now been updated.
Marianne Collier says
Just came across this so I don't have a rating yet....but I can imagine!
I'm also thinking.....what if you use Cinnamon Raisin bread for French Toast, & use this Brown Sugar Bacon Butter on it.....OMG!!!
I can't wait to make it & try it on all kinds of things!!!
Kathleen says
Love that plate. Perfect for your delicious offering!
Megan @ Mama Bub says
I'm not sure we can be friends anymore.
Nat says
O. M. G. I'm doing the fitness challenge and to this I say... screw it! This sounds AWESOME. I may try it with homemade waffles- would you hate me for it? ;-) YUM.
Amanda ~ sunny vegan says
the last photo is so cute!
Laural Out Loud says
I really really want to make this! But where are the directions/amounts? I couldn't find them, but I might've been distracted by all the mouth-watering pictures.
Sharon Garofalow says
Um, duh. I went back and added in some measurements. I feel like this is one of those, use your own taste as a guide type recipes so modify as you would like! Thanks for letting me know that was missing. :) (sheepish grin)