A wonderful sweet and savory pull-apart bread..great for any meal or a snack!

6 Tablespoons ( 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, divided
2 Cups milk
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
1 ( 1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
2 large egg yolks, beaten
Canola oil
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading
1 Tablespoon salt
12 slices smoked bacon or 10 slices slab bacon, diced
1 Cup maple sugar

Melt 1/4 Cup butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add milk and granulated sugar; heat, stirring, until lukewarm (about 110ºF. Sprinkle yeast over surface; set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. Whisk egg yolks into the yeast mixture.

Lightly oil a large bowl. Whisk flour and salt in another large bowl. Stir yeast mixture into flour mixture to make a soft dough. Turn dough onto a floured work surface and knead until soft and elastic, about 8 minutes. Shape dough into a ball and put into the oiled bowl. Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel; let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until barely crisp. Drain on paper towels; toss with maple sugar. Butter a 12-Cup Bundt pan and sprinkle a bit less than half the sugar-bacon mixture in the bottom.

Turn the dough onto a clean, unfloured surface; press into a rectangle. Cut the dough into 36 equal pieces; shape each piece into a ball. Arrange 18 balls of dough in 2 layers in the pan; sprinkle remaining sugar-bacon mixture over them. Arrange remaining 18 balls of dough on top, setting as many as possible in the hollows of the first layers.

Cover with a kitchen towel. Set aside at room temperature until doubled, about 2 hours, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. (If refrigerated, bring to room temperature 1 hour before baking.)

Position a rack in the center of the oven; heat to 400º F degrees. Melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons butter and pour over the dough. Bake 15 minutes, tent with aluminum foil and continue to bake until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the dough registers 190ºF, about 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes; unmold and let cool on the rack for 1 hour before serving.

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