I was never a fan of yeast risen donuts topped with bacon. I’m serious! They just never did anything for me. I found them really greasy and the bland yeast risen donut did nothing for the crispy, salty bacon, in my view. That all changed for me this week when I tried this perfect recipe that I found on the Shutterbean blog. I just had to share this recipe because it changed my view of bacon on donuts for good. If any of you out there shared my aversion, or if you are a lover of bacon, then you have to try these!
The recipe calls for browned butter in the donut batter. The addition of browned butter does magical things for the flavour profile of this donut. The combination of flavours make me wonder why I didn’t try this recipe earlier!
Why did I try this recipe if I was never a fan of bacon on donuts, you ask? The reason is because my sister-in-law and I wanted to make a donut cake for my bacon-obsessed nephew’s 13th birthday (man, that makes me feel old!) He loved it!
I doubled the recipe because it only yields about 12 mini doughnuts, 8 medium doughnuts and only 6 large donuts. Depending on the size of your pan and the event you are making the donuts for, you may want to double the recipe too. Plus, these are so delicious that you will definitely want to eat more than one!
To finish off these amazing donuts, I drizzled them with some maple syrup because I love it and because it gave them a little sparkle. 
These donuts taste best when they are served the day of but I found that when I stored them in an air tight container, refrigerated them overnight, and took them out about 20 minutes prior to serving, they were equally as delicious. Something magical must happen overnight!
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Baked Maple Bacon Donuts
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 12 mini sized, 8 medium sized, 6 large 1x
Description
Recipe adapted from Shutterbean.
Ingredients
- for the doughnuts:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- **If you do not have buttermilk: Combine 1 Tbsp of white vinegar with 1 cup milk in a bowl and set aside for 5-10 minutes to “sour”. Use this substitute as you would buttermilk in this recipe.
for the maple bacon glaze:- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1–2 tablespoons whole milk
- 5 strips bacon, cooked & crumbled
Instructions
- make the doughnuts:
- Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a doughnut pan and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter. Butter will begin to crackle and pop as it melts. Once the water has evaporated the butter will quiet down and begin to brown. Keep an eye on it, it browns quickly. The butter will begin to smell nutty. Remove from heat and immediately and set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl whisk together egg, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Add browned butter and whisk into the wet ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir together until no flour bits remain and all of the ingredients are well combined being sure not to overmix batter.
- Transfer batter into a plastic sandwich bag. Snip the tip with a pair of scissors and pipe batter into each doughnut mold about three-quarters full with batter.
- Place in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them and try not to over-bake them. You will know they are done when a toothpick inserted into the donut comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the donuts cool, make the glaze.
- make the glaze:
- In a medium bowl, mix the confectioner’s sugar with maple syrup and vanilla extract until sugar starts dissolving. Slowly add milk to thin out the glaze. I like my glaze to have an almost school glue like consistency so that you can really see it on the tops of your donuts and you get a nice bite of it when you go to eat your donuts.
- Dip the top of each donut into the glaze using a circular motion to make sure the tops of your donut are well coated. While glaze is still wet, add the bacon crumbles on top of each donut. Drizzle your donuts with some maple syrup to finish them off. These donuts also store really well so you will be glad if you have leftovers (which I highly doubt that you will!)
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
Warm Regards,
Jules
