Somebody help me. No really, please just come to my apartment once per week and take all the fall baked goodies off my hands. I've been stricken with a very serious case of bakeritis. BAK-ER-I-TIS: a sudden and uncontrollable urge to bake anything and everything; commonly occurring with the onset of the fall season. Symptoms can be more severe if the individual baker owns a donut pan. HELPPPPPPPPPPPP!
My urge to bake right now is outta control, ya'll. I'm trying to justify it with attempts to make certain recipes "healthier" and finding any excuse to contribute a baked goods to a social event or just pawn the treats off on an unsuspecting, innocent passerby. If you're new to town like I am, having a case of bakeritis could prove to be an excellent way to make new friends. Who doesn't want to be friends with someone that makes them Maple Bacon Baked Donuts?
Before we get into the specifics of how to make this donut party happen in your own kitchen, I'd like to just clarify something. Is it "donut" or "doughnut???" When I was figuring out what to title this recipe, Google Trends kindly informed me that "donut" is much more popular search term than "doughnut." Perhaps it's because "donut" is easier to spell. In my mind, however, it makes sense that the word "doughnut" would refer to a dough and be indicative of the raised, yeasted doughs. "Donut" would then indicate a batter, which is what you would bake in a donut pan. What do you think???
Now let me just tell you a few things about this donut situation:
- They are baked, not fried, which technically makes them a "healthier" alternative {read: baked donuts are still a "sometimes" food}
- The donut batter contains brown butter and the donut glaze contains brown butter, which means it's very likely that you will hear the voice of angles singing when you take your first bite.
- There is a light, crispy coating of maple glaze that kisses the top of each donut - maple makes everything better, you see.
- Just when you thought things couldn't get any better, this gal goes and adds pieces of crisp, salty-sweet candied bacon to the top of the donuts. Did I mention I use center-cut bacon? It's leaner. We have to cut calories where we can without compromising the essence of the dish, am I right???
Be a friend and go make these donuts. Eat one and have a friend, child, or unsuspecting neighbor ready to take the rest off your hands. Happy baking!
Recipe
Maple Bacon Donuts
Ingredients
For the candied bacon:
- 5 slices thick center-cut bacon
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
For the donuts:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup buttermilk I used low-fat
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, browned, and cooled {see instructions for browning butter here
For the maple glaze:
- Browned butter from above
- 3 tablespoons grade B pure maple syrup
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk as needed
- Special equipment: nonstick donut pan or mini donut pan
Instructions
For the candied bacon:
- Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with foil. Measure out brown sugar into a small bowl. Place bacon slices on top of the foil. Sprinkle each slice of bacon with brown sugar and use your fingertips to rub the sugar evenly over each slice.
- Bake for 12 minutes, drain the grease off of the bacon pan into a small container, then continue cooking for 5-8 minutes more until crisp. Remove bacon slices to a plate to let cool. {Hint: it's a good idea to brown your butter for the donut batter while the bacon is cooking!}
- Once cool enough to handle, roughly chop the bacon slices into small pieces. Set aside until you are ready to assemble the donuts.
For the donuts:
- Reduce oven temperature to 350 and place a rack in the upper third of the oven. Grease a donut pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and granulated sugar to combine. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Add two tablespoons of the cooled brown butter to the wet ingredients and whisk to combine. Reserve the remaining tablespoon of brown butter for the donut glaze.
- Add the wet ingredients to the medium bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk together just until combined - be careful not to overmix! Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in any remaining dry ingredients that may be on the sides or bottom of your bowl.
- Gently spoon the donut batter into the wells of the prepared donut pan. Fill each well about ¾ full. Bake the donuts for 8-10 minutes until they are cooked through and spring back when touched.
- Let the donuts cool in the pan for 2-3 minutes or until cool enough to safely transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the glaze and donut assembly:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining tablespoon of brown butter, maple syrup and powdered sugar until a slightly thick but pourable glaze forms. You can add up to one tablespoon of milk as needed to help the glaze reach the desired consistency.
- Dip the cooled donuts into the glaze, then place glazed-side-up on the wire rack. As you glaze each donut, sprinkle the candied bacon bits on top. Allow the glaze to set for 10-15 minutes before serving.
- Donuts are best served the day they are made, but will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days {the glaze will eventually just melt into the donut}. Enjoy them on a lazy, football-watching Saturday!
Notes
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