Maple Bacon Yeasted Donuts
The donut love continues.
At Nova’s bakery in My Single Dad (Man Card Book Three) she makes donuts, muffins, and several other sweet treats. The Maple Bacon Yeasted Donuts are a top seller and you’re about to find out why.
Grab a cup of coffee or tea and let’s enjoy one…or two together.
Making yeasted donuts has been on my bucket list for a very long time. I’ve worked with yeast in several other ways, but not donuts.
Just like any yeasted dough recipe, you need to set enough time aside because the process is long. If you include the inactive time while the dough proofs, I was in the kitchen for about four and a half hours…maybe closer to five hours. BUT every minute was worth it.
Do you like to work with yeast?
This is the part of the blog where I confess a few things.
Confession #1: I rolled my dough out way too thin. A few of the donuts were about a quarter inch thick, and those donuts didn’t rise on the second proof. When I made sure the donuts were about a half inch or more thick, the rise was perfect on the second proof and they looked wonderful.
Confession #2: I tried to make my gas oven a proofing box. I set it to warm and kept the door partially open. Yeah, bad choice. The donuts ready to be cooked were not soft and felt partially cooked. So I won’t be doing that again.
Just like any recipe, mistakes happen. How will we learn if we don’t make a mistake, right? BUT, guess what that means? We will have another yeasted donut recipe next week.
Next week’s recipe: Nova made a chocolate donut with strawberries. So I will create my version with that fun flavor combination. Stay tuned!
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Maple Bacon Yeasted Donuts
Recipe by Terra Kelly
Prep: 30-40 minutes
Inactive: 1 hour 30 minutes
Fryer: 1-2 minutes each side
Makes: 10-15 donuts
Ingredients
¾ cup half and half (or favorite milk)
3 Tbsp butter, salted
1 package of active instant yeast
2 ½ Tbsp water, 105-112 degrees F
1 large egg, beaten
2 ½ Tbsp sugar
¾ tsp salt
1 Tbsp maple syrup
½ tsp cinnamon
2 cups (15.5 oz) all-purpose flour + more for dusting
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb sliced bacon, cooked and chopped
Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp maple syrup
4-6 Tbsp half and half (or favorite milk)
Directions
For dough: In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm milk but don’t let it come to a boil. In a small bowl, add butter and pour warmed milk over the butter to melt it completely.
In a separate small bowl with lukewarm water (at least 105-112 degrees Fahrenheit) add yeast and let it sit for five minutes.
KitchenAid mixer- add yeast/water mixture, the milk and melted butter mixture, sugar, egg, salt, maple syrup, cinnamon, and half the flour. Start mixing with flat beater attachment until all the ingredients are fully incorporated. Add more flour slowly. When the dough is a thicker consistency, switch to the dough hook and continue adding more flour until the dough is formed and moving away from the sides. The dough will be a little sticky, but you need it to be formed enough to easily remove it from the bowl.
In a large bowl, add olive oil and coat all sides of the bowl. Add the dough and cover all the sides of the dough with the oil. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and place it in a warm area for one hour. The dough should double in size.
On a floured surface, add the dough that has been proofed. Carefully roll out the dough to about ½ inch thick. Use a round cookie cutter or your favorite cookie cutter for each donut. Place the cut out donuts onto a lightly floured sheet pan. Place the sheet pan of prepared donuts in a warm space for an additional 30 minutes to proof for a little longer.
In a large stockpot or deep fryer, add one gallon of vegetable oil or peanut oil. The oil needs to be 325 degrees Fahrenheit before you can cook the donuts.
Add 2-3 donuts at a time to the hot oil. Cook for one minute on each side or until golden brown. Shake off oil and let them cool on a rack.
Cook bacon in a pan, oven, or microwave (you can choose). Chop up the bacon and set it aside.
For Glaze: In a small bowl, add powdered sugar, maple syrup, and half and half. Add the half and half one tablespoon at a time. You want the maple glaze to be thick, but yet still loose enough to dip the donuts into it easily.
Set up a rack for the prepared donuts- dip the top of each donut into the glaze and place on the rack. Top with chopped crispy bacon.
Enjoy with your favorite cup of coffee or tea!
