Baked Maple Bacon Donuts
I didn’t really think donuts could get better, and then I made Baked Maple Bacon Donuts and I think this is the best food will ever get!
Baking donuts is easier than frying them and slightly healthier, when you add the maple and bacon the healthier part drops a little bit but it is still easier than traditional fried donuts. I think bacon is supposed to be a food group, I have a whole roundup dedicated to bacon recipes, and I am ready to start a petition to have bacon made into its own food group. Who’s with me?!
This is an easy recipe for baked donuts, and you will love the combination of bacon and maple with sugary dough. Not having to fight with hot grease and getting the dough in and out of it makes this a recipe I can look forward to on a weekend morning while sipping my coffee.
I also like that you get more of the flavors in the cake dough instead of tasting the grease the donuts would be soaked in. (Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a good fried donut too.) This is my favorite way to make donuts now, and I am pretty sure once you try it you’ll be hooked too.
Why We Love this Maple Bacon Donut recipe
These donuts have the flavor of bacon inside and out, from the cake batter to the pieces of bacon on top of the glaze. You get a smoky, sweet, salty, and buttery combination that melts in your mouth and complements coffee as if it were made just for that purpose.
If you have never had a fresh, warm, straight-off-the-bakery-line donut you are in for a treat. Having a fresh donut that is still slightly warm and the glaze is still setting up is the best possible way to consume this treat. You will never again want a donut that has been sitting in a case or in a box, it just won’t be good enough for you anymore. Fresh donuts are unlike any other donut and you need to try them at least this one time in your life, it will be worth it.
Baking your donuts lowers the calorie count compared to frying them, but when you add glaze and bacon along with bacon grease to this recipe the nutrition comparison isn’t really necessary. I like to have baked donuts because they are soaked in the grease that fried donuts are, so you get more of the cake flavor and texture. If this donut was cake only the calorie count would be much lower, but I don’t eat donuts because they are healthy and we all know I love bacon and it isn’t healthy for you either, so combining the two wasn’t a decision based on if it was a good nutritional plan.
Ingredients
Bacon: Cook your bacon and reserve the grease to use in the cake batter and the cooked bacon for the topping
Maple Syrup: one of our main flavor ingredients and adding to the sweetness of the donut cake and glaze
Sour Cream: sour cream will work with the other ingredients to add moisture and a little fat to our donut cake batter to make it hold together well
How to Make Maple Bacon Donuts
PREHEAT your oven and make sure ingredients are at room temperature.
COOK the bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Reserve the bacon grease for the donuts.
WHISK together the dry donut ingredients and set them aside.
MIX together the wet donut ingredients before mixing in the dry ingredients.
GREASE the donut pans and fill each cavity 2/3 full with batter.
BAKE the donuts for 7-10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack over a baking sheet.
MIX together the glaze ingredients while the donuts are cooling.
DIP the cooled donuts in the maple glaze and top with crumbled bacon.
Do Bacon Donuts Need to Be Refrigerated
If you need to store your donuts, you can store the plain baked donuts in an airtight container for up to three days. Then glaze and top with bacon when you’re ready.
Keep the crumbled bacon in the fridge and let it come up to room temperature before using. You can also throw it in a small skillet until it’s heated through to speed things up.
If you want to store the finished donuts, definitely keep them in the fridge.
Grab a cup of coffee and cook up your bacon, then make up a batch of these easy maple bacon donuts and watch the tears of joy on the faces of the ones you love…or just enjoy them and don’t let anyone see you licking the platter. Come back here once you have pulled yourself together and stopped drooling over this goodness, and let me know how you liked them!
More delicious brunch recipes
- Brown Sugar Bacon Wrapped Little Smokies
- Baked Brie with Pecans and Bacon
- Beer Bacon and Cheese Dip
- Bacon-Wrapped Breadsticks
- Elvis Waffles
Baked Maple Bacon Donuts
Ingredients
Donuts
- 6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup bacon grease cooled (see note)
- 1 tablespoon butter at room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 egg
Glaze
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Donuts
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat two donut pans with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the bacon for 8-10 minutes, flipping as needed, until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Remove skillet from heat and let the bacon grease cool a little.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cooled bacon grease and butter until smooth. Add the brown and whisk until combined.
- Add the sour cream, maple syrup, and egg and whisk for 2-3 minutes until very smooth.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk until combined.
- Fill the donut pan cavities about 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove donuts from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack placed over a baking sheet for 10 minutes.
Glaze
- While the donuts are cooling, whisk together the maple syrup, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in a mixing bowl until smooth.
- Chop the cooled bacon to use as sprinkles.
- Dip a donut halfway into the glaze and then place it back on the wire rack so the glaze can run off onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle with chopped bacon. Repeat with remaining donuts, glaze, and bacon.
Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.