Revamped: Homemade Bacon-Bourbon-Maple Glazed Doughnuts

It's crazy to think about how far I have come along in terms of my cooking skills in just a short year. In a couple days, PLC will be a year old. And as a part of that growth, I often go back and take a look at recipes that I could "revamp" or make wayyyyyy better than the original. I mean, there's always room for improvement. Well, when we made me our Over-the-Top Brunch Burgers, I already had to make a huge batch of doughnuts & a delicious bourbon-maple syrup, and I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to revamp my Maple Glazed-Bacon Donuts. Wanna know the biggest difference between these two recipes? I actually made the dough for the doughnuts. For the first recipe, I used possibly the biggest shortcut ever when it comes to this breakfast treat... canned biscuit dough that's cut & fried. And while this is so easy to do and something you can make on short notice. It's just not the same. The light, pillowy yeast dough provides the most tender doughnuts. The glaze is obviously delicious... I mean it includes bourbon, maple syrup, and bacon fat. What the what?! Finally, I topped them with a lot more crispy bacon. These were so much better, so so so much. If you are the sweet & salty combination person, then make them!! Enjoy :)

Homemade Bacon-Bourbon-Maple Glazed Doughnuts 

Look at all that BACON

For the Homemade Doughnuts:

1C + 2T Whole Milk, Warm

¼C Sugar

1 Package of Active Dry Yeast

2 Whole Large eggs, Beaten

1 Stick + 2T Unsalted Butter, Browned & Cooled

4C AP Flour

¼t Salt

1Q Canola, For Frying

Prepared Bourbon-Maple Glaze

For the Bourbon-Maple Syrup:

1C Pure Maple Syrup (good quality & high grade)

½C Bourbon

For the Bourbon-Maple Glaze:

1lb Confectioners’ Sugar, Sifted

½t Salt

½t Vanilla

¾ Stick of Unsalted Butter, Melted (or you can use bacon fat)

¾C Homemade Bourbon Maple Syrup

Milk, For Thinning (if it seems too thick)

Crispy Bacon, Crumbled (for the topping)

Directions:

1. To Make the Dough: Make sure the milk is nice and warm, but not overly hot. Add sugar to milk. Stir to dissolve. Add yeast into a small bowl. Pour milk/sugar mixture over yeast. Stir gently, and then let it sit for 10 minutes. Melt butter in a separate bowl. Stir to finish melting, and then let butter cool so it won’t be overly hot when adding it to the eggs. Add beaten eggs to the melted butter, stirring constantly to make sure the butter’s not too hot for the eggs. Add the egg/butter mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. With the mixer on medium-low speed, pour in the yeast mixture. Allow the dough hook to stir this mixture for a couple of minutes, making sure it’s thoroughly combine. With the mixer still going, add ½C increments of the flour until it is all gone. Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl, and then turn the mixer on the same speed for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the mixer. Turn on the mixer for 30 seconds. Turn off the mixer off and let the dough sit, undisturbed, for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Toss the dough to coat, then cover with plastic wrap and place straight in the fridge. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
2. To Make the Doughnuts: Remove the bowl from the fridge and turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to ¼inch thickness. Using a 3inch cutter, cut as many rounds as you can, then roll out the remaining dough and once again cut as many as you can (repeat until you can’t anymore). Cut holes out of each round using a 1-½inch cutter. Cover with a large tea towel and place in a warm place in your kitchen. Allow the doughnuts to rise undisturbed for at least one hour. They should be visibly puffier and appear to be airy.
3. To Fry the Doughnuts: Heat the canola oil in your deep fryer to 375 degrees. One to two doughnuts at a time gently grab the doughnuts and ease them into the hot oil. Allow them to cook 1 minute on each side; they will brown very quickly. Remove the doughnut from the oil with a slotted spoon, allowing all the oil to drip off. Place the doughnut immediately on paper towels, for about 5 seconds, and then flip it. Allow the doughnuts to cool slightly.
4. To Make the Bourbon-Maple Syrup: Heat the maple syrup over low heat in a medium saucepan. Add the bourbon and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the bourbon infuses the syrup and it thickens slightly. Set it aside while you make the glaze.
5. To Make the Bourbon-Maple Glaze: Place the sifted confectioners’ sugar and salt in a bowl and beat in the melted butter along with vanilla. Slowly mix in the bourbon-maple syrup (and a little milk if it’s too thick). Once all of the ingredients are incorporated, briefly beat over high speed to remove any lumps. Immediately glaze the doughnuts, by dipping each doughnut into the glaze until submerged. Remove from the glaze, and then turn right side up on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet (to catch extra glaze). Top the glazed doughnuts with a thick coating of crumbled bacon.
6. Serve and enjoy!

*Please check out Sweets for a Saturday & Crazy Sweet Tuesday for this recipe, as well as many others!!