You guys. YOU GUYS.
We’re in donut heaven over here.
So apparently, we totally missed the ball on National Donut Day last week.
We apologize!
But we’re making up for it today.
May we present our favorite donut on the planet: The Maple Bacon Whiskey Donut.
They’re ridiculously good.
The base is a slightly tangy, baked, buttermilk cake donut fragrant with ground Ceylon cinnamon and good whiskey.
The cake itself is really light and delicate, which is a nice contrast to the bacon and maple whiskey glaze.
I like this buttermilk a lot (at least a little bit because of the bottle, I’ll admit).
The thick glaze is laced with Grade A dark maple syrup, heavy cream, and a generous pour of Johnnie Walker Black.
(You want the glaze thick so the bacon nestles in and sticks well.)
The whole shebang is finished with loads of of thick-cut, crispy smoked bacon bits.
We used thick-cut bacon from our favorite local farm, Tendercrop, up in Newbury, MA. (Click here for a photo tour of the place we did a while back.)
This stuff is a-ma-zing.
It’s like, the perfect salty sweet fatty snack situation.
The best part? These little guys are so, so, so easy to make.
Whip the batter up quickly in a single bowl.
Make the glaze and fry the bacon while they bake and cool.
Easy. Peasy.
What kind of pan is best for baked donuts?
We have a few of these babies, made by Wilton.
They come in big donut size and also mini-donut size.
I think I bought ours at Home Goods, but you can also get them here on Amazon.
Whatever kind of pan you get, I think the main thing is to get nonstick so that donut extraction is really easy.
If you don’t have a donut pan, but you’re having a donut emergency, you could improvise with a regular-sized muffin tin…you’d just have to adjust the baking time (probably bake them 5-7 minutes longer to account for the thicker cake).
I haven’t tried this myself, but that’s what I’d do if I had to.
(If you try it, leave a comment below, let us know what you did and how it turned out!)
Use your favorite whiskey
For us, our go-to whiskey is Johnnie Walker Black.
Any good whiskey or scotch would work well.
What kind should you use? Definitely use a brand you like to drink.
(We also like Jameson or Powers Irish Whiskey for baking, too.)
Sometimes, the tendency is to cheap out on cooking liquor, but…don’t! Trust me.
Whenever you cook with liquor, the cooking process pretty much concentrates the flavor…so use something you like.
Alright, enough yapping. To the ovens!
Baked Maple Bacon Whiskey Donuts
For the donuts
1 cup flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 jumbo egg
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon whiskey
2 teaspoons olive oil
For the glaze and topping
5-6 thick-cut strips of bacon, sliced thin and fried crisp
1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon heavy cream
1 Tablespoon whiskey
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
Makes 6 donuts
Do a little prep
Preheat your oven to 325-degrees F.
Lightly grease your donut pan with butter or oil and set it aside.
Fry the bacon
I like to fry the bacon first and set it aside.
You can also do this part when the donuts are baking in the oven if you like.
Up to you.
Slice up your bacon into thin pieces.
Fry it in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat until nicely brown and crispy.
When it’s done, remove it from the pan and drain it well on paper towels to get the extra grease off.
I like to put it on a few paper towels, then press a few more paper towels on top to blot it.
Goal is to get as much grease off as you can.
You want it as dry as possible when you top your donuts or they will turn into a mushy mess and be gross.
Make the maple bacon whiskey donut batter
Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk it together until uniform.
Add the egg, buttermilk, whiskey, and olive oil.
Mix well with a wooden spoon until uniform (don’t use a whisk, the batter will be thick and it will get all glommed up on your whisk).
The batter will be thick.
It might not look like there’s enough, but trust me, it will fill up your 6-donut pan.
Fill your donut pan with maple whiskey donut batter
You can spoon the batter into the pan if you like.
Or you can do what I normally do: Pipe it in.
It’s an extra, quick step but makes the whole pan-filling situation a lot more manageable.
Put all your batter into a gallon-size zip-top bag.
Squash it down into one corner, like this:
Nip the tip of the corner off with a pair of scissors.
Just like you would with a pastry bag, pipe the batter into the donut pan, distributing it as evenly as you can between the 6 spots.
When you’re done, run a clean finger or the back of a soup spoon over the batter to even it out a little and smooth it down.
Bake your maple bacon whiskey donuts
Pop the pan into your pre-heated, 325-degree F oven.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned on top and cooked through.
(Use a toothpick to test if the cake is done if you’re not sure. Here’s how to do that.)
When they’re done, remove the pan from the oven and set on a rack to cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan.
Make the maple bacon whiskey donut glaze
While your donuts are cooling, whip up the maple whiskey glaze.
In a mixing bowl, put the powdered sugar, maple syrup, heavy cream, and whiskey.
Whisk together until uniform.
Break up any lumps.
You want a smooth glaze with no pockets of powdered sugar.
Give it a taste, adjust the flavor a little if you like.
You want it thick, so the bacon bits have something to stick to.
Glaze your maple bacon whiskey donuts
After that 5-10 minutes, remove your donuts from the pan.
Set them on a wire rack and let them cool for another 10 minutes.
They can be slightly warm when you glaze them…but not hot (or the glaze will slide right off and you will be so super sad).
When they’re cool enough, spoon the glaze over the donuts, or dip them into the glaze like this:
Sprinkle the donuts evenly with your bacon bits.
And…voila!
You just made one of the best donuts on the planet.
Have you made these maple bacon whiskey donuts?
How did it go?
Leave a comment below, let us know!
Calories
Fat
Carbs
Protein
The Hungry Mouse
Yields 6 baked donuts
These are ridiculously delicious! The base is a slightly tangy, baked, buttermilk cake donut fragrant with ground Ceylon cinnamon and good whiskey. The thick glaze is laced with Grade A dark maple syrup, heavy cream, and a generous pour of Johnny Walker Black. The whole shebang is finished with loads of of thick-cut, crispy smoked bacon bits.
Save RecipeIngredients
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325-degrees F. Lightly grease your donut pan with butter or oil and set it aside.Â
- Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk it together until uniform.
- Add the egg, buttermilk, whiskey, and olive oil. Mix well with a wooden spoon until uniform. The batter will be thick.
- Spoon or pipe the batter into the pan, dividing it evenly between the 6 spots. When you're done, run a clean finger or the back of a soup spoon over the batter to even it out a little and smooth it down.
- Pop the pan into your pre-heated, 325-degree F oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned on top and cooked through.
- When they're done, remove the pan from the oven and set on a rack to cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan.Â
- While your donuts are cooling, whip up the maple whiskey glaze. In a mixing bowl, put the powdered sugar, maple syrup, heavy cream, and whiskey. Whisk together until uniform.
- After 5-10 minutes, remove your donuts from the pan. Set them on a wire rack and let them cool for another 10 minutes. They can be slightly warm when you glaze them...but not hot (or the glaze will slide right off).
- When they're cool enough, spoon the glaze over the donuts, or dip them into the glaze.
- Sprinkle the donuts evenly with your bacon bits.Â
- Serve immediately! Enjoy!
