Bacon is life. If anyone tells you different, something is wrong with them. There is so many ways you can cook bacon and my favorite way is simply frying them in a pan. Some people like them candied, covered with chocolate, or deep fried; the possibilities are endless. 

This time, I made soft homemade donuts with a vanilla glazed topped with chopped crispy Applewood Smocked Bacon from Bakers Bacon. Baker’s Bacon bring chef quality bacon from their kitchen to yours.

When I recived my first box, I was ecstatic. The gifted package had tons of different type of bacon. Just look how much bacon they blessed me with. Im a huge fan of bacon and I knew I had to use it some way in my baking.

This time around, I decided to make my all time favorite treat which are donuts. Donuts are so fun and easy to make. You can either make them from scratch or do a hack recipe. With my recipe, I have time to make it from scratch and from a hack recipe. I personally like it from scratch because the texture is more fluffier.

I made my famous, not really famous, I just like saying it because it makes me feel good, Vanilla Glazed Bacon Donuts. I added Pomegranate Seeds for just for added textures and freshness. You don’t have to add them to your donuts, if you are not a fan.

I have Aeysha Curry’s new cookbook, The Full Plate and she has a hack recipe for Maple Glazed Bacon Donuts that I been using since my college days.

It’s nothing new, if you were a college kid on a budget like me. To make the donuts, you would use Pillsbury canned biscuit dough, cut the donut shapes out, fry them, and topped them with a homemade glazed and bacon. Simple right?

Vanilla Glazed Bacon Donuts Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Milk: The liquid component, and used to activate the yeast. Use whole or 2% milk.
• Active dry yeast: Make sure it’s not expired!
• Granulated sugar: Granulated sugar will keep these donuts airy. Don’t substitute for brown sugar.
• Eggs: Provides moisture and structure.
• Unsalted butter: Melted and cooled.
• Vanilla extract: For flavor.
• Salt: Salt aways brings out the flavors!
• Spices: Ground cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg. 
• Bread flour: I tested this recipe with AP flour vs. bread flour, and had better results with bread flour. Softer and more airy.
• Vegetable oil: For frying.
• Bacon: For topping
• Pomegranate Seeds: Optional
• Vanilla glaze: Made of confectioner’s or powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and salt.

Deep-fried Vanilla Glazed Donuts

Fried donuts vs. baked donuts? Well, that’s a never-ending debate between me and a friend of mine.

So I’m just going to say it: fried donuts is the answer!

Don’t get me wrong, I love baked donuts, but nothing compares to airy and pillowy-soft fried donuts. Compared to fried donuts, baked donuts tend to be dense and cakey.

Here’s why I love this vanilla glazed donut recipe:

• Pillowy soft and airy
• The dough is spiced with fall flavors: cinnamon and nutmeg
• The vanilla icing is really easy to make!

Tools You’ll Need

• Stand mixer: Makes mixing/kneading so much easier and less messy. If you don’t have one or prefer not to use one, you can mix and knead by hand too!
• Rolling pin: You’ll need it for rolling the dough to 1/2 inch thick. Alternatives: an empty glass bottle or tall drinking glass.
• Large Dutch oven: You need a heavy bottomed pot that retains heat well. A large Dutch oven is perfect. Or use a dedicated deep-fryer; I have a T-fal deep-fryer and I love it.
• Candy thermometer: Deep frying needs to happen at a certain temperature (375 degrees F). A candy thermometer is helpful because you can leave it clipped to the pot and know if you need to decrease or increase the heat. Alternatives: a basic kitchen thermometer that goes all the way to 400 F (but you can’t clip it obviously). If you have a dedicated deep-fryer, those usually have a setting that heats the oil to the right temperature.
• Donut cutter: Definitely makes it much easier to cut the dough. Alternatives: round biscuit or cookie cutters.

How To Cook Bacon on the Stovetop.

Cooking bacon on the stove top is how we did it when I was growing up, and it’s the method that’s most familiar to me. For the recipe I think I used 6 stripes of bacon, but you can add more to consume for yourself.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Start with a cold pan. Bacon should be started in a cold pan, so before you turn on the heat, lay out your strips on the pan. You can place them so they are touching and crowd the pan a little as the bacon will shrink as it cooks but do not overlap too much.
2. Cook bacon low and slow. Bacon cooks best slowly over low heat, so turn your burner on low. Soon the bacon will begin to release some of its fat. When it starts to buckle and curl, use the tongs to loosen the strips and turn each slice to cook on the other side. Keep flipping and turning the bacon so that it browns evenly.
3. Pour off grease carefully. If the bacon is very fatty and your pan is filling up with grease, you can remove some by carefully suctioning it off with a bulb baster and squeezing it into a glass or metal container. Some people just spoon off the excess with a metal spoon. You can also pour off some of the grease but be very careful when you do this as spilled grease can cause a grease fire. I usually turn off the flame when I pour off the grease and I check be sure that none of it has dribbled down the sides of the pan. In any case, be sure that you pour it into a sturdy glass, metal, or ceramic container.
4. Cook until the bacon is done. When is the bacon done? That depends. Some people like their bacon extra crispy and others like it a little loose and flappy. It’s important to know that your bacon will continue to cook some when you pull it from the pan and will stiffen up a little upon cooling. In general you will want to see even browning and make sure that the meat part has lost some of its raw redness.
5. Let the cooked bacon drain. Using your tongs, remove the pieces from the pan and onto your paper bag/towels or newspapers to drain.
6. Cook the remaining bacon in batches. If you have more bacon to cook, you can simply drain the excess grease and add more bacon as you remove pieces. If the pan has developed a browned crust on the bottom, let the pan cool down and wipe it clean before continuing.
7. When cooled down completely, chopped the bacon in small pieces and set aside.

The vanilla glaze or icing is super simple.

4 cups powdered sugar, plus more if thicker consistency is desired (yes, 4 cups!)
4 tbsp milk, (or hot water for desired consistency)
1/2 cup butter
3 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon maple extract, plus more to taste

Instructions:

1. Sift the powdered sugar into a medium-sized bowl.

2. Add the melted butter, 2 tablespoons of milk or hot water, and the vanilla to the powdered sugar. Stir to blend.

3. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, adding a little more milk or hot water if necessary to reach desired consistency.

Prep Time 40 minutes 

Cook Time 20 minutes 

Rising 2 hours 

Total Time 3 hours

 Servings 12 donuts

Donuts Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk, warmed to 115 degrees F
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 teaspoon(divided)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled (8 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more as needed
• Vegetable oil for deep frying (about 2 quarts)

Instructions

1. Attach the dough hook attachment to the stand mixer, if using. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add warm milk (115 degrees F), active dry yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Combine and let it sit for 10 minutes until frothy.
2. To the same bowl, add the eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract, salt, grated nutmeg, cinnamon, and 2 cups of the bread flour. Mix on medium speed for about 1-2 minutes. Mix in remaining bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a dough forms. Increase speed to medium-high, and mix until dough pulls away from the bowl and a manageable dough forms. The dough should manageable, soft, and slightly sticky. If needed, add more flour little by little.
3. Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead by hand for about 4-5 minutes, sprinkling more flour as necessary. At this point, the dough should be elastic, very manageable, soft, and slightly sticky. It should also spring back when poked. Do not over-knead; you can tell if you over-kneaded the dough if it feels tough and dense.
4. Form dough into a ball and place on a lightly oiled bowl, making sure the dough is coated with oil on all sides. Vegetable oil is fine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm and draft-free environment for about 1.5 hours, until doubled in size. I usually let dough rise in a warm-ish oven. You can also use the microwave method (instructions below under Notes).
5. After the dough has risen, punch it down and transfer to a clean surface. Using a rolling pin, roll to 1/2 inch thick.
6. Using a donut cutter or round cookie/biscuit cutters, cut into 12 donuts. Should make 12 donuts and 12 donut holes. Transfer them to 2 large baking sheets. Cover with plastic wrap and let them rise in a warm environment for another 20-30 minutes.
7. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat vegetable oil to 375 degrees F. To monitor the oil’s temperature, clip a candy thermometer to the pot (like the photo above). Cook the donuts one minute per side, about 3 donuts at a time. Transfer to a rack placed on top of a large baking sheet or something to catch any dripping oil.
8. Fry the donut holes after you’re done with the donuts, about 6 at a time. Transfer to a rack.
9. While the donuts cool a bit, make the vanilla glaze: Instructions above. The glaze should be thick enough to stay on the donuts.
10. Dip warm doughnuts in the glaze on one side. Let them cool for the glaze to harden, about 15 minutes. To get a thick coating, double dip after the first layer dries. Top with chopped bacon and an optional pomegranate seeds and Enjoy!

Enjoy! If you make it, tag me on Instagram @eatwhateveryouwant