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One of the top-spots to visit in Portland, Oregon is Voodoo Donuts. People wait in line for hours (often in the rain) for their amazing donuts. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a slight major donut obsession. I’d take a maple bar over a cupcake any day of the week. One of Voodoo’s top-sellers is their maple bacon donut. It’s amazing – and totally worth the wait.

I’d been wanting to figure out a way to make my favorite donut at home, and set out to come up with a recipe that gave me the taste I loved without a trip to the donut shop. I played around with my basic donut batter and came up with a recipe I loved. I knew if I topped it with a tasty maple icing and crispy bacon, I would have a keeper. Last year, I entered this in a recipe contest on a whim, and won! Turns out I’m not the only one who thought these donuts were pretty great!

I know there will be nay-sayers – but trust me on this one – maple and bacon come together in one delicious union. It’s the perfect blend of salty and sweet. Anyone who dipped their bacon or sausage in their pancake syrup as a child will love and appreciate this donut. Give it a try, and make up a batch of my maple bacon bars for your family. Enjoy!

Maple Bacon donut

Ingredients

¾ cup milk

5 T shortening

5 T warm water

2 ¼ tsp. yeast

1 egg

2 T sugar

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp vanilla

2 ½ c. all purpose flour (plus a bit more for rolling out the dough)

oil for frying

For Icing

2 ¼ c powdered sugar

¼ c milk

2 T butter

1 tsp maple flavoring

12 strips Hormel Black Label Maple Bacon

To Prepare

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan, until it is warm enough to melt the shortening. The milk should be hot to the touch, but not boiling.

2. Place the shortening in a bowl, and pour the heated milk on top of it, stirring until smooth.

3. In the meantime, sprinkle the yeast on top of the warm water. Stir, and then allow the yeast to sit for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture is foamy.

4. When the yeast mixture is foamy, pour it into a stand mixer like a KitchenAid. Pour the milk and shortening mixture (make sure it has cooled to room temperature!) in with the yeast mixture, and mix.

5. Add in the egg, sugar, salt, and half of the flour. Mix well using the paddle attachment. Add in remaining flour and beat slowly until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

6. Switch to the dough hook, and mix until the dough is smooth and elastic (about 2-3 minutes.)

7. Transfer the dough to a bowl that has been coated with cooking spray, and allow to rise until doubled (about 1 hour.)

8. Roll out the dough to ½ in. thickness. Cut using a rounded biscuit cutter for circles, or simply cut into rectangles for bars. (The lid of a 2 liter soda bottle makes a great doughnut hole cutter!) Let the doughnuts rise (covered) for about 30 minutes.

*You can also buy special donut cutters online. (I totally want one of these!)

9. Heat up your oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. It’s a good idea to do a “tester” doughnut to check the temperature of your oil. Once your oil is at the right temperature (about 350 degrees), drop your doughnuts into the oil, several at a time. Cook for about 1 minute per side, or until golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side.

10. Remove the doughnuts from the oil and let dry on a paper towel. Let cool before frosting.

Maple Bacon donut