Bacon Stuffed Doughnuts…
to satisfy my constant bacon fix.
In the hotness of Tuesday, I (of course) wanted to snack on bacon. In retrospect, frying anything is probably better in the winter simply because hovering over hot oil just makes hot days even hotter. In any case, realizing that my love for bacon and my love for baking have never coincided, I decided to make doughnuts (beignets to be exact!) stuffed with brown sugar bacon bits:
(beignet donut adapted from this recipe)
Ingredients:
1/4 Cup water at room temperature
1 1/2 Tsp. dry active yeast
2 Tbs. butter flavored shortening
1/4 Cup sugar
1/2 Tsp. salt
1/2 Cup boiling water
1/3 Cup + 2 Tbs. evaporated milk
1 Egg, lightly beaten
3 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Cups Peanut or Vegetable Oil for frying
1/4 Cup confectioners’ sugar
3 Strips Applewood Smoked Bacon
2 Tbs. brown sugar
Directions:
1. Pour 1/4 Cup room temperature water into a small bowl or pyrex and add the yeast over the water. Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir slowly and carefully once or twice.
2. Combine shortening, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3. Pour boiling water over the shortening mixture and stir in evaporated milk.
4. Add yeast and water mixture and beaten egg.
5. Slowly mix until a dough like ball forms. It is okay if its not completely smooth (it won’t be anyway). Just mix enough so that everything comes together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
6. Working with small portions, roll out the dough about 1/4 inch thick and cut the rolled dough into 2 1/2 inch squares. Place them on wax paper.
7. Heat frying pan with oil to about 360F.
8. Drop the squares into the oil in batches and flip them around using tongs.
9. When they are golden brown (about 3 minutes) take them out onto a paper towel lined cooling wire rack.
10. Combine 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar with 1/2 Tbs. of cinnamon.
11. When they become warm (and not hot), use a sieve to sprinkle the sugar cinnamon mixture over the beignets.
12. Lay the bacon out flat on a cutting board and sprinkle brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon on both sides. Preheat the oven to 325F. Lay the bacon flat on a foil lined wire rack over a baking pan. Watch them carefully, because we added brown sugar to it, they will burn quite quickly.
13. Take the bacon out and when its cool enough to touch, chop the bacon into bits.
14. Using a paring knife, cut slits in the side of the beignets and stuff bacon bits into the slit.
I liked this recipe in that the donuts came out well and anything with bacon is great. However, the denseness of the doughnut dough was somewhat too heavy when paired with the already quite heavy bacon. Stay tuned… next time I tackle a bacon dessert I will try using puff pastry - I think the contrast in textures will be devine!
