Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 15 mins Rest time: 30 mins Total time: 1 hr 15 mins
Macronutrients per doughnut: 21g fat | 6g protein | 9g carbohydrates
Servings: 12 donuts
Make it AIP or Dairy-Free: Use animal fat other than ghee or butter
Make it Sugar-Free, Zero Carb, or Carnivore: Don’t make the glaze
These doughnuts have a light and airy texture with a hint of sweetness from the date glaze and a salty kick from the bacon.
What you need to make Maple Bacon Doughnuts
Ingredients:
Doughnuts:
- Eggs (ASHLEY20 for 20% off)
- Grass-fed ghee (or butter)
- Sea salt (ASHLEYR for 15% off)
Glaze:
- Pitted dates
- Grass-fed ghee (or butter)
Toppings:
Equipment:
Substitutions
You can substitute the ghee for your animal fat of choice, although I do highly recommend ghee with this recipe due to its sweet and buttery flavor.
How to make Maple Bacon Doughnuts
Prep the dates.
Soak the pitted dates for 1-2 hours in a bowl of water to soften them.
To start – make the doughnuts.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Crack all eggs into a mixing bowl. Separate the whites from the yolks.
Beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until the mixture is frothy and foam-like. This should take 1-2 minutes.
Scoop the ghee into a glass container (or whatever you use to melt it) on the stovetop. Melt the ghee until it is liquid. (This is important! Don’t skip this step)
Pour the melted ghee inside the blender with the egg yolks. Blend the egg yolks and ghee in a blender until smooth.
Add the egg-yolk ghee mixture to the frothy egg whites and beat with a hand mixer until smooth.
Pour the doughnut batter (it will be watery) into a doughnut pan (fill each slot to the top) and bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes (they’re done once they’re puffed up and fully cooked through).
The batter should yield around 12 doughnuts.
Remove the doughnuts from the oven once they’re done and allow them to cool.
Next, make the date glaze.
Melt the ghee on the stovetop.
Add the soaked dates and melted ghee to a blender. Blend until a date paste forms. There will be melted ghee that will not blend and the paste will be chunky. This is normal.
Transfer the mixture (including the unblended ghee) to a small bowl. Place the bowl in the refrigerator.
Check on the mixture in about 5 minutes. The ghee should have firmed up, and you should be able to mix the dates and ghee into a smooth paste. Once the ghee becomes soft like the date paste (it will lose its transparency and regain its yellow color), mix and form the glaze.
Now, make the bacon.
Transfer the bacon to a pan, cook it, set it aside to cool.
Once cooled, break it into little pieces.
We’re almost there!
Glaze the doughnuts.
Take the date glaze and glaze the top of the doughnuts. I use my hands to do this since the paste is sticky.
Top the doughnuts by sprinkling the bacon pieces on top of the glazed doughnuts.
Serve immediately, or place in the fridge, allow them to firm up a bit, and serve later. I recommend allowing them to firm up in the fridge.
Enjoy! These are wonderful.
Tips to make the best Maple Bacon Doughnuts
- When making the doughnut batter, make sure the ghee is melted and you blend it until smooth. If there are any unmelted chunks of ghee, the doughnuts will bake unevenly.
- Near the end of the doughnut bake time (usually around 8 minutes), check on the doughnuts often. They’re done once they’re puffed up and cooked through.
A few of my other favorite sweet recipes:
Jumbo Chocolate Cups with Salted Chunky Date Filling
Flourless Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Maple Bacon Doughnuts
Maple Bacon Doughnuts
Ingredients
For the doughnuts:
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 cup grass-fed ghee (or butter)
- 1 pinch sea salt (ASHLEYR for 15% off)
For the glaze:
- 5-7 oz pitted dates
- 1/2 cup grass-fed ghee (or butter)
For the topping:
- 7 strips bacon
Instructions
- If you’re interested solely in the recipe, skip this bullet point and keep on reading. For those interested in sourcing nutrient-dense food, low-toxic household products, and discounts on brands that may support your AB journey, you may find value in my product guides. Head over to this page if you’d like to check them out. All are free (and always will be).
Prep the dates:
- Soak the pitted dates for 1-2 hours in a bowl of water to soften them.
Start by making the doughnuts:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Crack all eggs into a mixing bowl. Separate the whites from the yolks. Place the yolks in your blender.
- Beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until the mixture is frothy and foam-like. This should take 1-2 minutes.
- Scoop the ghee into a glass container (or whatever you use to melt it) on the stovetop. Melt the ghee until it is liquid. (This is important! Don't skip this step)
- Pour the melted ghee inside the blender with the egg yolks. Blend the egg yolks and ghee in a blender until smooth.
- Add the egg yolk-ghee mixture and a pinch of sea salt (ASHLEYR for 15% off) to the frothy egg whites and mix on low with a hand mixer until smooth.
- Note: if you go through tons of salt in your household like we do, check out this salt purchasing hack that will save you money + make things more efficient. We started this last year, and I'm so happy we did!
- Pour the doughnut batter (it will be watery) into a doughnut pan (fill each slot to the top) and bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes. They're done once they're puffed up and cooked through. The batter should yield around 12 doughnuts.
- Note: these doughnuts will deflate a little after taking them out of the oven, but they retain their shape best if you take them out of the oven as soon as you start to see them puff up. Once you see them start to rise, remove them immediately.
- Remove the doughnuts from the oven once they're done and allow them to cool.
Make the date glaze:
- Melt the ghee on the stovetop.
- Add the soaked dates and melted ghee to a blender. Blend until a date paste forms. There will be melted ghee that will not blend and the paste will be chunky. This is normal.
- Transfer the mixture (including the unblended ghee) to a small bowl. Place the bowl in the refrigerator.
- Check on the mixture in about 5 minutes. The ghee should have firmed up, and you should be able to mix the dates and ghee into a smooth paste. Once the ghee becomes soft like the date paste (it will lose its transparency and regain its yellow color), mix and form the glaze.
Make the bacon.
- Transfer the bacon to a pan, cook it, set it aside to cool.
- Once cooled, break it into little pieces.
Glaze the doughnuts.
- Take the date paste and glaze the top of the doughnuts. I use my hands to do this since the paste is sticky.
Top the doughnuts.
- Sprinkle the bacon pieces on top of the glazed doughnuts.
- Serve immediately, or place them in the fridge, allow them to firm up a bit, and serve later. I recommend allowing them to firm up in the fridge.
- Enjoy! These are wonderful.
What I used for this recipe:
Looking for some more easy sweet treats? Try one of these recipes:
Jumbo Chocolate Cups with Salted Chunky Date Filling
Flourless Lemon Blueberry Muffins
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Ashley Rothstein develops tasty, whole food, animal-based recipes that include a moderate amount of “minimally toxic” plant foods. To fix her own health issues, she bounced around between the carnivore, keto, and paleo diets for a few years. After experiencing and studying each diet philosophy, she learned she feels her best by merging the three and following an animal-based diet. As a glut at heart, she likes to channel her creativity and create meals that are healthy but also satisfy her inner gluttonous spirits.
Can you make these in a muffin tin? I don’t really want to buy a donut pan.
Author
Yup! A muffin tin will work.
Approximately how many dates is 5-7 oz? I have some pretty large medjool dates. Thanks!
Author
About 3/4 – 1 cup!
So these taste yummy but I’m wondering if maybe I beat the eggs too long… mine puffed up way big in the oven and then completely deflated when I took them out. Thoughts?
Author
I don’t think that was it. Sometimes if you don’t take the doughnuts out as soon as they puff up, they deflate a lot. Mine always deflate a little bit, but I’ve found that they retain their shape best if you remove them from the oven the moment you see them start to puff up. I’ll add a note to the recipe!
Can I sub dates for honey?
Or maple syrup
Author
Sure. The consistency of the glaze will just be a bit thinner
Another winner