Maple Bar Donuts

The maple glaze is unreal, and every bite just melts in your mouth. This is a West Coast thing that my husband grew up with and was HORRIFIED that we don’t really have in Virginia. So now we make them every year.

What You’ll Need

donuts

• 2 ¼ teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
• ¾ cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar, divided in half
• 3-3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup sour cream, room temperature – you can also use plain full-fat Greek yogurt
• ¼ cup (½ stick) salted butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• Vegetable oil, for frying

maple glaze

• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract – to bump up the maple flavor, you can swap in maple extract for the vanilla

Equipment You’ll Need

You need a pot that’s good for frying for this recipe. I like to use a big Dutch oven, or you can use a heavy skillet or deep pot. Just something that’s large enough to hold enough oil so that the donuts are submerged.

The oil temperature is really important for this recipe, so I also recommend a high-temperature thermometer or candy thermometer.

Instructions

Note: I have also made these by just mixing everything togther, yeast and all, in one step at the beginning and that works too.

Bloom the yeast

Mix the warm milk, yeast, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a bowl. Let it sit until it becomes foamy (about 5 minutes).

If for some reason your yeast mixture isn’t getting foamy, you have to stop right there, unfortunately. This likely means that the milk was too hot or too cold, or that your yeast isn’t fresh.

Combine the dry ingredients

Grab a large bowl and put all of the dry ingredients in there.

Give it a good stir with a whisk so that everything’s incorporated.

Mix the dough

Add in the last 2 tablespoons of sugar, sour cream, butter, egg, and the foamy yeast mixture.

Then you’re going to stir by hand until a shaggy dough forms.

Knead until smooth

To continue forming the dough, lay it onto a clean countertop and knead it for 5 to 10 minutes. The dough might be a little sticky, so you can add up to 1/2 cup of flour, a little at a time, to keep it from sticking. When you’re done kneading, form it into a ball.

Let the dough rise

Put the dough in a greased bowl and then cover it with plastic wrap or a towel.

Set a timer for an hour and let it rise to double in size.

punch, Roll, and cut

After the first rise, punch it down in the middle to release the air bubbles.

Then, using a rolling pin, roll it out to about 1/2 inch thick, then cut it into 2×4-inch bars.

Rise again

The bars are ready for the second rise. I like to do this on a lined baking sheet and let them rise for another 30 minutes.

Heat the oil

Pour 2 inches of oil into whatever pot you’re going to use for frying. The temperature needs to be 325°F, so now’s the time to break out the candy thermometer.

You can test whether the oil is at the right temperature using some dough scraps. Don’t waste your precious little bars that are already cut. Just drop in a piece or two and make sure it fries to a golden brown and the inside is fully cooked.

Fry in batches

It’s really important that you fry the donuts in small batches. I fry 2-3 at a time. Fry them for about 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until golden brown.

Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on a wire rack. Make sure you have a pan underneath the wire rack to catch any dripping oil.

Make the glaze

The donuts need to cool a bit before you finish them, so now’s the perfect time to start on my favorite part — the maple glaze!

Melt the butter and maple syrup, then whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. You can always add more powdered sugar or maple syrup to reach the perfect consistency for dipping the donuts. It should be pourable but not too thick, or it won’t go on the donuts evenly.

Dip the donuts

Before you start dipping, make sure that the donuts aren’t too hot. They still need to be warm so the glaze goes on properly, but if they’re too hot, the glaze will slip right off.

Place one side of the donuts into the glaze, gently lift to let any excess glaze drip back into the bowl, then set them on a wire rack to cool. The glaze will take a few minutes to harden, if you can wait that long before grabbing one!

Storage Instructions

Honestly, these donuts are best when you eat them the same day that you make them. But if you have a few extra, you can store them in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Don’t put them in the fridge, or they’ll dry out and taste stale.

Questions and Troubleshooting

More homemade sweet breakfast bakes

• Old-Fashioned Yeast Doughnuts (Fried)
• Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting (Overnight Method)
• Peach Cobbler Cinnamon Rolls
• Sourdough Cinnamon Sugar Muffins