Maple Bacon Donut Focaccia

Updated at: Thu, 14 Nov 2024 15:11:34 GMT

Step 1

Before you mix your dough, cook your bacon. Cook in a frying pan over a medium heat until it’s cooked but not overly crispy. Remove 2/3 of the bacon from the pan and continue cooking the remaining 1/3 until super crisp. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat, if you don’t have that much then you can use butter to make up the difference (we will use this later when coating the dough).

Step 2

Remove the super crispy bacon from the pan and chop it into super fine bacon bits – these will go inside of the dough and on top of the glaze at the end. It should be like bacon dust! You should have about 6 tablespoons of it.

Step 3

Mix the base focaccia dough but reduce the water in the recipe by 2 tablespoons (30ml) and use 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup instead of 1 teaspoon of honey. Use my ‘Same-Day Focaccia’ recipe which can be found in the “WILL IT FOCACCIA?! RECIPES” community on Samsung Food. Or simply search for ‘Same-Day Focaccia” on Samsung Food.

Step 4

I do not recommend using the overnight or sourdough focaccia dough for this recipe because it uses melted butter and bacon fat instead of olive oil. Because the sourdough and overnight doughs will be cold from the fridge, the bacon fat and melted butter will solidify when they touch the cold dough it and this can make the process sticky and problematic.

Step 5

Once the dough is mixed, cover the bowl for 15 minutes and then, when it’s time for the first set of stretch + folds, sprinkle 1.5 Tablespoons of the tiny bacon bits over the dough. Perform the stretch + folds and cover the bowl for another 15 minutes. Repeat this again, adding in an additional 1.5 Tablespoons of bacon bits into the dough before doing the second set of stretch + folds. Cover the bowl for 1 -1.5 hours.

Step 6

Once the dough has fully proofed, line a 9x13 metal tray (quarter sheet pan) with nonstick parchment paper and then lightly coat the paper with 1 tablespoon of melted salted butter. Set aside.

Step 7

On a clean work surface, drizzle 1.5 tablespoons of melted butter and spread it to the size/shape of your baking tray. Tip the dough out onto the buttered work surface, rub a little of the butter onto your fingers and use your hands to gently stretch the dough out into a 9x13 rectangle.

Step 8

Grab a dough scraper or sharp knife and butter the blade on it so the dough doesn’t stick! Using the dough scraper, cut the dough into 12 equal pieces (I cut the rectangle into three strips and then cut each of those strips into four).

Step 9

Now whisk together the 3 Tablespoons of reserved bacon fat (you may need to warm this up again so it’s liquid) and whisk in 2 tablespoons of maple syrup.

Step 10

Pick up a piece of dough and use your hand to spread some of the maple bacon mixture onto both sides (don’t dunk the pieces as there won’t be enough). Coat each of the pieces and place them into the prepared tray in a 3x4 configuration. Cover and proof at room temperature for 1-1.5 hours.

Step 11

Preheat the oven to 220C/430F and place the rack in the lowest position in your oven.

Step 12

Sprinkle the larger, less crispy cubes of bacon or pancetta evenly over the dough. Drizzle with 1.5 Tablespoons of melted salted butter and then dimple the dough.

Step 13

Bake for 20-24 minutes or until the focaccia is golden brown.

Step 14

While the focaccia is baking, make the maple glaze. In a small saucepan, heat 3 Tablespoons of salted butter over a medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, stir occasionally and continue cooking until the butter has turned golden brown. Watch it closely when it starts to foam up as it normally turns brown just after this. Whisk in the powdered sugar, maple syrup and vanilla. Adjust with more maple syrup if it’s too thick or with more powdered sugar if too thin…it should be a nice drizzling consistency.

Step 15

Remove the focaccia from the oven, transfer it to a cooling rack and then place the cooling rack over a large tray (to catch any glaze that drips down). Drizzle the glaze evenly over the top of the bread and then use a pastry brush to dab it in, making sure to spread a little on the edges too. Work quickly as this icing will set fast!

Step 16

Finish by sprinkling the remaining crispy bacon bits over the top of the glaze and use the back of a spatula or spoon to press them into the glaze to secure them.

Step 17

Tear in and enjoy immediately!!

Step 18

This is the type of thing you want to tear into and share on Christmas morning or at a special brunch. You can bake the bread the day before, let it cool completely, wrap it in foil, store it in the fridge (because of the bacon). The next morning reheat it in the oven (still wrapped in foil) at 180C/355F for 15-18 minutes. Peel back the foil from the top for the last few minutes so the top can crisp up again. While it’s reheating, make the glaze and then continue the recipe as normal. Store the crispy bacon bits in the fridge overnight and garnish with them at the end. ENJOY!

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Crispy

Delicious

Sweet

Special occasion

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