Dough

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together 120 grams (1 cup) flour, sugar, and yeast.

Warm the milk in the microwave, about 30 seconds. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in microwave, 30-60 seconds. Make sure these aren’t too hot! Cool off in the fridge if necessary. 

Add milk, butter, egg yolks, and vanilla to the mix. Whisk until well combined. Cover with plastic and let sit in a warm place for 10 minutes, or until you can see a few bubbles.

Stir in the salt and remaining flour until the dough just sticks together (you may not need all of it). Knead for 5 minutes. Dough should be soft, but if you poke it with two fingers, it should bounce back just a little bit.

Cover and let rest in a warm place until dough has doubled in size, about an hour.

Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; dough will be very soft and pillowy.

Roll dough roll to just under 1/2″ thick. Use a 2 1/2″ cookie cutter (or anything round of the right size) to cut out circles and place on prepared baking sheet. Reroll scraps to make more donuts as needed; makes about 12. It’s fine if the last few are a bit funny-looking.

Cover with a dishcloth and allow to rise in a warm place until about doubled again in volume, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375F during this time.

Bake in the center of  the oven for 7-10 minutes, or until lightly golden on top. Gently and carefully move them to a wire rack to cool completely. Remove the parchment paper from the baking sheet to the counter under the wire rack.

Meanwhile, make your filling and icing!

Maple Glaze

In a large measuring cup or medium-sized bowl, stir together powdered sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla. If this is too stiff, stir in milk 1 teaspoon at a time. (You can test the consistency by test-dipping your ugliest donut.)

Cover and leave at room temperature until ready to use.

Maple Bacon Filling

(Bonus: Chill the bowl ahead of time.) In a large, maybe-chilled, completely clean bowl, whip heavy cream to completely stiff peaks, using a hand whisk or stand mixer.

Gently fold in maple syrup and/or bourbon. If this makes the mix too liquid, re-whip back to stiff peaks.

Fold in bacon crumbles. Refrigerate until ready to use (no more than a few hours).

Assemble!

When donuts are completely cool, use a chopstick to gently poke a hole about 2/3 of the way through each donut. 

If glaze has developed a skin, stir until it melts back in. Working quickly, dip the top half of each donut in the glaze. Allow the excess to drip, and place back on the wire rack. 

When all the donuts are dipped, sprinkle with bacon crumbles. If the glaze has already started to harden, gently push the bacon crumbles into the glaze so they’ll stick. Allow about 15 minutes for the glaze to set.

Fill a piping bag with filling (or a ziploc with a small corner cut off). If you don’t have a piping tip, use your finger to poke each hole a bit bigger to fit the tip of the bag in. Gently squeeze about 2 tablespoons of filling into each donut. 

Devour immediately!