If you’ve been hanging around IBIH for awhile, you know that I’ve been a longtime fan of the Jones Dairy Farm pork products. Ham, sausage, bacon, etc. – IT’S ALL GOOD.
I’ve worked with Jones Dairy Farm over the past few years to develop recipes exclusively for their website, as well as creating low carb recipes that feature their products here on IBIH. Some of my absolute favorites include the Bacon-Wrapped Asian Chicken Wings, Monte Cristo Breakfast Casserole, Jalapeno Popper Frittata, and of course the Chocolate Bacon Toffee Ice Cream!
Recently, Jones Dairy Farm sent me a cooler full of products (my Fed Ex guy was super jealous) and asked me to come up with a few recipes using them. Since the box was chock full of my favorite JDF Dry Aged Bacon and I had already been kicking this bacon-studded donut hole recipe around for awhile – it was time to get to work.
Best. Job. Ever.
I started with the low carb Apple Fritters recipe from last year as a base, and made a few tweaks to turn it into a simple maple flavored donut hole recipe.
It took a few tries to get the ratios right so that they would stay together in the oil, and also puff up so they’d have the crispy on the outside, cakey on the inside texture that I was looking for. When I finally got it right though?
Perfection.
I used a jar of store-bought sugar free caramel to roll the donut holes in so that the cooked chopped bacon would stick to them easily. It gave a nice flavor and worked as a delicious glue for my bacon.
If you don’t like the idea of store-bought, you could easily use the low carb white chocolate caramel recipe that I use on top of the the Pumpkin Cheesecake with Maple Bacon Crust or any other low carb caramel recipe that you like.
Notes:
I can’t stress enough how important it is that your oil is around 350 degrees before you start cooking these. If you don’t have a thermometer you can throw in a tiny piece of dough to check it – it should start sizzling and bubbling right away. If the oil isn’t hot enough it won’t sear the outside almost instantly, causing the dough to absorb the oil and start disintegrating in your pan.
Also important is that you let the dough sit for a few minutes after mixing so that the coconut flour has time to absorb the liquid fully and get sticky enough to hold together. It will dry out significantly and become much easier to work with when you’ve waited several minutes after mixing to start rolling and frying.
Finally, I recommend rolling them in the caramel and bacon shortly before eating them as they will start to soften the longer they are coated – still amazing, you just lose a little of that crunchy fried exterior!
Bacon-Studded Maple Donut Holes – Low Carb & Gluten Free
- Yield: 12 donut holes 1x
Description
A low carb and gluten free maple donut hole recipe that is coated with caramel and chopped bacon. The perfect combination of salty and sweet!
Ingredients
For the donut holes:
- 3/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar substitute (I used Swerve)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp Sugar Free Vanilla Protein Powder (I used Isopure Zero)
- ¼ tsp xanthan gum
- 3 eggs
- ⅔ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 Tbsp maple extract
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
- oil for frying (I used avocado oil)
For the topping:
- 1/4 cup sugar free caramel sauce
- 6 slices cooked Jones Dairy Farm bacon, finely chopped
Instructions
- Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Whisk together the eggs, almond milk, and melted butter in a small bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well.
- Let sit for 3 minutes. Form into 12 tightly packed balls.
- Heat about 1 inch of oil in a heavy bottomed pan (cast iron works great) until about 350 degrees (F).
- Fry the donut holes for 1 – 2 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove to a paper towel to drain any extra oil. Cool for at least 5 minutes.
- Right before serving, add the donut holes to a large bowl and pour the caramel over the top (heat gently if necessary to thin out the consistency.) Stir gently until all of the donut holes are coated in caramel.
- Spread the chopped bacon on a flat plate. Then roll the caramel coated donut holes in the chopped bacon. Serve warm.
Notes
To see a list of my favorite low carb products and brands that I recommend for sweeteners, flours, etc. you can check out the IBIH Pantry Ingredients Page!
- Category: Low Carb Dessert Recipe
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 donut hole
- Calories: 116
- Fat: 7
- Carbohydrates: 3g net
- Protein: 7
Rita says
I made this recipe and loved it but my donut holes fell apart. I put them in a dish and covered them with the caramel and bacon and served them in a bowl and it tasted great! What did I do wrong? I followed your recipe exactly.
★★★★★
Peggy says
Can this be made on the air fryer?
Bethany Dannewitz says
You cannot go wrong when maple syrup meets bacon! Love this recipe!
Jenuinearticle says
Have you ever used sugar free maple syrup instead of say the maple flavor and some of the sugar? I only ask because I have it on hand.
Liz says
The IBIH pantry link in the notes doesn’t actually have a link.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks for catching that! All fixed now!
Christy says
Can you use almond flour instead of coconut flour? If so, what would the serving be for almond flour? Thank you
Mellissa Sevigny says
Sorry but it would change the recipe completely and I’m not even sure it would work without some experimenting to figure it out. If you are able to make it work with almond flour let us know!
CaitlinBrooks says
These were amazing! I don’t have protein powder so I used a little more coconut flour. One of the best low carb treats I’ve ever had!
bhood says
I have a lot of unflavored protein powder, do you think I could use unflavored powder and vanilla extract? I hate the idea of buying a whole bunch of this stuff for one recipe, Its expensive.
Melissa Crockett says
I’ve never seen anything like this before! I’m in!!!
★★★★★
Mary K Tylman says
You listed net carbs and not total carbs. What are the total carbs & fiber content. They look great and want to try. Thank you.
Cecy sevilla says
Que delicia! Gracias