Let’s not deny the fact that bacon makes everything better, especially doughnuts.

Bacon has become a big trend this year with it being added to all kinds of food from ice cream to martini drinks.The maple bacon doughnut, which is also known as the “The Elvis,” is a delicious fried treat dipped in a maple glaze and topped with crumbled bacon.However, for people like me with celiac disease, doughnuts are one of the many foods forbidden from our diet unless they are gluten-free.

I have always been a fan of doughnuts but it is becoming difficult to find a gluten-free doughnut that tastes as good as a regular one. Gluten-free doughnuts are slowly starting to show up in bakeries and supermarkets, but frozen gluten-free doughnuts never taste as good as a hot, fresh one and the closest bakery carrying gluten-free doughnuts made daily is 70 miles away from Sacramento.

I decided to get creative and make my own version.

These tasty doughnuts are a delicious treat for any doughnut-lover and are easy to make with a little patience and lots of bacon.

This recipe is adapted from the Lemon Fonuts (Vegan and Wheat/Gluten Free) recipe from www.cookingchanneltv.com.

Gluten-free Maple Bacon Doughnuts

Servings: 15

1 cup white rice flour

1⁄2 cup sweet white rice flour

1⁄2 cup cornstarch

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup milk (To make this recipe dairy-free, use So Delicious coconut creamer, soy milk or rice milk)

1⁄4 cup vegetable oil

1⁄2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

2 large eggs (To make this recipe egg-free, use Energ or Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large mixing bowl combine flours, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder and salt and set aside. Combine milk, vegetable oil and eggs in a small bowl.

Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients and slowly add in the vanilla extract. Mix until batter is creamy. The batter should almost look like pancake batter.

Pour batter into a doughnut pan and bake for 15 minutes until doughnuts are light and fluffy.

While doughnuts are baking, prepare the maple glaze.

Maple Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1⁄4 cup So Delicious coconut creamer

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

In a small bowl combine powdered sugar and maple syrup. Slowly add in coconut creamer and corn syrup until mixture is smooth and creamy. If you want to add a sweeter taste to the maple glaze, omit the maple syrup and add 1 tablespoon of Mapleine imitation maple flavor.

The key ingredient to the glaze is corn syrup because it gives the glaze a glossy, smooth consistency.

Remove doughnut pan from oven and place doughnuts on a wire cooling rack.

Dip cooled doughnut tops in maple glaze and let cool on wire cooling rack. Sprinkle the crumbled bacon onto the glazed doughnuts and serve immediately.

Enjoy this sinful, sweet treat with a hot cup of coffee or a glass of milk.

Brittany Lambert can be reached at [email protected]