Maple bar doughnut, made two ways

Here are two ways to make a maple bar, one using premade biscuit dough, the other making yeast dough from scratch. Both work well; the yeast dough is easy – it just takes a bit of extra effort. The cooking and glazing are mostly the same. We defer to Kevin Lee Jacob’s real maple syrup-based glaze.

Quick dough (Yields: eight servings)

Open a can of refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough and gently reshape the round disks into an elongated shape by hand or with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface.

Yeast dough ingredients (Yields: 12 servings)

2¼ teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast

½ cup warm water (about 110°F)

½ cup warm milk (about 110°F)

⅓ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon salt

⅓ cup shortening (or butter)

4 cups all-purpose flour

Yeast dough instructions

In a large bowl, whisk together the yeast and water. Then whisk in the milk, sugar, egg, and salt. Add the shortening, and break it up, just a little, with a stout spoon.

Add 2 cups of flour and stir to achieve a smooth batter. Add the remaining flour and mix with the spoon until a shaggy dough develops.

Turn out and knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it’s smooth and elastic – about five minutes.

Put the dough in a large, greased bowl, turning the dough to grease both sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in volume – about 90 minutes. (You can also do a slow rise in the fridge overnight.)

On a lightly floured surface, turn out and press down the dough, forming it into a log. Cut the log in half. Roll each half into a 12-by-4-inch rectangle about ½-inch” thick. Cut each rectangle into six 2-by-4-inch “bars.” Place the bars on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover loosely with a nonstick-sprayed plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in volume – about 45 minutes.

Frying

Place enough vegetable oil to reach 2 inches up the sides of a heavy 5-quart pot or Dutch oven. (The biscuit dough version can be baked if you want to reduce the fat, but it’s not the same.)

For the biscuit dough, heat oil to 340-350 degrees, gently place two dough bars in hot oil with spatula, being careful not to crowd them. Frying will take a few rounds. Cook for 1½ minutes, then flip and cook another 1½ minutes (go by color too, looking for a golden brown).

For the yeast dough, heat the oil to 370 degrees, place two dough bars at a time and cook 30 seconds or so per side. Again, pay attention to color.

Remove fried donuts to a paper towel and/or wire rack to cool while you finish frying the batch.

Glazing

Combine 2 cups confectioners’ sugar and ½ cup maple syrup in a bowl, beating with a whisk or spoon until thick and smooth. Spread on the semi-cooled bars.

Recipe adapted from spaceshipsandlaserbeams.com.