If you don’t know of Elvis’ rumored favorite sandwich, it’s a peanut butter, banana, and bacon monstrosity indulgence that actually is a very awesome combination of flavors. My mom (usually a banana hater) tried this donut variation and proclaimed that the bacon made it all worth it.
Turning Elvis’ fave sammie into baked banana, peanut butter, and bacon donuts ended up a recipe for nostalgic success. All it takes is a soft banana donut base, a peanut buttery glaze, and of course, a big sprinkling of crispy bacon. Bacon donuts, you guys!
There are a few ways to make a banana donuts: add in smooshed banana, mix in banana extract, or use banana pudding mix in the dry mixture.
I used some overripe bananas, but there’s something to be said for that classic banana flavoring. It’s different from real bananas, but not necessarily lesser, in my opinion. Sort of like how I love artificial cherry flavor. It’s good, okay?
For the peanut butter glaze, I ended up using an old favorite, PB2 (powdered peanut butter). It’s a great way to shave some calories and mixes really well with liquids. I’ve used it in a ton of recipes, too:
- Healthier peanut butter puppy chow
- Low carb peanut butter tarts
- Peanut butter cup protein truffles
- Peanut butter cup pie
You can usually find PB2 at your local grocery store or online.
I decided to bake the donuts to keep them slightly on the lighter side, and to use my favorite donut pans in regular and heart-shaped. If you’re game to fry these bad boys instead, you can use pastry cutters to cut them into shape, heat some oil to 375F (or until it makes some sizzly noises), and drop them in until golden. Yum.
Let me know if you give these banana, peanut butter, and bacon donuts a try. They’ve been a hit over here so far!
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Ingredients
- 1¾ cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1½ cups mashed banana
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter or PB2 powdered peanut butter
- 4-5 Tbsp milk (or nut milk of your choice)
- ¼ pound bacon, cooked until crispy and crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Spray a donut pan with nonstick cooking spray (I used Wilton regular donut pan and heart-shaped)
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- In a second bowl, whisk together the eggs and vegetable oil. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, then stir in the mashed bananas.
- Fill each cavity in the donut pan no more than ⅔ full.
- Bake the donuts until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean, about 10-12 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
- In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, peanut butter or PB2 and 3 tablespoons of the milk (and 1 additional tablespoon of milk if using PB2. Continue adding milk until you reach the consistency and thickness you desire.
- When the donuts are cool, dip them into the peanut butter glaze.
- Sprinkle on the bacon pieces before the glaze hardens.
If you make this recipe, share a photo and hashtag it #BIJOUXANDBITS. I’d love to see what you’re cooking!
Catherine Clark is a Chicago native sharing noteworthy things she sees and attempts to make in the world. She's a geek, cat lady, designer and editor by day, and noob chef by night.
