Donut Burger
September 14, 2018 by Nicole Collins
You guys are not ready for what I'm about to do for you today.
Today's recipe is not going to be falling on the 21 Day Fix approved list any time soon. BUT, it could very possibly be the most delicious thing you'll ever put in your mouth.
So, I'd eat salad for the rest of my life just for one of today's recipe every now and then.
First, let me tell you the story of how today's recipe came about...
Two weekends ago, my friends and I went to the state fair. It was so fun! It was a gorgeous day. We got to see a baby calf enter the world (which was one of the strangest most beautiful things I've ever witnessed). And, we got to spend some quality friend time together.
One of the things I look forward to the most about the state fair is the food, of course. I mean, how could I not? Everything is either fried, stuffed, loaded, or all of the above.
So, as my friend, Alison, and I were on the hunt for what kind of noms we were going to take to go, we found a stand that had a pork sundae and a donut burger. That was it. Our search stopped right there.
Alison got the pork sundae which was pretty much a tall sundae cup loaded up with mashed potatoes, pulled pork, and bbq sauce. It looked ridiculous, but it smelled amazing!
I, on the other hand, had to have the donut burger. I've heard of this crazy idea before, but I'd never encountered it anywhere. So, the second I saw it on the menu, there was nothing else on my radar.
Except the bucket of loaded tater tots. How could anything involving tots ever not be on my radar? And yes, those loaded tots came home with me too. MMMMmmmMMMMmmMMMMmmmmm...
So anyways, we always load up on all of the food, then take it to go so we can eat fair food over the course of a few days. But, I knew I was going face first in to that donut burger the second I got home.
When I got home, I opened the foil, took a big bite, made a funny face, wrapped the burger back in the foil, and threw it in the trash. And, I try to throw away food as little as possible.
That's right. IT WAS DISGUSTING!
The burger was a hockey puck that was tough, way too thick, and had the strangest seasoning that did not go with any of the other flavors in the “burger”. The “donut” was so burnt that it had almost disintegrated. I've never been so disappointed.
Thank goodness I had tots to console me.
After that HUGE let down, I knew there was only one thing left that I had to do. I had to set out and make my own delicious donut burger.
So, that's what we're doing today, folks. Today, we're making Donut Burgers!
First of all, a donut burger might sound strange. But, I'm telling you this burger takes salty sweet to a whole new level!
This burger is really simple to build. But, it starts with a great burger patty! We're keeping it as simple as we can for the patty. The only seasoning on the meat is a little salt and pepper on the outside of the patty. There's no mixing involved, so there's no fear of overmixing the meat and ending up with a tough burger. Since we use a nice fatty 80/20 mix of ground chuck, we'll have a really nice flavor from just the meat alone. We also make the burger super thin so it cooks quickly without drying out. And, it also leaves plenty of space for the rest of the goodies we need to pile on the burger.
The bun for our burger is a glazed donut. That's right. A glazed donut. Cut it in half down the center; toast the cut side in a dry pan to get it nice and crispy; and we have the perfect vehicle to hold all of our toppings, which include white cheddar cheese, crispy bacon, and a gooey fried egg. We pile the toppings on the donut with the glazed side touching the burger fillings, so each bite gets to touch a little bit of that sweet heaven.
These burger ingredients would be incredible together on a regular burger bun, but that hit of sweetness from the sugary glaze on the donut just takes this sandwich to an out of this world place. The runny yolk makes it feel creamy. The burger is so juicy despite how thin it is. And, crispy bacon really needs no explanation. OMG, I'm drooling.
And, because this burger has some breakfast elements AND some lunch/dinner elements, it's a fantastic candidate to eat all day for all meals!
Trust me, you're going to want to after you take a bite. Though, I'm not sure your arteries will agree...
Alright guys, I'm sure you're exploding with excitement at the thought of today's ridiculous recipe, so I'm going to leave you to it.
Enjoy, and let's eat!
Donut Burger
Serves: 4 Print
Ingredients:
1 lb ground chuck (I used 80/20)
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp canola oil
4 glazed donuts
4 slices bacon, cooked and broken in half
4 fried eggs
4 slices white cheddar cheese
Directions:
Make the burgers: Divide ground beef in to 4 mounds. On a cutting board, smash each mound of beef evenly with your palm until it's a thin patty, roughly ½ inch thick. Season the top side of each patty with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add burger patties, seasoned side down, to the pan. Season the other side of the beef with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook patties for 3 mins per side until fully cooked through. In the last minute of cooking, top each patty with 1 slice of cheese. Remove from the pan to a paper towel lined plate to drain any excess grease.
Slice donuts in half. In a clean, dry pan, toast the donuts, cut side down, for 2 mins until toasted.
Assemble the burgers in this order: Half of donut (toasted side down), burger patty, bacon, egg, other half of donut (toasted side up). Devour!
Recipe notes:
*I generally use a lower fat content beef, but we want a nice, juicy, flavorful, beef for this burger. That's why I went for an 80/20 mix ground chuck. MMMMM!
*There's a lot happening in this burger, so we need a nice thin patty. When we smash it with our palm, it should be bigger than the size of our palm when we're done. The burger will shrink in the pan.
*To easily fry an egg, heat 1 tbsp of butter over medium high heat. When the butter starts to foam and sizzle, crack an egg into the pan. Top with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until the whites are set but the yolk is still runny, about 2-3 mins. I chose to leave mine as a gooey egg, but you could break the yolk so you don't have a runny egg.
*If you're as obsessed as I am with this GORGEOUS rainbow cutlery, you can get it here.
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