Move over cupcakes. It’s time for doughnuts to take their star turn. So, bring on the sprinkles, the chocolate, the bacon. Yes, even the bacon.“People were doing interesting flavors with cupcakes. It was a matter of time before the same thing happened to doughnuts,” says Lara Ferroni, cookbook author and food photographer, Portland, Ore.However, if you still envision racks of plain, glazed doughnuts in your favorite coffee shop, stretch your imagination. You can make luscious, indulgent and extravagant doughnuts for holiday parties in no more time than it takes to bake a batch of cookies.Once you’ve mastered the basic technique, “you can put your own spin on the doughnut; make it your own,” says Mark Klebeck, a co-founder of Top Pot Doughnuts in Seattle.Create your own designer doughnuts using your favorite seasonal flavors, such as nutmeg, peppermint, cranberry or pumpkin. Coat finished doughnuts with orange, coconut or chocolate glaze.Then, since there’s no such thing as too much, finish off your masterpiece with chopped nuts, chocolate shavings or savory bacon.Doughnuts topped with chopped walnuts and crumbled bacon is one of the tantalizing recipes in the new cookbook by Mark and Michael Klebeck, “Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts” (Chronicle Books, 2011).The choices are yours. Here are some "do and dough-not" suggestions to get started. If you’re a doughnut novice, try the cake style recipes, which are easier and faster than yeast doughnuts, say the experts. Don’t make doughnuts a day in advance. For best quality, make doughnuts on party day. Cake doughnuts only take about 30 minutes to prepare and you can make them a few hours ahead of time to avoid last-minute preparation, according to Ferroni, author of “Doughnuts: Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home” (Sasquatch Books, 2010). Resist super-sizing so your guests can sample more. “You can grab one or two and don’t feel like you have to cut up a doughnut and share it,” Klebeck says.  Do take steps to make cleanup easier. Unfortunately, frying doughnuts can be messy. Cover your stovetop with aluminum foil. Toss the spattered foil when you’re done, Klebeck says.  Don’t stack glazed doughnuts. Although a doughnut tower would be an eye-catching display on the dessert table, glazed doughnuts are best arranged in a single layer so they don’t stick together. A large platter or party tray will hold a dozen doughnuts.  Invite your guests to share in the fun of doughnut preparation with a DIY decorating station, Ferroni says. Set out a platter of plain doughnuts. Make a glaze and bring it warm to the table. Add a few bowls of toppings. Let guests create their own designer doughnuts.  Don’t discard your leftovers. Turn the stale crumbs into truffles as Ferroni does.If you’re ready to make doughnuts from scratch, try the Klebeck sensation: a chocolate cake doughnut with peppermint icing and candy cane bits.“Mint and chocolate is an incredible combination,” he says.

If you’ve been practicing and have leftover, stale doughnuts, prepare the following recipe for doughnut truffles. As an alternative you can make doughnut truffles with store-bought doughnuts.

Peppermint Snowdrift Cake DoughnutsAdapted from the cookbook “Hand-Forged Doughnuts.”