The Great New York Donut Hike

I love donuts.

Life doesn’t get much simpler than that, really. Love may be lost, careers may change, friends may leave, but my love of donuts will always remain strong. Luckily for me, New York is dotted with artisan donut shops, making a sweet fix never more than a quick walk or subway ride away.

Of course, when there are so many donut shops, it becomes the responsibility of the connoisseur to decide which is the best donut shop – or at least to try as many as possible. Which is why, on a slightly drizzly fall day, my family and I laced up our best walking shoes, pulled up the hoods on our jackets, and rode the subway far out into Brooklyn to embark on the Great Donut Hike of 2013.

This tour is not for the weak of stomach. My original list of ten mouth-watering possibilities shrank to six for time and location, which shrank again to four due to sugar overload. What follows is an indefinite list of our findings and rankings.

4. Dun-Well Donuts

Located in East Williamsburg, this adorkable coffee shop and bakery boasts being winner of accessibility. If you have a special diet, including gluten free or vegan, donut hunting can be distressing, but Dun-Well has options for you. As it was our first stop, we were a little over-ambitious in our donut selection as we sampled the peanut butter and jelly, the Boston cream, traditional glazed and the mini chai donuts.

The Boston cream had a slightly different flavor than we were used to, so if you’re a purist you may want to skip over this one. However, the peanut butter and jelly made it into my top three donuts of the day with the perfect ratio of jelly to peanut butter frosting. Dun-Well has a cozy ambiance, and if I lived in the area I could see myself regularly popping in for a cup of tea, a PB&J donut, and a quiet hour of reading or writing.

3. Peter Pan Bakery

Alas, Peter Pan Bakery. We visited you too late. By 11am on a Saturday, this Greenpoint staple had nearly exhausted their eclectic offering of donuts and still had a line out the door. We managed to snag a simple glazed and a French crueler. They satisfied our expectations for good old fashioned donuts, but we left feeling a little jilted, our heads full of what-could-have-been thoughts.

Never one to be disappointed by a donut bakery, especially one beloved by Tina Fey, I have returned a couple times since the Donut Hike and I’m always floored by the variety of truly outrageous confections. If you’re jonesing for piles of vanilla cream or a layer of crackling glaze, this place has you covered. Just make sure to get there early.

2. Doughnut Plant

With its charming success story and delectable donuts, Doughnut Plant has a respected and beloved place in my heart. It has long been a family favorite, and I remember my mom planning a trip for us down to the first non-basement location on the Lower East Side during a summer of local exploring in the city. Since then Doughnut Plant has been the Butler family gold standard in donuts. Even though this was our final stop on the tour, that didn’t stop us from getting half a dozen donuts.

“For science,” we said.

Totally overwhelmed by the amount of sugar we had already consumed that day, I barely manage to nibble a few bites (and by the time I got to the box the next day, it had been vanquished). The coconut donut is always an excellent choice, as well as the seasonal pumpkin donut. Doughnut Plant hosts a wide variety of yeast and cake donuts at its many locations, and you can also buy their donuts in other supermarkets and coffee shops.

1. Dough

Dough. My mouth has started watering just thinking about you. I first stumbled upon this place in near accident, as it’s just a few blocks way from Boyfriend’s house. Now, our favorite option for a lazy and desserty brunch has blown up into a full-scale Brooklyn phenomenon, and let me tell you – it’s well deserved.

Dough’s yeast donuts are fluffy, delicate, and fully satisfying, even for a cake donut lover like me.  My family voted them the best plain glazed donut of the Hike and my parents agreed that the café au lait donut was their favorite of the whole day. The dulce de leche, with its sweet caramely icing and crunchy almond topping beat the café au lait for me, but only just barely.

Dough has a constant line out the door of its small shop, but it’s well worth the wait. Dough’s donuts can be found at their storefront location as well as at many food and flea markets around Brooklyn.

On our way to the Doughnut Plant, our last stop, Dad was handed a coupon for a free donut at Dunkin Donuts, but we were already jittery from the mouthfuls of pastry cream and slicks of sugar glaze. Besides, there are still so many other places left to try…