STL Donut Blog

The sign says they are "World Famous", so I had to break my gluten free streak for 1 bite. Maybe 2. But honestly, they are really only good if you dunk them in coffee. Otherwise, they were really oily. Kind of crunchy on the outside and more like a french fry than a donut. Or a funnel cake minus the powdered sugar. Why don't they add some powdered sugar?! There's an idea. According to the Rocky Mountain Food Report , doughnuts have been sold on the mountain for around 125 years... "They’re high-altitude [cake] doughnuts — they can only be made above 14,000 feet. … We just make high-altitude adjustments to the recipe. And of course we do have our secret ingredient, which we can’t reveal, sorry.” I'm sorry, too, Pikes Peak. Maybe you were having an off day, but I wasn't impressed. I guess I'll have to wait until I'm at 14,000 ft elevation again to give them a second try. ** Note: Oddly enough, after writing this, I'm totally craving...

So this video kind of made me fall in love with this place (maybe because I'm a video producer and videos just get me?) I stopped here because I had an extra 10 minutes to kill before a meeting and it just so happened to be right there. What a great decision! I got a  Glazed, Twist, French Crueller, and Chocolate Long John  (so basically all my usual favorites). And they did not disappoint! The only one that was outside my norm was the twist and that was my least favorite. It had sugar coating and I just didn't think it was too special, though it is very pretty. Bello's Bakery used to be Clayton Bakery and back when I went to Webster U, they provided the donuts in the cafeteria. I probably gained some weight. They also have bread, cookies, coffee cakes, and other treats! There is a full menu  on their website . These boxes are for charity donations - so FYI, you can call in and they'll give you all the donuts that didn't sell for a charitable don...

My road trip with Melissa would not be complete without a new donut blogging adventure. A trip full of late nights, early mornings, and tripping into strangers, Kansas City is always full of fond memories with this girl. We decided to try Donutology  in Westport, KC. The concept is pretty straightforward - you write down your order on a page that feels like a quiz. You choose your type of base donut, icing, toppings, and drizzles. Toppings are mostly cereal or candies. I was happy to see coconut! You'd think I'd be good at this... Sounds simple enough. BUT it's very easy to over do it and go crazy. I tried to pick things that sounded like they went together, like a chocolate cake donut with vanilla icing, Butterfinger crumbles, graham cracker crumbles, and chocolate drizzle. But alas, it was just too much going on. Not to mention that the icings weren't very good. Too goopy & thick for my liking. As you can see, cereal plays a big role...

Well, it's been a few weeks since the hype of National Donut Day has worn off... now we've all settled into our usual donut routines. Has the 2017 Line-Up taught us anything? Of course. The Top 5 donuts in St. Louis were rated as follows: 1. FLORISSANT - Old Town Donut - boston creme 2. DOWNTOWN - Pharoah's - glazed  3. SHAW/THE HILL - O'Fashion - old fashioned  4. ST. LOUIS HILLS - St. Louis Hill's Donuts- dunking stick (oblong, glazed cake)  5. SOUTH COUNTY - The Donut Stop - jelly filled Note: Old Town won by 2 points & there were only 9 points between #1 & #5. Judging this year was slightly different - smaller portions, a smaller judging panel, and different contenders than 2016. The event itself is always a blast! Put on by Jazz at the Bistro, Donut Day in STL is a family friendly activity and true to STL, it's got plenty of FREE STUFF! Yep, free donuts, coffee, milk, balloon animals, a jazz performance, and even mor...

My dad lives in Chicago and as genetics would have it, also loves a good donut! We stopped by Stan's Donuts after eating an insane amount of Polish food. I really wish I had been more hungry and could've tried more donuts, because they had lots of fun varieties that sounded good. Donuts I thought about ordering included: Pistachio Captain Crunch Bismark Glazed Pretzel Biscoff Pocket Boston Cream Coconut Cream So as you can see, there were lots of options. My big complaint is that I didn't have time to see all my options before ordering. You see, the line is set up backwards. You go through the line with a bunch of people standing in front of the donuts and then you're IMMEDIATELY expected to know your order. I even had a snarky comment made from the guy behind the counter - he said something like "I can help whoever knows their order" - and he said it like he was frustrated with me staring at the 5 trillion options. Hard to see here, but t...

My mom is in town and staying with me for a few weeks, so this morning I convinced her to join me for some pre-work doughnuts! I made sure to wear my Fitbit and put it in the foreground of the pic so that everyone knows I'm actually a very healthy person that just happens to eat donuts ;) I'm super happy about the new Vincent Van Doughnut location in The Grove! I work in the CIC buildings right by IKEA and as the official self-dubbed Party Planning Committee of my company, I can plan company outings here now! We ordered a  Coffee Chocolate Doughnut  and a variety of  Doughnut Holes - cinnamon sugar & glazed.  We also got a  savory breakfast pocket with Ham, Egg and Cheese . It's nice that they serve more breakfasty items in addition to doughnuts. Breakfast pocket, fresh donut holes, and some seriously delicious donuts I liked the cinnamon donut holes better than the glazed. There are even gluten free op...

What's a beignet? "Beignet, synonymous with the English "fritter", is the French term for a pastry made from deep-fried choux pastry. Beignets can also be made from other types of dough, including yeast dough."- Wikipedia Thanks, Wikipedia! It's basically a fried little donut covered in powdered sugar. Sometimes they come with a dipping sauce that is chocolatey. Bar 360 in Downtown STL has beignets and they are a great sharable treat. They are bite sized and airy, like little pillows. These beignets tasted like they had cinnamon involved. They came out hot, but I almost liked them better cold. For $7, they give you a lot of beignets! We had 6 friends trying to conquer this plate and could barely do it. We also ate pizza, though. I read some Yelp complaints that the beignets weren't all cooked the same (some doughy, others crispy), but I didn't have this issue. They were good, but it was really all about the sauce, for me. They ...

The Winner Is... Congrats to Pharaoh's Donuts for taking home the trophy this year for STL's top donut shop! So far, no one that I've told has heard of Pharaoh's, so hopefully this win will inspire people to get downtown and try these! This year, 653 people attended Jazz at the Bistro's Donut Day celebration & they went through 1500 donuts in just over two hours. Woah. Pharaoh's Donuts submitted a glazed donut , which I was getting a little sick of by the time their's appeared in front of me. But seriously. It was so good. The judge sitting next to me had to take a time out - it was just that good. On my notes, it scored the highest and earned a "YES." next to it. Top right: The aftermath of sampling 15 donuts The top five of the fifteen were: 1. Pharoah's Donuts  2. St. Louis Hills Donut Shop  3. Lubeley's Bakery (tie)  3. Donut Drive-In (tie)  4. The Donut Stop 5. Old Town Donuts How the Competitio...

Hello, Friends! Friday is National Donut Day & STL is doing it BIG. So in the MORNING, I will be judging donuts from around STL at Jazz at the Bistro's Event . It's right by the Fox Theater.  It's FREE! AM  In the EVENING, I'll be here: PM Strange Donuts National Donut Day Event  is $12 admission (includes Strange Donuts & Kaldi's coffee). They'll have Mission Taco available for purchase.  This event benefits Strange Cares . Location: Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Co. (3983 Gratiot Street) 6-10pm

When you buy a dozen, you get a dozen free!! Wahoo!!! My friend Robyn of TinySuperheroes  told me about this! Thanks Robyn! TinySuperheroes is a SUPER cool cape company based in STL. When you buy a cape, they donate one to an extraordinary child overcoming illness or disability. So if you're feeling extra super today, eat donuts and check them out! They say it's for your sidekick, but really you could just be a major whale and eat 2 dozen yourself! STL Locations: Wow their website even shows you when their "hot" light is on! That's just... super. More info here:  Krispy Kreme 

ROAD TRIP! We went to KC with the perfect travel plans - wander without an itinerary, be outside, eat good bbq, and find donuts along the way, all with a tour guide to chauffeur us around! One problem: our native KC tour guide, Josias, didn't have a favorite donut shop. In fact, he said that he "isn't a huge donut person". "Okay Google", I said into my phone, "Where are the best donut shops in Kansas City?" A few came up, but they were far away or closed. So the weekend progressed and I accepted that no donuts would be had, reviewed, or critiqued. BUT WAIT! There we were, making 1 last stop when we see an OPEN donut shop. Cool signage, a full bar, space to lounge. A+. The Doughnut Lounge. For St. Louisan's I'd explain it as Vincent Van Doughnut & Strange Donuts had a baby. The donuts are fancy, pretty, and some are square like Vincent's. They have strange Signature flavors, which are actually some of the mo...

What a magical time of year. Doesn't STL look perfect in the fall? We can't talk about fall without conjuring scents of pumpkin, pecan pies, & bonfires. But which donut best compliments this magical season? Hang on, stop drooling. I haven't even said which one yet. Okay: Cider Donuts , "made fresh" with Eckert's own Apple Cider, are a reason to go to Eckert's all on their own. No, we are not giants. These are mini cider donuts (think super moist cake donut consistency) dusted with sugar. THESE ARE VERY, VERY, VERY DELICIOUS! Apples are involved, so these count as 1 serving of fruit. Yep. That's how that works. Go to Eckert's, pick a bunch of apples, bake me a pie, and bring me some of these Cider Donuts . Our friendship will flourish if you follow these steps carefully. & Big thanks to Steph for demonstrating impossible self control and saving me one from her apple picking journey. <3  If you have any other fall do...

Right as I began the donut blog, Donut House mysteriously shut down. Was I surprised? Not really- the former owners were a couple that didn't seem to ever sleep. 24 hours a day they were there, ready to give me donuts.  Under new owners, Donut House has re-emerged! The interior is newly decorated and has plenty of seating! It's cute, bright yellow, and clean.  A+ on selection - Saturday morning @ 10:30ish Steph, Hannah, Michael, and I stopped in around 10:30 and selection was great.   Steph got a  Chocolate Long John & Donut Holes . Hannah got a  Carmel Long John & Chocolate Iced Old Fashioned , Michael got a  non-donut breakfast sandwich , and I got a  Glazed Twist . Top- our confusion- what should we do with these donut holes? Eat them? Feed them to each other?   Our verdict on these donuts- for the most part, they're okay . Steph and Hannah weren't crazy about their Long Johns- they'd had better. My Gla...

Michael recently developed a fondness for Fried Croissants and of course they are delicious. So I get it. But I feel one of my favorite types of doughnuts is being overlooked- the Fried Danish Cruller - the figure 8 shaped doughnut with twisty middle. And my main question: do these actually exist in Denmark? So we taste tested them from Schnuck's bakery one day & agreed the Fried Croissant was better. I still think the Danish from Federhoffer's tops it, but will have to do further research to be sure. If you know anywhere that makes delicious Fried Croissants or Danish Crullers, please comment below!

Blueberry Donut from World's Fair Donuts (she thinks) Melissa said "It was blueberry, one of my favorite kinds. It was perfect: light with sweet blueberries! It hardly crumbled from biting". Great shot of the ambiance at the Jazz Bistro! Happy Donut Day, Mel! Sarah prefers extra large, shiny donuts full of air.

Who has the BEST donut in St. Louis? We have an answer... well, kind of. The judges did a swell job today, but I still think this question is too tough to nail down an official answer.  Do you like classic donuts? Or fancy, specialty donuts? Do you want them fresh and hot? Cake donut or yeast donut? What about fritters? See?! If I were held at gunpoint and forced to say my absolute favorite donut, I would probably go with Federhofer's Chocolate Long John, and it is either because I was raised eating them or maybe they're just that good. A few Affton pals that may agree with me. I had a lovely morning at Jazz at the Bistro's National Donut Day competition! Unfortunately I did not get to try all the donuts, since I was somehow not selected to be a judge (hint hint ahrrmmmm ;)). Nevertheless, I did enjoy several donuts from various bakeries in STL. There were 15 present for the competition, Oberweis milk, and Mississippi Mud Coffee. I liked the sy...