4 Amazing Brooklyn Doughnut Shops – Brooklyn, NY
Emily and I rarely eat doughnuts anymore, but since Sunday is our day to go wild, we decided it would be a good day to finally find our favorite doughnut in Brooklyn. We decided to settle it, here and now. Which, of course, is easier said than done. There are different varieties of doughnuts. You’ve got: Cake & yeast, creme filled, jelly filled, pudding filled, iced, sprinkled, glazed. To simplify the selection, we narrowed it down to our preferences. I prefer white-creme filled yeast donuts, like I grew up on (To be honest, Boston/Bavarian Creme is an abomination and putting it into a doughnut is a culinary sin.), then an old fashioned cake doughnut. Emily prefers chocolate yeast doughnuts, preferably not filled with anything. I actually expected different results than what we came up with.
4.) Dunwell Doughnuts – 222 Montrose Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206 – (347) 294-0871
This Vegan doughnut establishment, started almost two years ago in Bushwick may be our least favorite, but it got into the top four for a reason. Their flavors are creative and beautifully honed, the dough, moist and fresh. And to top it off, its the only vegan option in this entire list, if thats important to you. Really love the Spiced pear, and spiced pumpkin as well as their mini cider donuts, which really aren’t that mini.
3.) Dough – 448 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205 – (347) 533-7544
Their wildly original flavors and super airy soft dough make them the place we make a bee-line for at smorgasburg in the summer. Their small Bed-Stuy gets cramped quickly, and we wish they would have packed our Chocolate Earl Grey more carefully so it could be included in this photograph, but at least it still tasted good. The Lemon Poppy Seed was tart and tangy, as lemons go.
2.) 606 R & D – 606 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238 – (718) 230-0125
While not technically a doughnut shop, this small restaurant in Prospect Heights, is worth visiting for its doughnuts alone. Their small cake doughnuts remind me of the little diner doughnuts from back home. Its small-town homemade goodness from a very cute little brunch spot. The sugar coated cake doughnuts are moist and sweet and I could eat a dozen of them.
1.) Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop – 727 Manhattan Ave, New York, NY 11222 – (718) 389-3676
Growing up, my hometown had this bakery called The City Bakery and they had the most amazing creme sticks ever. We didn’t do the weekend doughnuts often but when we did it was a treat. My father would usually wake up early and go pick up doughnuts and by the time we woke up in the morning, they were ready and waiting for us. I looked forward to those doughnuts whenever I went home to visit, until several years ago it closed down for good. I’ve no idea why they couldn’t make it work. They had a great variety of pastries and baked goods and everything was amazing. But, ah, to hell with my hometown, they are clueless. Since I couldn’t go home to it, I figured, “oh well, NYC has to have something like it or better”. It took a while but then I found it: Peter Pan Donut & Pastry shop in Greenpoint. Their creme sticks are just as good as what I remember as a kid. The place is a basic diner, no pretention and very nice eastern european girls who serve you doughnuts – what more could you ask for? This place gets our top pick because even Emily, who doesn’t care much for creme filled confections, says it was her favorite out of all of them.
The Treats Truck was hip to the drill, they kept their lines short and always had food. Rickshaw Dumplings had to bring in reinforcements – a backup truck filled with more product. An uninvited food truck tried to sneak in but they got kicked out. There were a couple no shows that was quite disappointing – The Frying Dutchman (french fries) and Milk Truck (Grilled Cheese). WTH? Still, the food was amazing. Worth the wait? The jury is still out on that. I do know that my girlfriend would probably never attend another food truck event like that again.
