Alabamaâs best doughnuts: Our top 10
There aren’t many bad doughnuts. Sure, there are OK ones, or just decent ones, but there are few doughnuts that just make you say, “Yuck.” That means picking out the top 10 doughnut places in Alabama is a pretty tough job.
But we’re used to that. For the past couple months, my colleagues and I at AL.com have been selecting our favorite foods across the state. We’ve tackled barbecue, meat-and-threes, pizza, burgers, ice cream and hot dogs. Now it’s time to talk doughnuts.
So far, we’ve released our top lists for Huntsville, Birmingham and Mobile, and today it’s time to finally reveal the statewide list.
And look, y’all, I get it: There are some amazing places that aren’t on this list. I could have easily made a top 30 list. Check out our readers’ choice list tomorrow to find out some of the places that didn’t make these lists.
MORE: Birmingham’s best doughnuts: Our top 5
Mobile’s best doughnuts: Our top 3
Huntsville’s best doughnuts: Our top 3
Two of Monita’s most popular flavors are the King Cake and the Maple Pistachio.
10. Monita’s Bakery
1021 Main St., Gardendale. facebook.com/monitasbakery
It’s easy to see Monita’s Bakery on main street. The small white building with pink trim stands out in the sea of strip malls. The building is a standing homage to doughnuts. “I Heart donuts” is painted in pink, blue, and white letters on the wall, and doughnut decorations line the border of the lawn.
Pastry is an art for the Gallardo family, who moved to Alabama from Chile a little over five years ago and opened Monita’s in 2021. The bakery serves tres leches cake, empanadas, kolaches, lattes, and cappuccinos, but their masterpieces are custom cakes and doughnuts.
Inside of the building, the doughnuts reign supreme. More than 20 flavors of doughnuts are housed between two cases in the shop. One case features yeast doughnuts, old-fashioned doughnuts, and huge apple fritters. In the other case, cake doughnuts and doughnut holes. If you’re the kind of doughnut enthusiast who favors fruit-flavored frostings, Monita’s has doughnuts topped with pineapple, blueberry, lemon, orange, and cherry frostings. — Shauna Stuart
Order this: We all know about the Maple Bacon doughnut. At Monita’s, try the Maple Pistachio.

Babes Doughnut in Tuscaloosa.
9. Babes Doughnuts + Coffee
500 Greensboro Ave., Tuscaloosa. www.babestuscaloosa.com
Babes has a prime location: It’s located in the heart of downtown Tuscaloosa on the corner of University Boulevard and Greensboro Avenue, just two doors down from Chuck’s Fish. And that’s the perfect place to display these delicious doughnuts.
Babes has a huge variety of doughnuts. The maple bacon doughnuts are topped with a lot of bacon, and the doughnut holes are A+. Babes also serves coffee and breakfast sandwiches.
Order this: My colleague Ben Flanagan says, “(I’d recommend) chocolate-covered for sure, or the peanut butter cup-topped chocolate covered glazed.”

Honeybuns Donuts & Kolaches in Spanish Fort offers a case full of goodies, starting with a full spectrum of donuts and including kolaches and breakfast burritos.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
8. Honeybun Donuts and Kolaches
6729 Spanish Fort Blvd. Suite H
My first visit to Honeybun fell close to the nominal 2 p.m. closing time, and the place was shuttered. “Sorry!! We are sold out today,” said a sign on the glass. “see y’all in the morning thanks.” No one likes to miss the boat, but that kind of demand is a good sign. Upon return I found a case full of varied doughnuts and other treats, topped by kolaches and breakfast burritos. The shop also offers coffee, boba tea and smoothies. (Warning: The owners are about to shut down for a month while they travel out of the country. They’ll be back at the end of August.) — Lawrence Specker
Order this: No offense to the fancier doughnuts in the mixed half-dozen I sampled, but there’s a lot to be said for a basic glazed doughnut done right. Start there.
7. WOW Donuts
11156 County Line Road, Madison, facebook.com/wowdonut
First off, get there early. My first trip out to WOW Donuts, I arrived around 11:30 a.m. on a weekday and they were already sold-out and closed. A couple days later, half their display had already been scooped out by 10 or so. Located between chain pizza and sub franchises, along with Valentina’s Pizzeria & Wine Bar, WOW Donuts is one of the best reasons for Huntsvillians to hoof it out to Madison. WOW’s set up a cute little interior with lots of natural light and they also serve a small but effective coffee drink menu. — Matt Wake
What to order: Everything I had from WOW Donuts was, in Brit-speak, smashing. The glazed topped with cream cheese and fresh ripe strawberries was better than many desserts I’ve had at fine dining restaurants. Lucious and vivid in its flavors, look and composition. The “birthday cake” style doughnut is like an anti-depressant with sprinkles on it. For filled doughnuts, you pick from cream or strawberry, and they inject the filling via a couple of little machines right in front of you. (Can I have one of those machines hooked straight into my veins, please?) A Fruity Pebbles doughnut coated a glazed and iced doughnut with delicate crunch. Hallelujah.

The classic: A chocolate frosted doughnut from Pop Donuts in Center Point (Shauna Stuart| AL.com)
6. POP Donuts
Pop Donuts 1819 Center Point Pkwy, Center Point
Travel down Center Point Parkway and you’ll find Pop Donuts nestled into a strip of shops in the Martin Building (if you use landmarks as your guide, look for a big green sign).
Pop has been in business for more than a decade. Doughnut shops are community businesses and it’s easy to see why at this shop. When we visited Pop on a Thursday morning, the shop was having a little bit of a rush. Among the lineup of customers: An elderly couple coming in for coffee (“Give me the biggest apple fritter you got!) and a man cheerily ordering for his daughter (”You know what my kid wants, right? We come in here all the time!”). And around noon, the friendly staff smiled and offered a woman another option when they were out of her favorites. “Y’all are just ‘bout sold out of everything. I can never get here early enough!” she said, pointing to another pastry. “Gimme one of them twists.”
Pop specializes in classic doughnut flavors. The menu includes glazed, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry iced as well as cinnamon rolls, and bear claws. The shop opens at 5:30 a.m. and closes at 2 p.m. every day, so it’s best to be an early bird. Pop starts selling out of its most popular items— the apple fritters and doughnut holes— around 10 a.m. If you feel like ordering a beverage with your doughnut, try one of the frappés. Pop offers honeydew, taro, green tea, and vanilla latte.
Also, a reminder: There’s a three-dollar minimum for credit cards. — Shauna Stuart
Order this: Try a classic chocolate frosted doughnut.
MORE: Alabama’s Best Doughnut journey: 19 stops in 7 days

Inside The Heavenly Donut Company at 4911 Cahaba River Road, Suite 105, in Birmingham. (Mary Colurso | [email protected])
5. The Heavenly Donut Co.
4911 Cahaba River Rd Suite 105, Birmingham, theheavenlydonutco.com
Heavenly Donut Company’s motto is:” Life is better with donuts.” Walk through the shop doors and you’ll see they mean it.
A table along the right wall of the shop holds doughnut-themed books, toys, and bath bombs. Doughnut mylar balloons and decorations line the wall. But the shop’s centerpiece, naturally, is the massive case of doughnuts. Heavenly divides the pastries into tiers: $1.30 for glazed or iced, $1.50 for doughnuts with toppings (such as M&M’s or sprinkles), and $2.00 for premium doughnuts (such as the maple bacon, French Toast, and doughnut of the day). Specialty items, including apple fritters and cinnamon rolls, start at $3.00. Kolaches are $4.25. Beignets—offered only on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to noon— start at $5.49 for a four-count.
And Heavenly’s icing on the cake — or, well, doughnut: A drive-through open 24 hours from Tuesday at 4:00 a.m. to Sunday at 2 p.m. — Shauna Stuart
Order this: If you prefer simple toppings, try the M&M doughnut. If you want one of the shop’s premium doughnuts, try the French Toast.
MORE: Alabama donut shop makes list of 33 best in America

Cothran’s Bakery has locations in Gadsden and Boaz.
4. Cothran’s Bakery
440 George Wallace Drive, Gadsden and 773 US-431, Boaz, facebook.com/CothransBakery
Even the sign at Cothran’s Bakery looks delicious.
The giant doughnut signage that sits outside Cothran’s Gadsden location probably brings in a lot of travelers — you can’t miss it. And I can guarantee you that very few people are disappointed.
Cothran’s Bakery was a Shipley’s Do-Nuts franchise until the ‘90s, when the Cothran family went independent and put their own name on the sign. And it’s been a significant part of the community since then, and has amassed lots of fans — whenever we mention doughnuts, Cothran’s is always mentioned.
You’ll find several cases full of scrumptious sweet treats, including cinnamon twists and blueberry fritters. But with all those sweet treats in front of you, don’t ignore the glazed doughnuts, which are far from ordinary. The dough is so, so, fluffy, and the glaze is nice and sweet. These are worth every calorie.
Order this: Caramel apple fritters. Enough said.

Duchess Bakery in Cullman.
3. Duchess Bakery
222 1st Ave S.E., Cullman
Which is more iconic in Cullman – an orange roll from All Steak or a blue-and-white striped bag filled with Duchess doughnuts?
Honestly, I don’t wanna choose between the two. Generations of families have visited Duchess Bakery right in the heart of downtown Cullman. Since 1939, it’s been the home of some of the most spectacular sweet treats you can buy. The doughnut recipe is a closely-guarded secret that has survived generations and management changes – the iconic restaurant (and recipes) were sold in 2020, but the doughnuts remain incredible.
Order this: Get you a dozen glazed doughnuts. They’re served in a blue striped bag, and words of advice: Buy extras, then you can freeze them and warm them up on a bad day. If these sweet treats can’t cheer you up, then I don’t know what can.

The display case at The Donut King in Eufaula, Ala., tempts customers with glazed, cinnamon, chocolate-covered, strawberry-flavored, sprinkled, cream-filled and jelly-filled doughnuts, as well as doughnut holes.(Haley Laurence/[email protected])
2. Donut King
350 S. Eufaula Ave,, Eufaula. facebook.com/TheDonutKingEufaula
People plan vacations around Donut King.
That sounds like an exaggeration, but it’s not. There are lots of people who plan their beach routes to ensure they can stop at the storied doughnut shop that was named in the top 100 in the country by Yelp in 2022. It’s a tradition: Stop at Donut King, and make sure you have enough to eat on the trip and at the beach.
Donut King has a lot of history. More than 30 years ago, Anna and Billy Nelson bought the doughnut shop in town (it was a Spivey’s Donuts before that), and they recently retired and sold the business to Scotty and Melody Smith, who spent a couple years learning how to make the famous sweet treats. The Donut King is so beloved that when new management took over, locals and fans analyzed each bite to see if it tasted exactly the same. (Scotty and Melody are using the same recipes, phew!)
Order this: You want the doughnut holes. And however many you think you can eat, double that. Or triple it. They’re that good.

Donuts D-Lite has locations in Millbrook and Wetumpka.
1. Donuts D-Lite
3371 AL-14, Millbrook, and 4077 US-231, Wetumpka. Facebook
Ask a group of people their favorite Alabama doughnut, and Donuts D-Lite is sure to come up in conversation. And that’s because Donuts D-Lite is everything you want a doughnut shop to be. Walk in, and the owner is probably gonna know your name, your order and your family history. It’s cozy, and homey and it’s exactly the place you wanna start your day.
And this has become a common theme of this story, but you have to get there early. They sell out quickly, and once again, it’s worth it. If you go to bed at 3 a.m., wake up a couple hours later and get your doughnuts. Sleep doesn’t matter if doughnuts are involved.
In 2016, we asked co-owner Nina Chanthavongsy why she opened a doughnut shop, and she said, “It’s a good treat for all walks of life … everybody likes doughnuts.”
Actually, Nina, everyone doesn’t like doughnuts. But if they tried Donuts D-Lite, they’d change their mind.
Order this: The red velvet doughnut. Just do it.
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