Alabamaâs best doughnuts: Here’s what we missed
If there’s one thing we’ve learned in our search for the best doughnuts around Alabama, it’s that if you snooze, you lose. Morning people get the top choices, so if you drag in, you might find the doughnuts sold out and the lights off. But take heart! There are lots of places to get your fix, as our readers helped to make us aware.
All week, we’ve been bringing you our picks for the best doughnuts in Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile and statewide. But you, our dear readers, have some strong opinions about the places that you think offer the best. So we would like to share with you a few spots we might have missed in our quest for these glazed, iced, filled and topped fried-dough confections.
We’ve been eating our way through Alabama’s best all summer, with previous weeks focusing on barbecue, pizza, burgers, ice cream, hot dogs and meat-and-threes. Our state is a culinary wonderland.
We all enjoy a little something sweet, don’t we? Whether it’s for breakfast, a snack or a dessert, sometimes a tasty doughnut does the trick. And there’s nothing like bringing a couple dozen assorted doughnuts to the office to bring folks together. Doughnuts make everyone happy.
Here are some of our readers’ favorite doughnut shops around Alabama.
Plenty of commenters brought up North Carolina-based chain Krispy Kreme. (Ben Flanagan / [email protected])
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
While our search focused on locally owned doughnut purveyors, our readers gave many nods to Krispy Kreme, that Southern icon of doughnut delight with the famous “Hot Doughnuts Now” sign. One person went so far as to say that “all others are just posers.”
A die-hard fan wrote: “You can spend more on fancy doughnuts and find good ones. But those hot ones at KK are hard to stop eating and melt in your mouth!!!” It’s true; those hot glazed doughnuts really are something.
Another Krispy Kreme lover said, “This isn’t even debatable.”
But it is, my friend. It is.
Sugar Rush donuts are big and filling. Go ahead and cut them in half so you can sample responsibly. You’re not fooling anybody.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
FAMILIAR FAVORITES
According to our readers, we got it right with dozens of our recommendations, including the aptly named The Heavenly Donut Co. (“the only donuts I will eat,” said one commenter) – No. 2 on our Birmingham list and No. 5 on our statewide list. Here’s a rave review from someone who seems to be an expert: “I’ve had just about every donut shop in this state, and most of the top-rated ones in the country. Heavenly Donut is still the best one I’ve had.”
Other favorite doughnut spots include Donut Joe’s (ranked No. 1 on our Birmingham list), POP Donuts in Center Point (No. 5 in Birmingham, No. 6 statewide), Bigfoot’s Little Donuts (No. 3 in Huntsville), Duchess Bakery in Cullman (No. 3 statewide and family-owned since 1939), Babe’s Doughnuts + Coffee in Tuscaloosa (No. 9 statewide), Cothran’s Bakery in Gadsden (No. 4 statewide), “melt-in-your-mouth donut holes,” Donut King in Eufaula (No. 2 statewide), “the only correct answer,” multiple locations of Lickin Good Donuts (No. 1 in Mobile) and Sugar Rush Donut Co. (No. 3 in Mobile), with locations in Bayou La Batre and Mobile.
MORE: Alabama doughnut shop makes list of best in the U.S.
NORTH ALABAMA
Readers mentioned a couple of places that didn’t make our lists, including Yummies Bakery and Deli in Muscle Shoals and The Donut Shoppe, a favorite for more than 40 years in Florence.
S’mores doughnut at Hero Doughnuts & Buns. (Mary Colurso | [email protected])
CENTRAL ALABAMA
You had a few suggestions in the Birmingham area we need to check out, such as T&C Donuts in Hueytown, Shipley Do-Nuts (“Make Life Delicious!”) in Hoover and other locations, Daylight Donuts in Pell City (and other locations of this Tulsa-based chain) and Hero Doughnuts in Trussville (though this growing chain started in Homewood).
Other recommendations in central Alabama included Kingdom Dough in Millbrook, Donut Heaven in Prattville and G&S Donuts and Shelley’s Donuts, both in Montgomery.
SOUTH ALABAMA
We got the message loud and clear about Downtown Donuts in Enterprise. “I didn’t care for doughnuts until I tried theirs,” wrote one doughnut convert. We also heard about Trojan Donuts in Troy and Loyless Donuts in Dothan. On the Alabama coast, there was a shout-out to Daisy’s Donuts in Orange Beach.
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