We’re called The Rocket City, not The Doughnut City, OK? While Huntsville’s aerospace engineering prowess is storied, it contributions to ring-shaped fried pastries aren’t quite that level. Yet.

That’s not to say Huntsville hasn’t produced some quality doughnuts. Not long ago, The Donut Hole was the clear standout. Unfortunately, their University Drive shop shuttered early 2022 due to COVID-era challenges. (Let’s all throw up a Super Sky Point for Donut Hole’s toasted coconut flavor.)

Unless you’ve focused your recreational outrage on other Alabama-centric topics online lately, you’re probably aware AL.com’s doing these “best” food lists. Barbecue. Pizza. Burgers. Ice Cream. Hot dogs. Meat-and-threes. Each week this summer we’ve been doing these lists for our three primary markets (Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile), then a statewide top 10, then a readers’ picks roundup.

For all our Huntsville “best” food lists, including the below doughnuts picks, we’re including only local joints. No national/regional chains. In this case, that means no Krispy Kreme, no Parlor Donuts, no Daylight Donuts, etc.

For most of our Huntsville lists, we’ve focused on business with a Huntsville address and listed a top five. However, with locally made doughnuts currently sparse, we’ve expanded the footprint to within a 20-minute or so drive from downtown. And just a top three.

[Several Huntsville bakeries come up in a Google-search for “doughnuts huntsville al.” But after visiting or calling each of them, I found only two actually make and sell their own doughnuts. One of them doesn’t stock doughnuts on the regular, instead requiring customers to put in a special-order days in advance. The other, the doughnuts weren’t great and clearly aren’t that bakery’s focus.]

Alright, let’s roll our list of top three Huntsville-area doughnuts. Feel free to enthusiastically concur or howl in disagreement – we all have different palates and this is just to start a local food conversation.

READ: Birmingham’s best doughnut: Our top 5

3. BIGFOOT’S LITTLE DONUTS

7914 Memorial Pkwy. S.W., Huntsville, bigfootslittledonuts.com

In just 10 years, Bigfoot’s Little Donuts has gone from a passion project to a two-store business. Then a government contractor, Brian Steele and wife Natalie Steele, whose background was in elementary education, launched Bigfoot’s first as a food trailer. Bigfoot’s was part of the first wave of Huntsville’s then-nascent food truck scene. A decade later, many of their contemporaries are no longer in the tough mobile-food vending game. But Bigfoot’s went from a smaller trailer to a larger trailer to, about five years ago, a brick-and-mortar shop in South Huntsville. Next, they opened a Madison shop. The first part of the business’ name is a nod to “Harry and the Hendersons,” a fave comedy film of Brian’s. The second part is literally. They do jawa-sized cake donuts (which don’t require proofing), cooked to order lickety-split by the dozen.

What to order: At Bigfoot, you need to pick a single flavor for your dozen. (Because of the size, it would take eyedroppers and a surgeon’s hand to variety pack these little dandies. There’s no shortage of interesting flavors, like strawberry cream, wedding cake, salted caramel, (a Girl Scout cookie channeling) Samoa and raspberry lemonade. For newcomers, it helps to look over menu options in advance on the website, from which you can also order for pickup, before making a game-time decision.

2. K-MAY DONUTS

11987 U.S. 231, Meridianville, facebook.com/kmaydonuts

K-May Donuts is just a 15-minute or so drive out from downtown Huntsville, but it feels like a trip back through time. On the way out to Meridianville, you pass by businesses with names like Huntsville Propeller, Fowler’s Tomatoes and Pants Barn, and rural scenery best soundtracked by the Allman Brothers. Located in a humble building also home to something called Mr. Man Automotives, K-May attracts a coexisting clientele that ranges from country families to young stoner couples. The current owners, who purchase the business from a founder who’s since relocated to California they told me, are helpful, grateful and sweet. The kind of local spot you feel good about helping keep the lights on in a big box world. (There are also K-May locations in Athens and Decatur.) For the love of God, just don’t try to rob the place, alright?

What to order: K-May does a sour-cream donut that will make your eyes roll back. Their classic-style glazed is sugary delicate perfection and the pineapple fritter brings the sunny funk.

1. WOW DONUTS

11156 County Line Road, Madison, facebook.com/wowdonut

First off, get their 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.

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 donut is like an anti-depressant with sprinkles on it. For filled donuts, 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 donut coated a glazed and iced donut with delicate crunch. Hallelujah.

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