A half-dozen places to satisfy your doughnut cravings -- and how to make your own
What is it with the doughnuts, Charlotte? In the sugar arena, you’ve started to spurn your previous love, the cupcake, for a new sugar-crush. From the warm, softly glazed doughnuts at Duck Donuts in Dilworth to the all-local square doughnuts at Your Mom’s Donuts in Matthews, they’re becoming an obsession.
Where is the doughnut heat happening? We checked a half-dozen spots where you can dunk yourself in doughnut culture:
(1) Duck Donuts
1710 Kenilworth Ave. Open daily at 6 a.m.
After starting on the Outer Banks, this franchise has been spreading out quickly, with candy-inspired combinations like peanut butter chocolate.
Quirk: They fry them and top them while you wait, so you get them warm.
Best-sellers: Maple Bacon or Cinnamon Sugar.
Prices: $1.20 for one, $6.75 for a half-dozen, $11.95 for a dozen.
(2) Joe’s Doughs
They’re planning on opening a shop in NoDa in early 2016, but for now they do pop-ups at spots around town.
Quirks: You have to watch for the weekly flavor list and location on their Facebook page. And get in line early.
Best-sellers: White Chocolate Wasabi With Candied Ginger, Chicken and Waffle or Spicy Mexican Chocolate.
Price: Usually $2 to $3 each.
(3) MJ Donuts
325 S. Polk St., Pineville.
The old-timer among doughnut shops around here, it’s a no-frills place with an old-school selection, including glazed and cake doughnuts, crullers and fritters.
Quirk: Free doughnut holes in every bag.
Best-seller: Apple fritters.
Prices: 99 cents to $1.95 for a single doughnut depending on the type; $9.50 for a dozen for glazed, $12.50 for a mixed dozen.
(4) Sugar
11914 Elm Lane, Ballantyne area. Open at 7 a.m. weekdays, 7:30 a.m. Saturday-Sunday, closed Monday-Tuesday.
The newest doughnut shop in the area, it started as a food truck and just opened in October.
Quirk: The food truck, still parked out front. They use it for special events, like weddings (yes, seriously), and they still work at food truck rallies in Matthews and South End.
Best-sellers: Maple Bacon and Vanilla Bean.
Prices: $2.25 to $4 for a doughnut depending on the type; $15 for a half dozen assorted including one maple bacon; $28 for a dozen including two maple bacon.
11025 Monroe Road. Open at 7 a.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 8 a.m. Sunday. Closed Monday-Tuesday.
After starting as a doughnut delivery service, owners Benjamin Frye and Courtney Buckley settled into a shop on Monroe Road near N.C. 51.
Quirk: Huge square doughnuts made from mostly local ingredients. They’re fried in lard from locally raised pigs.
Best-seller: Cinnamon sugar with a cream cheese buttercream drizzle.
Prices: $3 for glazed, $3.50 for “fancy”; $15 for a half-dozen; $24 for a dozen.
(6) Cafe Ganache
4400 Sharon Road, inside SouthPark in front of L’Occitane. Open daily at 10 a.m.
Quirk: It isn’t strictly a doughnut shop, but pastry chef Sadruddin Abdullah features several Kronuts, his take on the layered doughnuts made famous by the shop Dominique Ansel in New York, along with French-style pastries.
Best-sellers: The flavors change each month; November’s are Orange Ginger, Pecan Pie and Plain.
Prices: $3.84 for plain, $4.50 for special flavors.
Now make your own: World’s easiest glazed doughnuts
It’s not gourmet, but it will work in a pinch: Just use canned biscuits. From seriouseats.com.
1 can of large buttermilk biscuits, such as Grands
8 cups vegetable oil
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
– Remove the biscuits from the can and pat them gently into evenly shaped rounds. Use a 1-inch biscuit cutter or small round cookie cutter to cut out a hole from the center of each biscuit. (If you don’t have a small enough biscuit cutter, try using the base of a large pastry bag tip.)
– Place enough oil to reach 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep in a pot. Heat over medium-high heat until it reaches 350 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer. Add half of the doughnuts and doughnut holes and fry 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes, until browning on the bottom. Use chopsticks or the handles of two wooden spoons to turn them over gently. Continue frying 1 to 2 minutes.
– Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked doughnuts to a paper towel to drain. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and holes.
– Place confectioners’ sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the melted butter, milk and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Dip the warm doughnuts into the glaze and put aside to set. Serve warm.
Yield: 8 doughnuts and doughnut holes.
Photos: Kathleen Purvis; Davie Hinshaw/Charlotte Observer; Jen Rothacker
This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "A half-dozen places to satisfy your doughnut cravings -- and how to make your own."