Doughnut Day Taste Test: Dunkin' Vs. Krispy Kreme Vs. Tim Hortons
By Raechel Conover, Cheapism.com
Sweet, fluffy, gooey, and, well, an American tradition that cries out for a good cup of coffee or glass of milk. We put four big names in doughnuts to the test in a blind tasting by 10 doughnut lovers. With National Doughnut Day landing on June 6, we wanted to help you decide where to spend your calories. We sampled glazed, chocolate, iced/sprinkled, and jelly-filled doughnuts from Krispy Kreme, Dunkin' Donuts, and Tim Hortons; due to limited choice for supermarket favorite Entenmann's, we tested only the first two varieties from that producer.
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Our panel of judges quickly identified some must-have doughnut qualities. Tasters were vocal in their preference for doughnuts that are rich in flavor as well as light, fluffy, and moist. Dense and cake-like proved to be distant also-ran attributes. In terms of price, Entenmann's doughnuts are significantly cheaper than the specialty chain competition. These three brands offer a discount when buying a dozen: $7.79 at Tim Hortons, or 99 cents each; $7.99 at Dunkin' Donuts, or 89 cents each; and $8.49 at Krispy Kreme, or 99 cents for a glazed doughnut and $1.09 for all others.
The oldest brand, and the one with the fewest outlets, Krispy Kreme was no underdog in the doughnut competition. Several tasters predicted they would like Krispy Kreme's confections best, and so they did in the blind test. The Original Glazed doughnut earned the "best" title for that category. With only 190 calories and 11 grams of fat (believe it or not, this is relatively healthy in the doughnut world), our tasters raved about the combination of sweet glaze, fluffy body, and superb flavor. The brand's jelly-filled offering was panelists' unanimous choice. They declared the jelly had the best consistency, the freshest taste, and in every way was far superior to all others -- even if the $1.09 price rose slightly above our $1 ceiling. You can pick up a free doughnut of any variety on National Doughnut Day.
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Another solid doughnut finisher was Entenmann's. Different from our other contenders, Entenmann's doughnuts are sold only in supermarkets and convenience stores in prepackaged boxes of eight. We sampled glazed from the vanilla pastry box and chocolate from the chocolate box. Chocolate won by a slim margin with our tasters -- to their surprise. Still, no one could convincingly argue that the rich, smooth flavor was irrefutably the best. The good news: Although Entenmann's doughnut variety is limited, they are easily the cheapest. A box of eight cost us a mere $2.50, or 31 cents apiece.
Any purchase from a U.S. Tim Hortons location comes with a free doughnut on June 6, but the Canadian favorite fell way off the grid in our blind tasting. Panelists agreed that the sample doughnuts were bland, dry, and the chocolate version presented both an odd appearance and a taste that weren't palate pleasing. "Fake" artificial taste -- in particular, the jelly -- was another underlying theme that emerged in comments about Tim Hortons.
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Landing in the middle was Dunkin' Donuts. The largest chain among the bunch, with more than 10,000 locations worldwide, Dunkin' Donuts impressed our judges with its iced/sprinkled doughnut. Crunchy sprinkles paved the way, while the chocolate icing enhanced the doughnut's flavor. Despite the slogan "American runs on Dunkin'," our taste testers concluded that the doughnuts fell flat in the glazed and jelly-filled categories but fared as well as three others in the chocolate group. Several samplers said the glazed offering didn't have enough of the sugary coating, felt dry in the mouth, lacked strong flavor, and finished off bland. Choose wisely if you take advantage of the chain's National Doughnut Day offer: one free doughnut when you buy any drink.
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