The new pecan and cinnamon rolls. Photo: Krispy Kreme.
A decade after quietly tiptoeing away from its first bagel experiment, Krispy Kreme is rolling out an expanded line of "baked creations," including muffins, cinnamon rolls and decidedly not-sugary bagels.
While the new menu items are currently available only at a single location in Greensboro, N.C., company officials predict folks from Tampa to Tacoma will soon be able to supplement their orders for cream-filled doughnuts and chocolate crullers with a flax-seed-and-barley-flake bagel schmeared with reduced-fat vegetable cream cheese.
"It gives the regular customer some variety," publicist Steve Baumgarner explains.
Krispy Kreme first introduced bagels in 1996, offering them in just three stores nationwide. "We were unsuccessful in finding a product the consumer could identify with," Krispy Kreme VP Jack McAleer told the Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area when the pilot project was shelved three years later. (Perhaps inadvertently reflecting the trouble the Southern chain had connecting with bagel culture, the Business Journal's story was headlined "Krispy Kreme puts the cabosh on bagels.")
"Fear of both fried food and the act of frying means that doughnuts are strictly outsourced," writes Kelly Alexander in the New York Times Magazine. But it wasn't always so. For centuries doughnuts (and crullers, and fritters, and beignets) were staples of home cooks, who weren't afraid of a little hot lard. And there's no reason you should be either, says Alexander - doughnuts, a combination of flour, eggs and milk with baking powder or baking soda, are easy to make.
The article includes recipes for churros (Mexican stick doughnuts) with bourbon-spiked chocolate sauce, basic powdered cake donuts, and Earl Gray tea flavored donuts.
Krispy Kreme is in another battle, and this time it isn't with Dunkin' Donuts.
The beloved donut chain is being sued by a company called Caribbean Creme. Seems that the company has a fruit drink also called Caribbean Creme and they aren't happy that Krispy Kreme has come out with a drink and doughnut called Caribbean Kreme. It's part of their "Chillers" line.
I have as much legal expertise as Barney Fife, so I have no idea if this has merit or not. But maybe Krispy Kreme should have spelled it "Karibbean Kreme."
The only thing keeping me from buying the Dough-Nu-Matic this very second is concern about storage space for another large kitchen appliance that would only get used a few times. Oh - and the $129.99 price tag.
The Dough-Nu-Matic is straight out of the Jetsons. According to the advertisement on Sky Mall, "The Dough-Nu-Matic automatically forms, fries and drains delectable mini-doughnuts in just 50 seconds!" It would be so fun to have piping hot doughnuts as toppers for my cupcakes. Why not put a doughnut on top of a cupcake? Everyone needs that extra fat!
What about hot mini-doughnuts as a quick and un-nutritious after-school snack?
Does anyone else want this product? Does anyone already own the Dough-Nu-Matic? I'd love to hear how well it works and what kinds of doughnuts you've made.
A word to the wise. If you've just stolen the box of doughnuts you're eating, it is probably not particularly smart to offer said doughnuts to the officers who are investigating the robbery.
A new grocery store in the Giant chain opened Willow Grove, PA yesterday that is the size of two football fields and has a babysitting center, a cooking school, an on-site nutritionist and valet grocery pick-up. Who knew that grocery stores were becoming the next place for family entertainment.
Yeah, so an American retail chain is expanding overseas. So, why would you need a passport?
Because the Dunkin Donuts in China, along with the regular menu items like, oh, coffee and doughnuts, will serve special fare that is tailored to the local Chinese tastes, which we won't get here. That means Chinese customers can get things like honeydew melon doughnuts and mochi rings.
When my mom was growing up in suburban Philadelphia in the fifties, there was one woman on her block who made homemade doughnuts to give out for Halloween each year. Her house would invariably be the first stop for all the neighborhood kids, because when they were gone, they were gone.
I always felt such envy that by the time I got old enough for trick or treating, homemade treats were a thing of the past. However, because of my mom's stories, I can't help but think of doughnuts as a item perfect for around the holidays. Just to up the level of old-timey nostalgia, after the jump is the recipe for doughnuts from the Little House on the Prairie cookbook.
Krispy Kreme is getting into the pink for Valentine's Day. The ever-popular doughnut shop is planning on having a few special offers to celebrate the season of romance. For customers who purchase a dozen doughnuts of any kind between now and Valentine's day, every store will give out a dozen Valentine's Day cards, each of which will contain a coupon for one free doughnut. It will be tough to part with the prospect of free doughnuts if you're a fan of the classic hot glazed, but just think of how appreciative your Valentine's will be!
Stores will also be frying up their light, yeast-raised doughnuts in heart shapes, coating them with white icing and red, white, and pink sprinkles. They're not quite up to the same level of cuteness as the Halloween doughnuts that Krispy Kreme featured back in October, but it's hard to say no to a doughnut with sprinkles
And on February 14th, stores will be making their regular glazed doughnuts in heart shapes, as well.
Donuts are not health food. Fried pieces of dough covered in sugar or chocolate and, sometimes, filled with jam, donuts are written off by millions everyday as an indulgence. But because they rely so heavily on frying, and as a direct result, on partially hydrogenated oils, donut makers have grown increasingly worried about their futures over the past few years, as trans fats have fallen far from the eye of public favor.
A large number of donut makers have turned to "all natural" recipes and are already using trans-fat free oils for frying. After first seeing the anti trans-fat movement spring up, many shop owners and chefs started to eliminate any and all trans fats from their recipes. Some of the donut makers that use no trans fats include the Doughnut Plant in New York, Mighty-O Donuts and Top Pot Doughnuts in Seattle. Dunkin Donuts is close and has been testing new recipes for two years. More are in the process of converting, helped along by their desire to keep consumers coming in every morning and trying to make their particular brad of deep fried indulgence seem a little less bad for you.
With only a week left until Halloween, there is still time to stop off at your local Krispy Kreme and pick up one of their pumpkin-shaped Halloween doughnuts. The seasonal treats are made from the same light yeast-raised dough as their classic glazed doughnuts, but unlike the classic, the doughnuts are stamped into shape and have no center holes. The finished doughnuts are coated in a thick orange icing and decorated with a jack o' lantern face. If you pre-order, you can get them filled with any of the shop's delicious filling flavors. A jam filling would look suitable creepy, oozing out of the smiling pumpkin face.
If the pumpkin-shaped doughnut isn't appealing, or if the icing seems to make it too sweet, Krispy Kreme is also offering a pumpkin-spice doughnut through the end of the month. And, as a final option, you could always try your hand at making your own.
Earlier this week the Houston Chronicle's Drive-Thru Gourmet turned his attention to Dunkin' Donuts. Specifically, he sampled the chain's new French Toast Twist.
As most of you out there know America's No. 1 doughnut maker has been trying to recast its image all year. One of the ways it's cooked up to do this is taking a page from fast-food chains. Sounds like the French Toast Twist is squarely within this mold.
The author is quick to point out that the French Toast Twist falls outside Dunkin's bread-and-butter business of bagels, doughnuts and muffins. It's not really French toast either.
That said it sounds pretty good. What could be wrong with rolls of flaky pastry with French toast flavors baked in? Sure it sounds like a McGriddle, but at least there's no logo emblazoned on it. And they're available all day. Note to self: Visit Dunkin' for 2 p.m. hangover breakfast after attending Brewtopia tonight.
Would you say that you love donuts? Even if your answer is "yes" and the employees at your local Dunkin' Donuts have your order ready and waiting for you every morning, you probably don't come close to the donut-love of Blognut. Not only does he blog about doughnuts, but actually took a trip across the country, from New York to Portland, OR, to get his wedding vows (with his wife, not a donut) renewed at Voodoo Doughnuts, one of the best donut shops in the country. And not only did he trek out to Voodoo, he blogged the whole experience - including what seems to be every donut on their menu. He and his wife visited Voodoo at least 5 times in one weekend, including stopping in three separate times on their last day in the Pacific Northwest. Multiple donuts were consumed each day.
The trip is blogged in five parts (part one, part two, part three, part four, part five) and is a must-read for any donut lover. Or if you just want to see some really great pics of some really unusual donuts (like the giant cat-donut above).
Krispy Kreme, the beleaguered purveyor of what may possibly be the world's most fattening doughnuts, has established outposts outside America despite its financial troubles. Most notable among these are Tokyo and the Philippines.
Now the company plans to bring its glazed, sugar-coma inducing treats to Indonesia of all places. Apparently doughnuts are already a big business there. Krispy Kreme's development partner is PT Premier Doughnut Indonesia. The two plan to some 20 locations over the next five years. The first will open in the early fall. I'm curious to know whether the new shops will sell those cool Indonesian shaved iced and tapioca drinks.
Earlier this week, I mentioned that I was doing some frying at breakfast, since I wanted something sweet that didn't involve using the oven. I ended up making beignets. Beignets are made from a yeasted dough that is deep fried and covered, usually, with powdered sugar (although savory versions exist). They are similar to doughnuts, but are almost always cut into small squares and lack the center hole that practically defines a doughnut. New Orleans is famous for its beignets and making them at home is almost as good as hopping on a plane and heading to Cafe du Monde to pick up some fresh ones, served with a cup of coffee with chicory on the side. You can try the recipe yourself, or stick to your summertime diet and just feast on food porn here.
Krispy Kreme is in another battle, and this time it isn't with Dunkin' Donuts.
Get your passports updated, Slashfoodies.
Donuts are not health food. Fried pieces of dough covered in sugar or chocolate and, sometimes, filled with jam, donuts are written off by millions everyday as an indulgence. But because they rely so heavily on frying, and as a direct result, on partially hydrogenated oils, donut makers have grown increasingly worried about their futures over the past few years, as trans fats have fallen far from the eye of public favor.
The many uses of 
With only a week left until Halloween, there is still time to stop off at your local 
Earlier this week the Houston Chronicle's 
Krispy Kreme, the beleaguered purveyor of what may possibly be the world's most fattening doughnuts, has established outposts outside America despite its financial troubles. Most notable among these are Tokyo and the Philippines.
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