Over the past 21 years, lavender sourdough rolls and biscuits have become iconic as complementary starters at Larimer Square’s Rioja, and executive pastry chef Eric Dale’s beignets, tarts, and sorbets have punctuated many a celebratory meal at the James Beard Award–winning Mediterranean eatery.
But one thing has escaped the pastry chef, who started at Rioja just three months out of culinary school: a brunchtime doughnut that he was happy with and that his team could execute consistently. After several months of research and development, though, he finally found an answer in a treat he developed himself: the baonut, a sweet, airy sphere with a creamy filling and lots of blueberries.
In the past, Dale has fried traditional yeast-risen doughnuts for brunch, but Rioja’s tiny kitchen and lack of specialized equipment put the kibosh on that style. “Yeast dough for doughnuts is very difficult to get just right,” Dale says, noting that the rise must be timed so that the end product isn’t flat and collapsed from overproofing or dense and bready from underproofing. Cake doughnuts came out better; Dale just wasn’t a fan. But in early 2026, he had an aha moment. “We did a savory bao for our Lunar New Year dinner in February, and I wondered what it would be like to deep-fry them,” he says.
Bao buns are typically yeast-risen and steamed but aren’t enriched with butter or eggs like doughnuts. The result is a tender bun with a fine crumb and a white exterior. (Some Chinese restaurants offer a golden bun—or fried mantou, as they’re often called—for dessert, but they’re not particularly doughnutlike.) Dale decided to use the same technique for the first step in creating his baonuts. His dough has plenty of butter and egg yolk, similar to doughnut or brioche recipes but with the addition of lemon zest. To prevent flat bottoms, the baonuts are risen and steamed in silicone molds. This step is crucial, Dale says: Steaming first fully cooks the buns, which can then be refrigerated until an order comes in…