Kyle here. I recently asked Axios readers to share your favorite doughnuts in the Twin Cities — the suggestions … do- nut disappoint.
The big picture: Taken together, your recommendations are a guide to the metro’s most beloved doughnuts.
- I tried more than 30 creations from the places you suggested just to make sure . (Tough assignment, I know.)
Taking the cake: More readers name-drop Minneapolis skyway favorite Cardigan Donuts (8 votes) than any other spot.
- Right behind it are Bogart’s (7), Minnetonka’s YoYo (7), Golden Valley’s Funner Brothers (6), and Minneapolis mainstays Mel-O-Glaze (5) and Glam Doll (4).
The fluffy middle: Prestige doughnut-makers get a lot of reader love, but so do simpler bakeries where a dozen generally costs less than $20:
- Donut Hut (7 votes) is a big deal in Little Canada . Megan M. is one of several readers to warn us it regularly sells out fast.
- Jeff D. says the buttercream at Northeast’s Sarah Jane’s Bakery is “otherworldly.”
- Bloomington’s Sunrise serves “classic, simple doughnuts … with excellent execution,” Zach D. tells us.
The gooey intrigue: As I suspected, nearly a dozen readers swore the metro’s best doughnuts are at grocery stores or gas stations.
- Kowalski’s, Lunds & Byerlys and Almsted’s Market in Crystal all got multiple votes.
What we’re all (secretly?) saying: “I frickin’ love me a good Holiday crème filled long john!” writes Katie M.
The display case at Dufner’s Donuts & Deli.
Best bites: My faves from your recs
Here are the 10 reader-recommended baked treats I can’t stop thinking about.
What I did: I visited 15 bakeries — every doughnut spot in the metro that at least two readers recommended, minus the big chain grocers and gas stations.
- At each place, I bought at least one specialty treat — not always a doughnut — and one staple variety like a plain glazed or a chocolate-frosted cake doughnut.
What I found … …