A donut is one food in this world that is so simple, and yet is loved by so many. It is a puff of dough with a sugary topping that can change someone’s mood in an instant. Aside from mainstream brands such as Dunkin’ Donuts or Krispy Kreme, the donuts of Madison in smaller shops are also worthy of some face time.
Greenbush Bakery
Greenbush Bakery is known to be the best donut place in Madison, in my humble opinion. Greenbush is a Jewish bakery that makes donuts with an aroma that can be smelled from across the street.
Cake Donut (also known as an Old Fashioned Donut)
My personal favorite is the cake donut. It is an old fashioned donut with a density that retains the cake-taste and texture. It is slightly more dense then your stereotypical donut, dripping with glaze and adding to the sugary happiness you'll feel while eating it.
Also from Greenish Bakery, the Blueberry Glazed Donut has a structure that resembles the cake donut, with a slight, yet not overwhelming, hint of blueberry mixed in with the sweet glaze coating.
Dough Baby
Dough baby is a newer bakery, but equally as impressive. The shop is right on State Street, and is easily accessible for students. They sell a variety of treats, as well as a few mouthwatering donut flavors.
Key Lime Pie Donut
One of the most popular flavors is a Key Lime Pie Donut. It is complete with a lime curd-esque filling that oozes out with every bite. Complete with a graham cracker crumble topping, it gives this donut last touch needed to make the eater feel as if they are floating on a cloud of key lime pie straight from the Florida Keys.
Cream Cheese Cake Donut
The cream cheese cake donut, also from Dough Baby, is phenomenal as well. It is topped with vanilla frosting and rainbow dot sprinkles. Its best aspect is the unique taste of the dough itself. It isn't too sweet because of the hint of cream cheese.
Bassett Street Brunch Club
Yet another fantastic place that serves donuts is Bassett Street Brunch Club. It is known for its brunch and a tasty donut as a touch of sweetness to finish off the meal.
Chocolate Hazelnut Donut
One of the regular donuts served is the chocolate hazelnut. It is a plain donut topped with melty chocolate frosting and crushed hazelnuts. Taking a bite is like eating deconstructed Nutella. The hazelnuts give this airy donut the perfect amount of solid crunch to even out the ratio of soft to hard. These donuts are not as moist as others, therefore they go perfectly with a glass of milk.
Hurts Donut Company
Hurts Donut Company is an unbelievably unique donut shop that is known to be open 25/7 (yes, they claim that they’re open 25 hours a day!). Although it is based in Middleton, it’s an easy Uber ride away so we’re gonna role with it. Unlike other Madison donut shops, they have incredibly original and diverse flavors that can’t be found anywhere else.
Hurts’ Variety of Flavors
Hurts makes a donut that plays off of Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster, a slew of donuts topped with sugary cereals, and, best of all, the Slim Shady: a white donut covered with mini M&M’s. Overall, Hurts is sort of a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, but donut forget to check it out!
All of these donut shops are part of the unique aspects of Madison; they are what makes this city so sweet! The donuts of Madison are a key characteristic of this area, and no one should die without trying one.