Fave 4: Doughnuts
Top left, clockwise: Raised Doughnuts, General Porpoise, Temple Pastries, Chuck’s Donut Shop
Raised Doughnuts
Raised has both unique flavors and great taste – which is a challenging feat in the world of doughnuts. I’ve found many doughnut shops strive for over-the-top flavors and appearance, but lack in flavor and texture. Not Raised; they’re doing it right. They have a handful of staples that are always in rotation like plain glazed and maple bars, plus some twists on classics like raspberry [doughnut] holes that are cloaked in a tangy freeze-dried raspberry coating. Another handful of doughnuts change monthly highlighting fun flavors that range from Vietnamese coffee to strawberry basil – and there’s always a special take on a mochi doughnut. But it doesn’t stop there! In addition to their monthly features, Raised has weekend-exclusive doughnuts – one for Fridays only, one for Saturdays and one for Sundays. Needless to say, it’s hard to get bored here – and there’s always a reason to visit again.
Neighborhood: Central District
Must order: Raspberry holes, their weekend specials
Price: $$
General Porpoise
If you don’t like filled doughnuts, General Porpoise may not be your spot, as that’s the only style of doughnut they offer. However, I must say I used to be a non-filled doughnut elitist, until I tried General Porpoise. Their dough is fluffy and airy and feels satisfyingly squishy between your fingers. Dusted in sugar, each pocket of dough serves as a delicate vessel for homemade seasonal jams, jellies, curds, custards and creams. The ratio of dough to filling is just right, with enough yumminess to appease your taste buds, but not to overwhelm the doughnut. With several locations across Seattle, each shop offers its staples like chocolate marshmallow and lemon curd alongside rotating seasonals. I always like to try at least one of the specials and one of the OGs. On my last visit, the woman helping me said, “You’re my kind of girl, getting two doughnuts.” Little did she know, I was holding back.
Neighborhood: Amazon Spheres, Capitol Hill, Laurelhurst, Pioneer Square
Must order: Chocolate marshmallow
Price: $$
Chuck’s Donut Shop
If I’m being totally honest, I probably never would happened upon Chuck’s if my then boyfriend (now husband) didn’t live down the street from it in Renton. My least favorite part of our courtship was driving to and from Renton. The best part was Chuck’s. All jokes aside, Chuck’s truly has great doughnuts. They’re exactly what you want when you’re craving a well-executed classic doughnut. The dough is fluffy and cakey. The frosting is sweet, but not cloyingly so. And the doughnuts themselves are quite large – leaving you both satisfied and full. Chuck’s display cases are full of all of the standards like chocolate and maple bars, old fashioned doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, Bismarcks, classic raised and crullers. If you’re looking to score all of the options, though, definitely go early, as they’ll sell out.
Neighborhood: Renton
Must order: Maple bar
Price: $
Temple pastries
While “doughnuts” isn’t necessarily called out in Temple’s name, they’re definitely my favorite pastry of all of the sweet treats I’ve tried there – and I’ve had at least eight items to date. In addition to cookies, croissants and tarts, Temple has variety of rotating doughnuts ranging from filled, to savory, to the trendy cronut. None of the doughnuts – or pastries for that matter – are overly sweet, which is something I always appreciate. The filled doughnuts are spongey with a hint of density that gives them a slight chew. If you’re needing to be choosy, skip the savory doughnut and opt for the cronut. The cronut – or a croissant doughnut – is exactly what you’d expect: A doughnut with deliciously flaky, bready layers. Most recently, I tried their salted caramel cronut and earlier this summer, the baklava cronut. Both had perfectly executed dough, but neither of the toppings were my favorite. I’m waiting for something chocolatey to debut.
Neighborhood: Central District
Must order: One of their sweet, seasonal doughnuts
Price: $$
