If you noticed lines of people gathering outside of your local Krispy Kreme today, you may have wondered what prompted such a mass craving for the circular treats. The answer? It’s National Doughnut Day.
Created by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the men and women who served donuts to the troops in World War I, National Donut Day takes place on the first Friday of June each year. And, while I’m certainly a fan of donuts, I felt like today would be a good day to highlight some of the other culinary creations that the doughnut has inspired.
It’s Friday, folks. Feel free to indulge.
The Cronut™
Possibly the first hybrid doughnut product to take the world by storm, The Cronut™ pastry is the unique creation of Chef Dominique Ansel at his eponymous New York City bakery that can best be described as a croissant-doughnut hybrid. Launched May of 2013, it was lauded–and lambasted–for much of the year.
The Cronut™. Image courtesy of DominiqueAnsel.com
The Wonut
I came across this little gem in St. Augustine at Cousteau’s Waffle and Milkshake Bar. Described as “doughnut-sized pieces of our famous Belgian sugar waffles glazed and topped, ready for any occasion,” the Wonut is not quite a hybrid (it’s all waffle, but topped and sized like a doughnut), but it is insanely good. Plus, if you wear a red beanie in honor of the shop’s namesake underwater explorer, you get 10% off.
Wonuts at Cousteau’s in St. Augustine. I would have taken my own picture, but I ate my maple-syrup and bacon wonut too quickly. Photo courtesy of wafflemilk.com
The Bonut
Just for this weekend, Bang Bang Pie Shop in Chicago is serving the Bonut, a biscuit-doughnut hybrid. I was alerted to the existence of this lovely experiment when I saw a photo from a friend on Instagram. Apparently it’s sweeter than a biscuit (it has vanilla bean icing) and richer than a doughnut (hello, butter!). It’s served with cherry-berry jam and an optional candied bacon crumble, though in my world, candied bacon is a requirement, not an option.
I contemplated flying to Chicago just to check it out, but then I remembered that that would be crazy.
It’s a biscuit! It’s a doughnut! It’s a Bonut! Photo courtesy of Bang Bang Pie Shop.
Katie on the Map 
My hierarcy: (1) chocolate-iced French crullers, (2) cinnamon cake, (3) plain raised rolled in granulated sugar. And not by the ones or twos, either. Oh, my gosh — just thinking about a sack of fresh crullers puts five pounds on my hips!