A couple of weeks ago, I was editing my never-ending bucket list of restaurants, cafés, bars and bakeries in New York City. At this point in time it’s 19 pages long on Google Docs, complete with some bullets of information under most places (i.e. address, website, price, what they offer, etc.). While browsing the Brooklyn section, I realized I had a few doughnut places listed. Even better, a quick Google Maps search revealed that three of them were conveniently located within walking distance of each other! Alas, the idea of a Brooklyn doughnut crawl was born.
My best friend Kate and I planned it out perfectly; we met up around 9:30 a.m., that way, we’d beat the Saturday morning crowd, she wouldn’t be late to work at her photo studio job, and I wouldn’t be late for my 12:30 p.m. dance class in the city. Before I get into the recap of our crawl, I just want to say that I think three is a golden number of spots for two people—four would have been too many, and two wouldn’t have felt like a true “crawl.”
First stop: Dun-Well Doughnuts
222 Montrose Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206
I’ll admit, I was a tiny bit skeptical when I heard that this was an all-vegan spot (they didn’t even have regular milk or cream out for coffee, only soy and oat milk). But within one bite of the powdered sugar-covered jelly doughnut, I immediately understood how the 200 rotating varieties had won over the tastebuds at Food Network. We also tried the salted caramel pecan one, which didn’t disappoint either. I don’t know how they accomplish such yumminess with only vegan ingredients! The free wifi and quiet atmosphere would make it a dreamy destination for a work-from-home day.
Second stop: Moe’s Doughs
126 Nassau Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
Moe’s was about a mile and a half walk from Dun-Well, but it honestly didn’t feel that far to me. I welcomed the opportunity to burn off some calories, get a bit fresh air and explore the neighborhood of Greenpoint. We really lucked out with nice weather, so that was a bonus too! When we walked inside Moe’s Doughs, it turned out to be narrower than expected; there were no tables, just a counter and a line of barstools extending nearly all the way to the back. The surroundings were nothing special. The doughnuts… were another story. Holy diabetes, they were to die for.
After some excruciating decision-making, we ordered the Oreo and Apple Crumble (I think that’s what it was called?) varieties. In my wildest dreams though, I would have ordered a bite-sized sample of all of them. The Oreo one was a chocolate cake doughnut coated in glaze, then topped/filled with what tasted like marshmallow cream. I thiiiink the Apple Crumb one was a cake doughnut too, but I honestly can’t remember! LOL, all I know is it oozed this yummy apple filling and had been doused in a spiced crumble that littered my lap with powdered sugar.
I should also mention that the employees at Moe’s Doughs were really nice! Another customer came in and pointed out a sour cream doughnut, asking what kind it was. Just a few moments later, one of the women behind the counter came over with a whole tray of freshly baked sour cream doughnuts, holding it closer for him to see. If you live in New York, you know that customer service like that is rare and precious and beautiful.
Last stop: Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop
727 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
I heard about this place from comedian Andy Ostroff when he was raving about it on The JTrain Podcast, which is hosted by another comedian, Jared Freid. Kate and I both felt full and borderline ready to enter a sugar-induced coma, so we split a single, old-fashioned blueberry buttermilk doughnut here. Customers were packed shoulder-to-shoulder in a line that snaked around a couple of tiny seating areas smack dab in the middle. Lucky for us, we were short on time and didn’t plan on sitting down anyway.
The blueberry buttermilk doughnut was gloriously crusty on the outside and wonderfully soft and fresh on the inside. I especially enjoyed the tang from the buttermilk, which was present, yet not overpowering. Every blueberry muffin-loving human needs to drop what they’re doing and come try this masterpiece. Like, now.
And that was our super special doughnut crawl through Brooklyn! I had SO MUCH FUN. Just pretty please don’t tell my dentist how much sugar I consumed in two hours 🙂 🙂 🙂
As I mentioned in my Instagram story (which is now in my IG highlights under “Top Spots”), I want to do a doughnut crawl in Manhattan in the future, so if you have any recommendations for that, please drop a comment below or click through to the recs box here. **BONUS: If you do either of those, you will be featured on my blog post for the Manhattan doughnut crawl!!
Last but not least, be sure to show some love to Kate’s amazing photography! Follow her on Instagram at @katestonestudio or check out her website, www.katestonephoto.com.
Thanks everyone, hope you have a wonderful week!
Fit by the Fork 