I Tried 8 Store-Bought Donuts and This Is the One I'll Buy Every Time

This is the next best thing to one that's "hot and fresh."

One of the greatest pleasures on earth is biting into a freshly baked or fried donut that's still warm. When it comes to buying donuts in a grocery store, whether it's from the store's bakery or prepackaged from a nationwide brand, the “fresh” experience understandably falls by the wayside. But there’s something to be said for the convenience of a grab-and-go breakfast or stash of donuts ready to eat in the pantry. So I set out to find out which pre-made brand gets the seal of approval.

How I Tested

With donuts offered in all manners of shapes, sizes, coatings, and dustings, it’s important in a test like this one to choose one and stick to it. How in the world would a chocolate-coated one fair against a powdered sugar donut? No no, this comes down to flavor and preparation and not preference for a dusting over a glaze. Since not all companies offer the same flavors and varieties, I chose a classic: the glazed. Then I sampled whatever was offered from each brand. Here's how it panned out.

The Best Store-Bought Donuts, Ranked

8. Hostess Glazed Mini Donettes

I know I'm not making any friends with this spot selection, but the truth is the truth. America’s number one donut: You are not number one in my heart. The aroma from the bag is incredibly sweet, but encouraging, with a delightful note of vanilla. The glaze on the donut itself feels firm to the touch like it’s coated with a kind of rubber rather than melted sugar, but thankfully biting into it is much more enjoyable. The texture is airy, but with the signature sticky, doughy quality most mass-produced products have in spades. But none of these are reasons to smite the product; the reason Hostess finds itself in last place, is the aftertaste, which is unfortunately reminiscent of Playdoh.

7. Walmart Bakery Duo of Glazed Donuts

The most likely time to acquire a donut at its freshest is first thing in the morning. I dropped in to my local Walmart’s bakery about an hour after they opened, at 7 a.m., and still was unable to do so. I was hoping to just grab an individual donut from the pastry case, but they stood empty.

Instead, I opted for the duo of donuts in a little cardboard box. They seemed a bit old. Picking one up, it felt like I was about to bite into the plastic donut from my daughter’s tea set. And sure enough, the bite I took fought me. A donut shouldn’t do that. If someone cut a ring out of day-old biscuit dough and glazed it, this is what you would get. But beyond the age of the thing, the exact one we may never know, the flavor just isn’t right. It’s too dinner roll-like in flavor and texture, but with glaze on it.

Maybe they’re better fresh, but if you don’t have them out in the morning, it's unlikely most people will ever be able to grab one fresh.

6. Entenmann’s Pop’ems Glazed Donut Holes

This brand was a staple growing up. People coming over? Entenmann’s. Holiday with the fam? Entenmann’s coffee cake. It was a family banger. But these didn't hit quite the same way.

At first, I couldn’t find a glazed option and had to go with the “plain” variety from the mixed flavor package. I’m thankful I was eventually able to track down the donut holes, because those plain ones would have placed even lower than last. They tasted like what I imagine licking a bowl of potpourri would taste like.

As for the glazed donut holes, a familiar scent ripe with nostalgia hits hard when opening the box. The texture is a bit like a moist pound cake, and still has a bit of that perfumy, floral flavor going on. That said, they’re still fresher tasting than the Walmart ones and I’ll take the odd flavor in favor of freshness.

5. Little Debbie Glazed Donut Sticks

A donut stick is quite a bit of a departure from the others on this list, but Little Debbie doesn’t seem to offer anything else in the glazed donut category and leaving the popular brand out of this taste test felt like blasphemy.

The sticks feel almost as dry and dense as a hockey puck. I attempted to bang it on my counter, but it fell apart a bit, so at least there’s comfort in the fact that that wasn’t successful. Happily, the flavor is just fine! THIS is what I remember pre-packaged snack cakes tasting like. Sure, it’s a stage 5 clinger in the mouth, and so sweet it nearly nags at you, but the nostalgia factor is not to be underestimated and given that the folks at Little Debbie have made these individually-wrapped ditties with the specific purpose in mind of dipping them in coffee, they’re pretty great. They’re not a bakery donut by any means, and one is more than plenty thank you very much, but the little miss remains the queen of snack cakes.

4. Target Favorite Day Bakery Old Fashioned Glazed Half Dozen Box

The half dozen rounds in this box are quite caramel in color and generously glazed. The first bite is dense and not especially enjoyable, with a subtle rubber flavor. The glaze doesn’t melt in your mouth the way you hope, but rather reverts to a powder and kind of hangs out like that one guest at a party you’re not sure was really invited. But further bites and re-tasting over and over redeemed it. The flavor got better and better, with some lemon notes becoming rather delightful. As long as you’re not simultaneously sampling these with 7 or 8 other options, I’d say these are fine. Fresh baked they are not, but yes, fine.

3. Kroger Premade Glazed Half Dozen

Apparently, there are two options in the Kroger bakery. They’re the same recipe, but one is made off-site, packaged, shipped to the store and sold by the half dozen. The other is made on site for snagging with a sheet of bakery paper and shoving into a brown bag for your commute.

For the former, the glaze is thick and generous. As if shouting “I AM A GLAZED DONUT!” Opening the plastic package reveals a big vanilla smell that really stimulates the appetite. They’re significantly better tasting than the offerings lower on the list and can really satisfy a donut craving in a pinch. That glaze tastes heavily of powdered sugar but you actively want to eat it. Which is a very good thing, indeed. And, wonder of all wonders, it's fluffy without feeling like just a cylindrical cake. It actually tastes like its own thing—a donut!

2. Kroger Bakery Individual Glazed Donut

Again, the donuts made on-site are the same recipe as the ones shipped in (or so the bakery counter person says), so it’s no surprise that they taste very similar. That said, these more-recently baked ones are exactly as superior as you would expect a freshly made donut to be. The dough is new and bouncy and the glaze is thinner, with a delightful give to it when you take a bite. It melts in your mouth.

The sole factor that landed the Kroger donut in second place in a head-to-head taste-off with the winner was that it was more chewy. But genuinely there wasn’t a complaint to be had. These donuts are a solid showing and yummy with an excellent texture. Grab one while shopping just for the heck of it. They’re delightful to eat.

1. Krispy Kreme Glazed Half Dozen Box

To be clear (and to fit this experiment) this is a box of a half dozen glazed donuts purchased at a grocery store, not from a Krispy Kreme drive-thru. A glazed Krispy Kreme hot and fresh from a drive thru or store front is a life-changing experience on its own. It wouldn’t even be fair to attempt to make a comparison with something from a grocery store shelf.

Temperature aside, these are very very similar to what you would get from a Krispy Kreme restaurant. All you’re missing is the aroma. The top of the donut looks like there’s nothing there at all because the glaze is so thin—it just looks shiny. And it’s that fact that gives the donut its signature crackle when you bite it. And nothing beats it.

This particular batch had a twinge of old fryer oil in the flavor, which caused me to taste back and forth many times (rough, I know) between this one and Kroger’s fresh baked because they truly are similar in the eating experience. But even with that minor setback, Krispy Kreme’s flavor is superior. Perfectly yeasty, not too sweet, with a rich, vanilla flavor in the background.

It’s everything your fluffy donut dreams are made of. And if you still prefer them hot and fresh, don't worry, we have a hack for that.