Our November month of carbs continues with a fresh doughnut roundup of some of the best frosted, glazed, powdered and jelly-filled varieties in Winnipeg. You’ll find your usual favourites on this list along with a few new and noteworthy spots to try with your next takeout order.
Please note: When working from home, bringing a dozen doughnuts to the office actually means leaving an open box on your kitchen counter while you slowly but surely finish each one yourself between Zoom meetings. Now we won't judge - but your actual coworkers might, so please take care to clear your face of any frostings or powdered sugars before your next on-camera meeting.
Camille Bakery is known for combining French baking techniques with unique flavours like taro root, purple yam and matcha, which we wrote about when we covered the bakery’s opening (then called The Thaw) in 2017.
More recently, the bakery has been selling cronuts, and lots of them. This flaky, custardy fried pastry is a hybrid of the beloved croissant and doughnut and brings the best parts of both into a single bite. You can order their cronuts in a dozen delicious flavours including salted Oreo, birthday cake, matcha, Boston cream, taro and PB&J (availability can change). If you’re new to the cronut craze, consider ordering plain to really appreciate its buttery layers and custard interior.
MoNUTs Cafe makes amazing vegan, sugar-free and gluten-free doughnuts. These cakes are made with a blend of dry roasted peanuts and organic coconut milk giving them a cakey, dense base packed full of protein.
You have lots of flavours and toppings to choose from including upside down mega apple pie and imperial cookie, in which a vanilla base is layered with raspberry jam, almond vegan cream and finished with a maraschino cherry. This one is a must-try.
It’s a lot easier to justify eating a dozen doughnuts when they are tiny. Such is the case with Scout Coffee + Tea’s incredibly cute mini doughnuts which are enjoyed by both children and their parents (when the kids aren't looking). November’s monthly feature flavour is a chai glaze drizzle, and doughnuts can be ordered in packs of six, 12 and 50.
"We don’t make doughnuts very often, but when we do we make ones like these: raspberry white chocolate mousse with imperial crumble and lemon curd stuffed” teases Lark on IG, holding a trio of fried doughnuts stuffed and covered in what must be an entire imperial cookie crumbled on top.
Seriously, if you see doughnuts make an appearance on its weekly takeout menu anytime soon, jump on ‘em. And order us one too.
One of the OG doughnut shops in the city (Oh Doughnuts being the other), Bronuts makes excellent fritters and fried doughnuts, but their baked doughnuts are especially noteworthy. It makes great use of fruit and spices together (as demonstrated with its current spiced pear + almond cake, as well as the cranberry-orange fritter), while the weekly specials and festive doughnuts are always impressive too.
Replace your protein bars with a doughnut from Pronuts, each of which contains 14 grams of protein, is gluten-free and topped with fun, healthy ingredients like coconut flakes and Greek yogurt pudding frosting. With a different base from MoNUTs, these doughnuts are peanut-free but not tree nut-free.
Just when we thought we couldn’t love Close Co. any more, they have gone and put the most delightful looking doughnuts on the takeout menu. Cinnamon doughnuts with citrus curd & amarena cherries. What more could you want in a dessert? Chef Dustin Pajak deserves much praise for continuously presenting such massive and delicious fare out of the city's tiniest kitchen.
This is a fitting title for Cloe, who makes beautiful cakes, pies, breads and the best looking salty honey crullers we've ever seen. You can order through her Instagram page, where her alarmingly cute cat also makes frequent appearances.
Rounding out the list is of course Oh Doughnuts, which even our Prime Minister could not resist when he visited Winnipeg earlier this year (#doughnutgate). The bakery now boasts two locations, one on Taylor along with the original storefront on Broadway, but that doesn’t stop the shop from selling out most days.
What makes these doughnuts so good? Inventive flavours both savoury and sweet (sun-dried tomato basil and spiced red wine glaze with dark chocolate) and an ode to nostalgic childhood faves (Dunkaroos and sour watermelon candy) might have something to do with it. That and owner Amanda Kinden is an all-around awesome human being.
