Southern Doughnut Breakfast

Not much can beat a warm, freshly made doughnut in the morning. Deliciously sweet, fried dough isn’t the healthiest of  breakfast, but I think every now and then, there is a special place for eating doughnuts and it can be well worth the calories. Whether enjoying the famous French beignets at Café DuMonde or American doughnuts at the place where the locals stop before work, it is hard to be disappointed. In Louisiana and Mississippi we found a few great small doughnut shops where we got this morning fix.

The Café DuMonde version of doughnuts in New Orleans delivers the dense and oilier style French beignets that it is known for. Beignets in France could apply to a variety of fried pastries. In America, beignets can be made from a pâté a choux dough or, more commonly, with a yeast-leavened enriched dough such as Challah or Brioche. Classically beignets are known for being covered in powder sugar which makes them a sweet morning New Orleans necessity.

When I worked at The Modern in New York City we made a brioche dough that we  fried to make beignets. With it we served caramel sauce, maple ice cream, mango chutney, and a heavy helping of powdered sugar–they were awesome!

Maybe the better known airy, tender style of doughnuts that can be found on any grocery shelf or coffee shop is more some people’s style. In Louisiana and Mississippi we found the sweet breakfast pastry in local shops.

Near our campsite in St. Bernard parish just east of New Orleans we checked out the doughnut shop Barkers Dozen. This small storefront offered the classic doughnut flavors that we all know and love.  The doughnut flavors included powdered sugar, sugared, blueberry, a chocolate cake doughnut that had a denser texture, and a wonderfully tangy and tender buttermilk doughnut.

We got a mix of their doughnut holes so we could taste each of what they offered. The buttermilk was by far our favorite! Though it was more of a cake doughnut in texture verses the airy softness of the sugared ones, the special flavor and pleasing, tender texture left us compromising to split the last one!

Being in New Orleans, Barkers Dozen bakery also offers a fleur-de-lis  baked doughnut with raisins and a sweet glaze!

From New Orleans we drove North through Mississippi. During a morning stop in Natchez, Missisipi we found The Donut Shop.  This was the perfect place for a southern doughnut breakfast! The Donut Shop here in Natchez was featured on one of my favorite Food Network shows, Feasting on Asphalt with host Alton Brown. This old drive-through is a staple this riverfront town.

The Donut Shop offered a wide selection of sweet circles of fried dough and hot tamales. We didn’t get to the tamales but we did order an apple fritter and a cinnamon bun! We sat facing the Mississippi River waterfront and enjoyed the cinnamon-filled bun,  and juicy sweet apples wrapped in fried dough of the apple fritter.

While in Vicksburg, Mississippi we decide to try Shipley Do-Nuts. This is a chain of bakeries that started in Texas and have been providing donuts to the southern states for seventy-two years. Before embarking on a long drive through the nearby Vicksburg Civil War Battlefield we stopped and grabbed breakfast. We shared a cinnamon bear claw that was light with a slight heat from the spices. Brian got a lemon creamed filled doughnut while I had my favorite: a cake doughnut just tossed in plain sugar.

What really interested me is all these shop’s ability to sell donuts and pasties for very little money. We paid only cents for a meal! What a wonderful thing to provide an affordable treat to your community.

Whether your favorite doughnut is powdered, fruit filled, chocolate, plain cake, or Brian’s favorite–strawberry frosting with sprinkles; I say indulge every now and then. Make it worth it enjoy the rich, sweet, and intense bite by checking out the offerings at your local doughnut shops and finding the best!