Create America’s Next Dunkin’ Donut

I try to keep track of the various baking contests that are out there – especially the big name ones like the Pilsbury Bake Off and the Crisco National Pie Championships – but there are more out there than one person can handle, which explains why I missed the Create America’s Next Donut contest when they called for entries! This contest is hosted annually by Dunkin’ Donuts and asks people to create their dream donuts. The winners get to present their creations to judges during a bake off, and the winner gets $12,000 in addition to getting their donut on Dunkin’ Donut menus nationwide!

This year’s bake off took place last Thursday at Dunkin’ Donuts University (who knew there was one!) and featured entries like the “Snack-o-Lantern” with pumpkin, maple and cinnamon flavors, the “S’morgasbord,” a marshmallow-filled doughnut with chocolate icing and graham cracker crumbles and the “Monkey-see Monkey Donut,” a banana-filled donut , covered in chocolate frosting and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Another promising entry is the “Full Moon,” a cheesecake cream-filled doughnut topped with white icing, shredded coconut and Hersey’s vanilla shavings.

The S’morgasboard Donut sounds pretty appealing to me, as does the Snack O’ Lantern. I think that I’d have a hard time picking a winner. If I were going to create a donut, I think I might go for an apple crumble pie donut, with an apple filling and a whole lot of crumble topping. I don’t think that a Kimchee Donut, like a had in Seoul last year, would catch on. What would your dream donut be? It’s never too early to start planning for next year!