Top Stories This Week

Related Posts

I tried every doughnut I could find at Krispy Kreme and ranked them from worst to best

Angle down icon
An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.

I tried 14 different doughnuts from Krispy Kreme.

Ted Berg



Advertisement

When I was in college in Washington, DC, my roommates and I would drive about 45 minutes into Virginia twice a month to stock up on fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Luckily, the chain, which opened its first location in North Carolina in 1937, has since expanded outside the southeastern portion of the US. Now, I’m just a short bike ride away from multiple Krispy Kreme locations in New York City.

Although I try not to go too often — I can’t eat doughnuts like I did in college anymore — I want to make sure I’m picking up the best flavors the chain has to offer.

So, I went to my local Krispy Kreme and bought one of every type of doughnut they had in stock. Here’s my ranking of all 14 doughnuts, from worst to first.

Advertisement

Krispy Kreme’s maple-buttercream doughnut was way too sweet for me.

A glazed doughnut topped with thick beige frosting and colorful sprinkles on a white plate.

The icing on the maple-buttercream doughnut was piped on.

Ted Berg



A limited-time seasonal variety, the maple-buttercream doughnut is a glazed yeast doughnut with a swirl of maple frosting on top.

None of the other doughnuts I tried had this type of frosting — most of the rest were icings lacquered to the doughnut, where this was piped on, like on a cupcake.

It had the color and flavor of maple candy, but somehow, it seemed even more sweet. It was way too sugary for my liking, even by doughnut standards.

Advertisement

The oatmeal-Kreme-pie flavor had too much going on.

A doughnut topped with vanilla frosting, cinnamon streusel, a dollop of cream, and a small oatmeal cookie on a white plate.

The oatmeal-Kreme-pie doughnut looked like it came from a fancy bakery.

Ted Berg



The oatmeal-Kreme-pie flavor was another seasonal variety. It was by far the most heavily dressed doughnut in the bunch. To be honest, it looked like it came from a fancy bakery.

This cream-filled doughnut was topped with vanilla frosting, streusel, more cream, and a little oatmeal cookie. If you think that sounds like too much, you’re absolutely right. Like the maple buttercream, this doughnut was cloyingly sweet.

Advertisement

I thought the strawberry doughnut with sprinkles tasted artificial.

A doughnut topped with pink icing and colorful sprinkles on a white plate.

My 7-year-old called the strawberry-iced doughnut his favorite.

Ted Berg



The frosting on the strawberry-iced doughnut had a candy-like artificial flavor that tasted almost medicinal to me. It even turned off my 4-year-old, who loves pink things and sprinkles.

It’s only ranked this high on my list because my 7-year-old called it his favorite doughnut of the bunch.

Advertisement

I didn’t love the chocolate-iced doughnut.

A doughnut topped with chocolate icing on a white plate.

I didn’t care for Krispy Kreme’s chocolate icing.

Ted Berg



When I pulled the chocolate-iced doughnut out of the box, it looked fairly boring. In reality, it’s basically the chain’s glazed doughnut with a thin layer of chocolate icing on top.

However, I didn’t love Krispy Kreme’s chocolate icing. The flavor was on the sweet side, and there wasn’t much depth to it.

Advertisement

My kids thought sprinkles made the standard chocolate-iced doughnut better.

A doughnut topped with chocolate icing and colorful sprinkles on a white plate.

The sprinkles looked nice, but didn’t add much in terms of flavor.

Ted Berg



This doughnut was exactly the same as the chocolate-iced version but with rainbow sprinkles on top. In my kids’ eyes, this made it distinctly better than the regular chocolate-iced doughnut.

In my eyes, however, there weren’t enough sprinkles to make much difference in the flavor or texture. I also found they were on the mushy side.

Advertisement

The pumpkin-spice cake doughnut was a nice change of pace.

A dark-colored glazed doughnut on a white plate.

The pumpkin-spice cake doughnut had a more dense texture than the others I tried.

Ted Berg



The pumpkin-spice cake doughnut was the only flavor I tried with a cake base, and its denser texture made for a nice change of pace.

I also liked that Krispy Kreme didn’t go overboard with the pumpkin-spice flavoring, which can be off-putting when it’s too strong.

This limited-time flavor reminded me of an apple-cider doughnut with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. However, it wasn’t as hearty or as crumbly as I’d like a cake doughnut to be.

Advertisement

The chocolate-iced custard-filled doughnut is Krispy Kreme’s take on a classic Boston cream.

A doughnut with no hole that's topped with chocolate icing on a white plate.

The custard filling was creamy, thin, and lightly sweet.

Ted Berg



I realized I’d never tried Krispy Kreme’s take on the Boston-cream doughnut before — and it wasn’t bad.

The custard filling was creamy, on the thin side, and only lightly sweet. In terms of Boston-cream doughnuts, this one was on the airier side. But again, I was unimpressed by the chocolate icing.

I enjoyed the chocolate-iced Kreme-filled doughnut.

A doughnut with no hole that's topped with chocolate icing on a white plate.

The cream reminded me of Twinkie filling.

Ted Berg



The cream in this doughnut reminded me of Twinkie filling — fluffy and very sweet. I liked that it kept the doughnut extra moist and sweet throughout.

Advertisement

The glazed lemon-filled doughnut was a pleasant surprise.

A glazed doughnut with no hole on a white plate.

I was surprised by how much I liked the lemon filling.

Ted Berg



I’d never tried the glazed lemon-filled doughnut before. When I’m in the mood for a fruit-filled option, I typically reach for a raspberry-filled jelly doughnut.

However, when I took a bite, I was surprised by how much I liked the lemon filling. It was closer in consistency to custard than to jelly, and it had a nice citrusy zing to it.

I would order this again, even though I don’t normally love lemony desserts.

Advertisement

My kids loved Krispy Kreme’s cake-batter doughnut.

A doughnut with no hole that's topped with yellow icing and colorful sprinkles on a white plate.

The cake-batter doughnut was my 4-year-old’s favorite.

Ted Berg



My 4-year-old called the cake-batter doughnut her favorite of the ones she tried.

It was topped with cheerful yellow icing and rainbow dot sprinkles. I thought the cake-batter cream filling tasted a bit more buttery than traditional cream.

It was a bit on the sweet side for my tastes, but I’d buy it again and give it to the kids to split.

Advertisement

The dulce-de-leche flavor on the salted-caramel-cheesecake doughnut was delicious.

A glazed doughnut topped with swirls of brown and white frosting on a white plate.

The salted-caramel-cheesecake doughnut was topped with swirls of cream-cheese buttercream and dulce-de-leche flavoring.

Ted Berg



The seasonal salted-caramel-cheesecake flavor is essentially a glazed doughnut topped with swirls of cream-cheese buttercream and dulce-de-leche flavoring.

According to the photos I’d seen of this dessert, it’s supposed to be finished with salted-caramel crumbs. However, the one I got had very little salted caramel, and what was there tasted only of salt.

The cream-cheese buttercream mostly tasted like the regular cream, but the dulce-de-leche flavor was delicious. It was rich, buttery, and salty, which went really nicely with the sweetness of the glaze.

My 7-year-old rejected it as “too salty to be dessert,” but I’ll definitely look out for this variety again.

Advertisement

The glazed raspberry-filled doughnut is a classic for a reason.

A glazed doughnut with no hole that's filled with raspberry jelly on a white plate.

The glazed raspberry-filled doughnut is one of my favorites to get at Krispy Kreme.

Ted Berg



The glazed raspberry-filled doughnut is one of my go-to Krispy Kreme orders, and it didn’t disappoint.

I knew what to expect: a delicious mess of goopy, tangy raspberry filling and the chain’s familiar glaze.

Some of the appeal of this doughnut may be nostalgia for me, but there’s a reason it’s a classic.

Advertisement

I loved that the spiced-apple-filled doughnut was topped with cinnamon sugar.

A doughnut with no hole that's topped with granulated sugar on a white plate.

The spiced-apple-filled doughnut tasted like an elevated version of a McDonald’s apple pie.

Ted Berg



The spiced-apple-filled doughnut was the only one I tried that had cinnamon sugar instead of glaze on the outside.

Inside was an apple filling with a nice hint of warm spices. To me, it tasted like an elevated version of a McDonald’s apple pie.

Unfortunately, these are only available through the beginning of October — or else I’d plan on having a few more.

Advertisement

The original glazed doughnut was my favorite.

A glazed doughnut on a white plate.

Even my kids loved the original glazed doughnut.

Ted Berg



During my taste test, I learned you really can’t go wrong with Krispy Kreme’s classics.

In my experience, the original glazed doughnuts always taste a bit fresher than the rest of Krispy Kreme’s varieties. They’re also perfect in their simplicity: Just a sweet glaze on a soft, squishy, yeasty doughnut.

I wasn’t surprised that I loved the original glazed doughnut so much — I’ve had more than a few in the past. But I was surprised to learn that none of the other flavors could top it. Even the kids loved it despite its lack of sprinkles.

Advertisement

Stay informed with diverse insights directly in your inbox. Subscribe to our email updates now to never miss out on the latest perspectives and discussions. No membership, just enlightenment.