Doughnuts

A leavened, fried dough product is known as a doughnut or donut. It is a common sweet snack that can be made at home or bought in bakeries, supermarkets, food stands, and franchised specialty retailers. It is prepared in a variety of ways. The names are interchangeable; donut is the short form while doughnut is the standard spelling.

While flour batter is typically used to make doughnuts, other forms of batter can also be utilized. Different variations employ different toppings and flavors, like sugar, chocolate, or maple glaze. Water, leavening, eggs, milk, sugar, oil, shortening, and natural or artificial flavors may also be used in doughnuts.

From Portland, Maine's The Holy Donut to Voodoo Doughnut in Portland, Oregon, the old-school doughnut has been loaded down under piles of maple frosting, crispy bacon, fresh fruit glazes, and boozy toppings that take the sweet into uncharted territory. The first cookbook using the near conventional "doughnuts" spelling was possibly the 1803 edition of "The Frugal Housewife: Or, Complete Woman Cook", which included doughnuts in an appendix of American recipes. One of the earliest mentions of "doughnut" was in Washington Irving's 1809 book A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty.

Country: The United States