The Great Donut Debate

For those of you with a sweet tooth you understand the struggle of picking just one dessert. For my friends and I as we were driving through Portland, Oregon last weekend, the struggle extended to which dessert place…until we realized it didn’t have to? Like, we’re adults? We can go to both and no one can stop us!

So we did.

Half the group (actually everyone but one person) wanted to go to Blue Star Donuts and Coffee. The other half (our one, very vocal, friend we clearly have a hard time saying “no” to) wanted to go to Pip’s Original Donuts and Chai.

In an effort to be fair, we decided to try both and determine once and for all which were The Best Donuts in Portland. (For those of you wondering why VooDoo did not even make the list, it’s because we’ve all been before and while it’s cute, and certainly the most well known outside of Portland, the food itself is largely underwhelming.)

At Blue Star Donuts I ordered their seasonal Loganberry Brioche with Salted Lemon Crumble. This masterpiece was made with Loganberry Cider from Bauman’s Cider as well as fresh raspberries and black berries.

Others ordered things like Cointreau Creme Brûlée, Passion Fruit Cake, Mexican Hot Chocolate, Chocolate Almond Ganache, Real Maple Bacon, and The O.G. (Orxata Glaze).

Y’all, these were some of the best things I’ve ever tasted.

That afternoon we went to Pip’s Original Donuts. To be fair, the line for both places winds through the entire building and out onto the street. So even after the total sugar high of the magnificence that was the morning’s donut adventures, we were looking forward to these as well.

Pip’s makes tiny, little donuts. So we ordered a ton, obviously. They had Cinnamon Sugar, Nutella and Sea Salt, Raw Honey and Sea Salt, The Dirty Wu (a combination of cinnamon sugar, Nutella, and raw honey), plus their seasonal Black Cherry.

They were all super tasty! My personal favorite was the classic Cinnamon Sugar.

After polling the crew, seven out of eight picked Blue Star’s brioche donuts over the significantly more deep fried Pip’s Originals. Pip’s Original Donuts are significantly more saturated in the oil from the fryer than the more cake like donuts at Blue Star Donuts. That difference seems to be the deciding factor for all of us; but we agreed we’d all happily go back to either one!

xo,

Kate