Doughnuts. Donuts. Donots. Do not. Do not eat donuts?! Who ever heard such a thing?! If you’re like me, donuts surround our entire existence. Well, I guess not literally, but I mean, donuts are pretty darn good. For a donut enthusiast such as I, not just any donut will go down in the mouthwatering hall of fame. Where, might you ask, shall I spend my precious dough in order to have a wonderful donut experience? Well, sadly, Iowa City just does not have an unlimited supply of donut shops. BUT in this case small is mighty. Hurts, Dunkin, and Daylight. Let’s get down to business and see which shop can serve the best dish.

First we have the glazed. The simple, yet classical favorite of the donut species:

Marah Fuller

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Price:$1

Hurts: Classically known for their donuts both large in size and personality, the glazed donut does not disappoint. This donut is very thick with deliciously soft dough. Savored throughout its whole circumference, this donut is eloquently topped with a thin layer of sweet glaze.

Marah Fuller

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Price:$0.95

Dunkin: This donut is the chewiest out of the three, with a thick dough. The soft bread is also the richest in flavor with a sweet vanilla taste. The frosting is very thin and provided a still-wet fresh taste to the donut. This glaze is excellent; it provided a rich flavor while still keeping the old-fashioned quality.

Marah Fuller

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Price:$1.70

Daylight: This donut is a disappointment. It does not taste fresh, with a slightly stale dough that is more crumbly than soft. This donut is very sweet and smothered in a thick glaze. The glaze however is a little too sweet for my liking, and overall, it is way overpriced.

Now, the filled monstrosities:

Marah Fuller

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Price:$2

Hurts: This lemon cream donut is composed of a soft dough, filled with lemon pudding, drizzled in vanilla frosting, and topped with fresh graham crackers. The lemon pudding has a jelly-like texture and is sweetly accented with a lemony zest. I was pleasantly surprised to find the graham crackers to be in a freshly crisp state and found that they complimented the lemon filling perfectly.

Marah Fuller

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Price:$0.95

Dunkin:The Boston Cream donut is by far my favorite find from Dunkin Donuts. This donut has a wonderful cream, to bread ratio, and the chocolate frosting delicately placed on top is a beautiful finishing. The bread is very soft and full of the vanilla flavor similarly found in their glazed donuts. The cream is the climax. With the texture of vanilla pudding the Boston Cream filling is sweet and refreshing against the sugary chocolate frosting.

Marah Fuller

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Price:$1.90

Daylight: I am definitely not a fan of daylight’s Chocolate Bavarian Cream donut. The so-called “chocolate” frosting has little chocolaty taste at all. The vanilla dough is no specialty, and the filling is too rich. Inside this donut lay a whipped frosting filling. The filling tastes very similar to the cheap kind of frosting that you may find on a grocery store cupcake. If you like hy-vee frosting, then this is the donut for you, otherwise, I’d steer clear of this flop.

Thirdly, there’s the customers’ go to donuts:

Marah Fuller

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Price: $2

Hurts: The Jesús donut is no sad encounter. It is created from a delicious cinnamon vanilla cake and topped with a wonderful vanilla frosting, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. On top of all that is a chocolate frosting drizzle. This donut is very sweet, but not too rich. It provides a nice hint of cinnamon and produce a satisfying crunch as I sunk my teeth through the cinnamon sugar into the soft cake. There is no doubt that this donut has won over the hearts of mine, and many others.

Marah Fuller

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Price:$0.95

Dunkin: This treat is a Chocolate Covered Raspberry donut. Inside the soft vanilla dough is a raspberry jelly, which is very sweet, but very artificial. Without seeds, this filling tastes more sugary than fruity. This filling is the type of too sweet that’ll give you a stomach ache. On top of the Donut lies a chocolate frosting with a vanilla frosting drizzle. The frosting was good, but all it did was add to the overly rich mess.
Marah Fuller

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Price:$1.90

Daylight:The Sour Cream donut is a delicious surprise! This donut is created from a vanilla cake with sour cream batter. On top lies that ever-too-sweet glaze. On the sour cream however, the glaze is complementing, unlike Daylight’s original glazed donut.

The donuts have spoken. For Dunkin Donuts I advise sticking to the simpler donuts, a nice vanilla donut with a simple filling is perfect. If you decide to go for a more extravagant donut, be prepared to flood your mouth with extreme richness. Daylight Donuts is a low quality donut shop with high prices, where the donuts taste as if they were hastily made and a lot of flavors do not live up to expectations. They do, however, contain some gems that keep the customers coming. The simple sour cream donut was worth getting up at 8:00 to make the trip. Hurts has lived up to the buzz; this spunky donut shop was full of exciting flavors and features. The quality of the donuts can be seen by the intricate toppings. These donuts are both tasty and appealing to the eye.