Thursday, September 22, 2011

PB&J Doughnuts (Doughnut Plant)

Jelly filling

I'm a big proponent of people who take normal foods and make them unhealthier. That dude who decided to fry Oreos the first time round? Awesome. The first Chinese guy who decided to pan fry noodles instead of just boiling those bitches? Pioneer. Those bros on Epic Meal Time? Renaissance men. Whoever the fuck decided to sell fried sticks of butter at the Ohio state fair? My goddamn hero. Now, I think almost everyone has a soft spot in their heart for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - the old standby for when your parents didn't know what to make you for lunch. And possibly every meal... if they hated you. For some stupid reason or another... when I was a kid, I absolutely hated pb&j sandwiches, not because they tasted bad to me, but because... um, I thought they were too healthy. Yes that logic is idiotic. Sue me. Good thing Doughnut Plant (which my friends affectionately call 'DP') has taken care of that problem. While they're not really quite in the same league as those peeps I mentioned earlier, they're not doing so bad themselves.

By making a peanut butter glazed jelly doughnut, Doughnut Plant basically stripped away all the healthy shit from a pb&j sandwich. No more wheat bread and no more wack-ass crust. Instead of hearty wheat-filled nonsense, you get a surprisingly moist, yet fluffy, fried dough exterior... with the center pocket occupied by blackberry jelly. I paid $3+ for this. Me. Super frugal clench-my-buttcheeks-in-pain-when-spending-money me. I was smiling like an idiot from the first bite to the last. Take that how you will, but this shit is dope beyond recognition.

Banana pecan cake doughnut

There was also some banana on pecan action going on in the form of their banana pecan cake doughnut. It's like banana bread... but dipped in sugar. Not that banana bread was ever really healthy, but I'm pretty sure anything dipped in a sugar glaze is worse for you. By my retarded logic, that = awesome. I'm not in love with their cake doughnuts - mostly because they look smaller than the yeast ones (i.e. a lesser value) - but that has nothing to do with taste. Honestly, this was pretty sick in terms of flavor and texture. Tastewise, it's basically as I described... a slice of banana bread with a heightened level of sweetness. From a texture standpoint, it has the consistency of a muffin with the moistness locked in by a saran wrap layer of liquid sugar... dotted with chopped up pecans. If that doesn't ridiculous to you... I'm sorry you're dead inside.

tl;dr - Foods that are bad for your health generally taste better. You can take something really average and make it incredible by doing little more than frying it and covering it with sugar. Doughnut Plant gets this. They make these two awesome flavors that are eerily reminiscent of normal foodstuffs simply by glazing them over. Good job... DP, twice the calories (probably), twice the pleasure.


Doughnut Plant‎
220 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011

4 comments:

Rodzilla said...

I never got over Mark Israel's weirdness on Throwdown, and I hate to support men who act like little bitches. That said, perhaps it's the little bitchiness that makes his donuts so good.

I had a PB&J donut from Donut Connection chain the other day - doesn't even look close. I'm super Jelly (pun intended)

Cake looks smaller - but aren't they like triple the density?

Apologies for the comment essay.

Anonymous said...

ARghhhhhh that PBJ doughnut looks amazing T.T I totally love their creme brulee too; the thick custardy cream just oooozes out of that caramelized shell. I miss DP~

Kevin said...

I went to DP (haha) a couple of weeks ago in the afternoon, and they were all sold out of the PBJ, tres leches, and creme brulee, which are the three I'm most eager to try. The banana pecan was exactly as you described: it tastes just like banana bread, only in fried ring form. The oatmeal doughnut was pretty good, too, but your pics of the PBJ are making me want to go back soon, not to mention the fact that I've got a Google offer to use at DP.

Nicholas said...

Rodzilla - I never watched that episode. Possibly because I hate Bobby Flay. If I watched that ep, my mind might explode. You should really try his doughnuts regardless of how you feel about him.

I think cakes are denser, but still... visually I can't bring myself to pay the same amount for them though.

munchimonster - ಠ_ಠ I really wish everyone would look up 'dp' before calling Doughnut Plant that...

Kevin - banana pecan, while not my favorite, is pleasantly enjoyable. Bro, do it. The PB&J is pretty sick, and totes worth using your Google offer on.

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