You may be wondering WHY on Earth, a photographer would have a blog post dedicated to all things doughnuts? Well…..if you check out my Instagram feed, you’ll see why.

I LOVE doughnuts!!! Any time my husband and I travel, I look to see if there are any doughnut shops around. But, not just any doughnuts….they have to be vegan doughnuts.

 

Let me give you a little back story…

 

I became a vegetarian the summer between my junior and senior year of college. I knew that red meat didn’t sit well with me (seriously, if I would eat a steak, I would be groggy for 3 days, grouchy, and was just in a fog! I also felt like I swallowed a brick!). Red meat was REALLY easy to give up. Even as a 12 year old, I knew I didn’t like it, as I would always want more sides than meat.

Fast forward to 2002, and without going into too much detail, decided to become vegan. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.

Wait…you’re probably thinking “Neely, this is a doughnut post, not a dietary/lifestyle post.” I promise, I’m getting there.

(Ahem…introducing doughnuts into my life, ALL those years ago!)

When I was younger, I played softball. And I loved playing softball! Even now, there are days that I truly miss it. During my time in travel ball, one of our fundraisers was to sell doughnuts. And not just ANY old doughnuts….Krispy Kreme doughnuts!! They were the light and fluffy, warm, sugary goodness doughnuts that would just melt in your mouth, once you took a bite. Hearing that slight crispness as you bit in, only to have the warm sugar dissolve… I remember it like it was yesterday!

Aside from the doughnut fundraisers, my mom didn’t keep junk food in the house. Fast food was a treat about every few months. So, when we had boxes and boxes of fresh, hot doughnuts in our house (and you know we purchased a few boxes for ourselves), I would eat one (or four…don’t judge!) for breakfast. I still remember being in my parents kitchen eating KK doughnuts, seeing the boxes stacked high, just waiting for them to be put in the car, and taken for deliveries. Gosh, I can STILL taste them!

Because I haven’t eaten dairy or eggs in a long time, doughnuts were hard to come by….until now!! There are LOTS, and LOTS of vegan doughnuts all across the US. I can finally get my doughnut fix!

Yes, I know…maybe it’s a weird obsession to have, but I don’t eat them all the time- just when we travel to new places, or we decide to head in to Nashville.

One flavor that I always loved was the classic Boston Cream filled. That fluffy chocolate-topped yeast doughnut, with yellow custard inside. Mmmmm-mmmmm! They also made these in Long John’s which were even better, because they were twice the size!

I also love anything cinnamon sugar flavored, and I can’t resist the purist- classic yeast glazed!

I do prefer yeast doughnuts over cake doughnuts, and you can hold the sprinkles.

So, there you have it. This is why I post doughnut images on my social media feeds. If I’m in a city where they sell them, you can bet I’ll have one (or more) in my hand!

Check out some of my favorite places: Five Daughters Bakery, The Southern V, Doe Donuts, Vortex Doughnuts, Ronald’s Donuts, Sugar ShackDonuts & Coffee, Voodoo Doughnuts