Donut Confession

I am a food snob. I drink organic milk. I buy European cheeses, farmer's market produce, fresh baguettes, and hoity-toity olive oil. I eat antioxidant-laden blueberries and tomatoes and get my RDA for iron, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C each day without taking a supplement. I have a small collection of gourmet mustards. But I have a weakness.

Dunkin' Donuts. I adore Dunkin' Donuts. I love their coffee with cream and sugar, I love their chocolate glazed, their blueberry cake, their apple fritters, and their cinnamon cake munchkins. Every day when I walk into work, there it is, the line of people in front of the garish pink and orange sign and the smell of hot donuts wafting towards me. Every day I think, only 79 cents, and that glazed gingerbread cake donut could be mine...and what's a dollar for a cup of strong, serious, hot coffee? My only salvation is that I am perpetually late to work and I can't justify the time spent waiting in line, even though the line moves fast. The only thing worse than being late for work is being late for work and walking in carrying your breakfast. If I did that, I think I would lose my Food Snob title and it would be hard to earn back. Besides, I usually have a hearty breakfast of Kamut pancakes with wildflower honey or fresh fruit-Greek yogurt smoothie or lox and english muffin. But Dunkin' Donuts never fails to tempt.

I don't like other kinds of donuts, which gives me hope that I may yet retain the food snob distinction. I think Krispy Kremes are appalling, plastic fluffs of airy sugar (or sugary air) which do nothing to satisfy the donut craving, much in the way white chocolate does not satisfy a chocolate craving. Winchell's apple fritters are delicious, but their donuts are sort of forgettable (Tasty, however, and satisfying, and a close runner up to Dunkin'.) Starbuck's scones look better than they taste, so I haven't tried their donuts, and do they even sell donuts? Au Bon Pain has very nice sandwiches, but mediocre donuts. And the donut selections that are sold in boxes in the grocery store--let us not speak of these things.

So perhaps the working-class Dunkin' Donuts really does sell superior donuts worthy of food snobbery? Maybe this is a simple food vice I need to own up to? I don't really care which it is. Pass the munchkins.