Donuts come in all shapes and sizes. Anyone can make and perfect donuts, even from home. But it takes a certain amount of love and skill to perfect the apple fritter. These days, donuts are accessible from everywhere and anywhere, with countless fast food chains and store-bought selections. Even with this variety, only a couple of spots around Atlanta (and beyond) meet the expectations that I hold for an apple fritter.
Let’s start with the Chamblee favorite, the crème de la crème of donut shops, Dandy Donuts. Through its history and pure craftsmanship, Dandy’s has earned the number one spot for the apple fritter. The donut comes warm, flaky, perfectly dashed with cinnamon, and topped with fresh apples that are baked to perfection within the dough. The donut comes out warm in under a minute, only leaving you to shell out less than two bucks. Baked daily and nearly sold out by 4 pm, Dandy’s is the spot to go if you’re craving the perfection that is their apple fritter.
Though Dandy’s is fresh and takes first place in the Metro Atlanta area, Jaemor Farms holds the title for fresh. I mean, you can’t get much fresher than being in the orchard. A shy 40 minutes out of Atlanta, Jaemor Farms is the destination for any season, but especially in fall, as their apple orchards are in full bloom, the shop is overflowing with apple fritters. If you find yourself cold after a rainy walk through the orchards, just remember to pick up the perfect pairing for your fritter, a freshly juiced and warmed cup of apple cider. Or even a scoop of ice cream! The farm only has the donuts during the fall season though, so don’t rely on them to quench your apple fritter thirst in the spring.
For a newer expanding donut shop, Sublime Donuts almost had it with the apple fritter. If you like your apple fritter to be a little denser than the thinner version of Dandy’s, check this one out. But for me, it’s a pass. The supposed apple fritter had way too much caramel and not enough of the fresh and crunchy apple that one looks for. I mean, why try to tweak the apple fritter? Can’t mess with perfection. The donut came cold, too dense, and at a whopping $4 charge. However, I think they learned their lesson: since I visited the shop nearly a month and a half ago, the apple fritter has left the menu to be replaced by a chocolate banana fritter, white chocolate peach fritter, and a chocolate wild berry fritter.
No. No. No. And you guessed it…no. The Dunkin Donuts fritter was just foul. Don’t let the appearance fool you. The donut was everything BUT the crispy cinnamon-coated goodness that is supposed to be an apple fritter. The donut was doughy, half-cooked, and had only a breath of apple cinnamon flavor. Handed to me over the counter in a soggy bag, the sauce seemed to be leaking from this massive dough ball and fine pieces of apple tasted almost…old. Which for a lab-made apple, seemed odd. Just never EVER get an apple fritter from Dunkin, trust me, and stick to the Munchkins.
Though this was a long time coming as the fritter fire remains burning inside me, I do hope to pick up one of the fresh baked fritters from DeKalb Farmers Market and perhaps try DaVinci Donuts as the Yelp reviews remain high for the apple fritter. But of course, I will be the judge of that. As my mom says, when you make something with love, it will always be perfect. And Dandy Donuts undoubtedly makes each donut with love and some change.
P.S. If you are interested in learning more about Dandy Donuts’ selection, check this article out.
