On Sunday morning, fending off the demons that come along with Daylight Savings Time and two young kids who want to wake up far earlier than my brain wants to allow, The Rooster and I headed over to Puffy Cream Donuts in Eagan to pick up some treats for breakfast for The Wife and ourselves. Having had their donuts which are sold through a locally owned gas station in Apple Valley, we knew of their quality but wanted to try them straight out of the store too.
Growing up in a geographic location that is obsessed about donuts, I have had some of the best there are. There Krispy Kreme wasn’t a gas station, grocery store, and shopping center fad but instead an institution from decades before. I would sit at the counter and wait for the donuts to roll off and straight into a huge box accompanying a very large cup of coffee surrounded by cigarette smoke from the regulars chatting away at each other over folded newspapers. Then, just to rub it in, we also had any number of other donut shops including the famed Dunkin Donuts.
Anyway, The Rooster and I arrived at around 10:15 AM to a line that reached the door. While The Wife was concerned our late arrival would limit the number of donuts available, there were plenty there for us to choose from. While The Rooster wandered around near the glass leaving fingerprints all over the glass, I waited patiently to order some of the usuals including a Long John, a chocolate covered Old Fashioned, two Apple Fritters (which the guy working the counter turned into 6 due to their unusually small size), and the standard glazed and chocolate and sprinkle covered ones as well. When we finally got up to the counter to make our choices and pay the bill, the person working threw in a half-dozen (or more, I didn’t count) donut holes for The Rooster.
My single biggest surprise about the place is that they do not highlight coffee. Yes, they had some in a container off to the side but it was something boring like Seattle’s Best and they hadn’t brewed a new batch in at least two hours. COFFEE GOES WITH DONUTS. WHY ARE YOU NOT SELLING GREAT COFFEE BREWED CONSTANTLY? Ugh.
Anyway, the donuts are good for Minnesota and just slightly less than ok for what I would expect of donuts based on my experiences on the East Coast. The Apple Fritters were well below their average deliverable to the gas station we frequent and the best one was probably their simple Glazed as it was crispy and soft at the same time with some flavor to boot. The Old Fashioned and the Long John carried almost no distinctive flavor from the donut or the various toppings. It very similar to eating nothing and, at that rate, why bother?
While we’ll go back again and certainly eat the ones they deliver to the store near our home just because The Wife likes them, I am not going to jump up and down for joy when I do. Yeah, they do the trick, no, they’re not great donuts. While I appreciated the great service yesterday, the fact that they didn’t have real coffee and it wasn’t updated in hours shows just how not serious Minnesotans are about donuts. We’re almost better off eating bagels here and that should say everything about eating donuts in Minnesota.
Have you ever had Puffy Cream Donuts Plus in Eagan? If so what did you think? Are you surprised they aren’t pushing out gallons of great coffee? What other local donut places do you prefer and why? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Address:
Puffy Cream Donuts
3390 Coachman Rd
Eagan, MN 55121
Phone:
651-686-8342
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March 11th, 2013 at 7:26 am
I agree about the coffee and while their doughnuts are good, they’re nothing to write home about. However, our church uses the doughnut holes for the after-church snacks and there’s never any complaints!
I miss Mr. Doughnut and Winchells.
March 11th, 2013 at 7:52 am
IMO, Granny Donuts on Robert St in West St Paul is best “traditional” donut shop in Minnesota and it isn’t even close.
And I would venture to guess I’ve been to probably most other donut shops around.
March 11th, 2013 at 8:38 am
We stop there after chuch and I’ve always been happy with the selection and the donuts. I’m not a coffee drinker but I think you are right in that they are missing out on some added sales revenue.
March 11th, 2013 at 9:11 am
MSPD – I had read somewhere that Granny’s had an element of soup-nazi quality to it. Was that your experience? I have yet to go there though.
We’ve tried Mojo Monkey in StP. We had a groupon which made the price easier to swallow. They were good but definitely not worth the drive or the cost. They had some interesting kinds though that you won’t find at Kwik Trip.
March 11th, 2013 at 9:16 am
Which gas station can you buy them at?
I’ve lived in MN for more than 15 years now, I still miss the hell out of Dunkin Donuts.
March 11th, 2013 at 9:20 am
Greg,
The Marathon across from CVS near the corner of Galaxie and 42 in Apple Valley. But get there early, they frequently run out later in the morning. I think they give you a coffee and a donut for $1.99 or something. Pretty decent deal considering Puffy Cream’s larger donuts run in the $1.29 range.
March 11th, 2013 at 10:08 am
Greg, if it makes you feel any better, Dunkin’ isn’t what it used to be.
March 11th, 2013 at 12:20 pm
I miss independent or regional-chain bakeries that made wonderful donuts and other goodies (such as filled, yeasted coffeecakes) and American-style loaf breads and sugar cookies.
The few of this style that remain have long ago resorted to mixes and artificial ingredients and wouldn’t know what a stick of butter was if….well, whatever.
I haven’t been to Puffy Cream Donuts, so I can’t opine about them. I see that they do fried chicken, too – same oil/fryers?
I liked Mojo Monkey donuts well enough, but they need to be tweaked and they have a hard time with efficient production. A Baker’s Wife used to do killer cinnamon sugar donuts, but they were stale the last time we were there. Tried Glam Doll Donuts last week – they were OK; they will probably succeed as a neighborhood hangout. I think we tried Granny Donuts a few years back and didn’t see a reason to return. Donut Co-operative was terrible, but I was still sad to see them go because they were an independent business (which I like to support). Yo-Yo Donuts is very good.
All of the above aside, I am not a huge donut lover; when I am researching bakeries I generally just have one bite of each donut type that we buy. If I ever finish an entire donut, then it must be great!
In the non-donut realm, I am SO HAPPY to have Rustica Bakery in the Twin Cities!! We get there at least twice a month. One of the top ten bakeries in the country, and well-priced besides.
March 11th, 2013 at 1:01 pm
Yeah, the last few times I’ve been back to New York I noticed Dunkin wasn’t what it once was. Apparently most of the new stores no longer make their own donuts, they’re made in a regional bakery & shipped to the stores. Just about the dumbest thing I ever heard of.
Coffee was still killer, though.
March 11th, 2013 at 6:31 pm
it’s gotta be this bad boy or i’m outta here:)
bb
March 11th, 2013 at 7:21 pm
I remember Mr Donut when I was a girl. Yum! Never really understood why Krispy Kreme went out of business here, those were scrumpious hot off the press. Have to agree that the bacon maple long John from yo-yo was the best I have had in a few years.
March 11th, 2013 at 7:48 pm
I forgot about donut star..formerly known as Dutch Treat Doughnut shop. Now I’m craving the evil things and might need to hit up Holiday since they’re half price this late at night.
On another note, I just now realized this place called puffy cream donut PLUS. Plus what? Is it referring to the 5 pounds attached to my ass that I didn’t have when I walked in?
March 11th, 2013 at 7:59 pm
I love Yo-Yo Doughnuts in Minnetonka. They have excellent doughnuts, IMO, and they don’t use preservatives. Their glazed Old Fashioned has a slight coconut taste that I love and they have the maple bacon long john. They also serve Dogwood coffee (I usually get the wildly expensive single origin), which I can’t decide if I like better than their doughnuts. I wish they were closer to me, though.
March 11th, 2013 at 8:16 pm
Aliecat,
You had me at Dogwood Coffee; now I have to go there.
March 11th, 2013 at 8:17 pm
Hah. Hilarious.
March 11th, 2013 at 8:30 pm
Try Donut Star in Burnsville (Cliff Rd. & River Hills Drive) Small Mom and Pop place in the strip mall. Very good, get there early as they are usually out of most everything by 11am
March 11th, 2013 at 8:32 pm
I agree this one of the better donut places in the area. I think the donut holes are really good. I’ve brought them to the office a few times and people always seem to love them and NEED to know where to get them.
March 11th, 2013 at 9:27 pm
Oh man, now I’m nervous that you’ll go and hate it. I don’t think I could take it, Bill! ;-)
March 11th, 2013 at 9:40 pm
Aliecat,
Don’t worry about the donuts; I know I’ll hate those. But I also know I’ll love the coffee. It evens out in the end.
March 11th, 2013 at 9:48 pm
Clearly I am overly invested emotionally in this doughnut shop!
March 11th, 2013 at 9:53 pm
In the world of coffee, there is Dogwood and then there is…
March 11th, 2013 at 10:10 pm
Mister Donut is still around in other countries. There was one in Tokyo across the street from one of the hotels I stayed in. That was a random thing to see there (as was the Shakey’s Pizza).
I never understood the Krispy Kreme obsession, and yes, I tried them fresh. But I am also more a fan of cake donuts rather than raised.
March 11th, 2013 at 10:19 pm
Krispy Kreme didn’t work out here IMHO because of over saturation.
They were unique and exciting when they opened, but then as Bill said they started selling cold (eew) one’s at Holiday, Cub, etc.. Everyone got sick of them and stopped buying them..
March 12th, 2013 at 5:48 pm
Aliecat, Bill will hate Yo-Yo because I said they were good – not your fault at all!
Krispy Kremes always struck me as being made of grease, air, and WAY too much sugar.
March 12th, 2013 at 9:48 pm
I also like Mel-O-Glaze, but their coffee is no bueno. A Baker’s Wife has Peace Coffee but I don’t go for their doughnuts. I get the sour cherry tart or the American Tea Cake.
March 13th, 2013 at 8:22 am
1. Tony tells Bill to try Donut Star.
2. Bill writes a scathing review.
3. Less people in line.
Love your logic Tony!
The apple fritters are as big (and as heavy) as your head, and all of the filled donuts melt in your mouth.
March 13th, 2013 at 9:40 am
Wait…that’s not a good thing?
March 14th, 2013 at 6:55 am
The only good thing about Krispy Kreme was that if I needed a donut at 3:30 in the morning I could buy one at their (now demolished) AV location as the drive thru was open 24/7.
April 8th, 2013 at 7:07 am
[...] for breakfast, so I took The Koala out with me to get some donuts. While we had previously tried Puffy Cream in Eagan, some others had reminded me of Donut Star in Burnsville so I decided to give it a [...]