One of the best spots to grab a pre-flight treat at the MSP airport, Angel Food also runs a bakery in St. Louis Park. Pre-order a “chef’s choice” dozen with surprise mix-and-match flavors, from fruity and sprinkled bites to rich chocolate glazes and maple bacon. Other choices include the “big ass jumbo” doughnut, bourbon-whiskey-caramel doughnut bread, and dough-naparts, a croissant/doughnut hybrid. If you’ve got a special occasion ahead, order a batch of Angel Food’s signature message doughnuts. Place a pre-order by noon the day before pick-up. 

This sweet spot in south Minneapolis bakes doughnuts all through the day. Bogart’s raised doughnuts are made with a rich brioche dough — try one topped with brown butter glaze, or stuffed full of Nutella. Bogarts serves classic cake doughnuts, too. If you’re on the hunt for something extra indulgent, make it a doughnut sundae with a swirl of soft-serve ice cream.

Cardigan Donuts has two downtown Minneapolis locations, at City Center and in the IDS building. Each serves decadent doughnut takes: Think cake doughnuts drizzled with a coffee glaze, Bismarks stuffed with a malted vanilla cream filling, and old fashioned doughnuts made moist and dense with Greek yogurt mixed into the batter. (Keep an eye on the website for the day’s inspired, limited-run doughnuts.) The IDS location also serves doughnut ice cream sandwiches and doughnut blendees (your choice of doughnut mixed into ice cream).

Doughnut and mochi lovers alike should stop by Dinkytown to sample these sensational sweets. These airy, chewy doughnuts, made with rice flour, come in all kinds of flavors, from banana milk and funnel cake to taro and black sesame. They’re delicately sweet, and the texture is so satisfying. (As a major plus, there’s bubble tea, too.)

A Baker’s Wife has been a Minneapolis staple for over 35 years. This old-school neighborhood bakery perfumes the surrounding block with the aroma of cinnamon and sugar. The classics are well-represented at A Baker’s Wife, from classic sprinkle doughnuts, to cake doughnuts with maple icing, to lemon-filled Bismarks dusted with powdered sugar. (In the fall, don’t miss the apple fritters.)

These signature square-shaped raised doughnuts feature offbeat toppings and clever names, from the Fruity Pebbles-topped Gay 90s to the Old Dirty Bastard, made with chocolate glaze and Oreo crumbles. Many of them are also available as cake doughnuts (half of which are vegan). Find the Donut Trap at local farmers markets and a doughnut vending machine (closed Mondays and Tuesdays) between BlackStack Brewery and CanCan Wonderland.

PJ Murphy’s, a nearly 100-year-old bakery in St. Paul, was renamed La Boulangerie Marguerite in 2020. Stop by for a dazzling mix of French and American-style pastries. Beyond classic raised and cake doughnuts, long johns, and Bismarks, La Boulangerie Marguerite serves decadent fried cinnamon rolls and morning buns made with a flaky croissant dough.

Mojo Monkey’s tiny shop serves unique, ever-changing flavors on the weekends. While this St. Paul shop’s inventive toppings are often a conversation starter, so is the art of its phenomenal dough — for baking nerds, at least. Don’t overlook the old fashioned doughnuts, which have a satisfying tang from sour cream in the batter. Or go for beignets, fritters, raised doughnuts, or Bismarks.

A mainstay of Cesar Chavez Avenue in St. Paul, Don Panchos Bakery serves some excellent raised doughnuts — from a pillowy, classic doughnut dusted with fine layer of sugar, to a chocolate glazed donut decorated with sprinkles. Stop by for dessert after lunch at El Burrito Mercado, and grab a slice of tres leches cake to take home.

Hans’ Bakery has been an Anoka mainstay since 1973. Its doughnuts and pastries are inspired by the original German-American owners. Try a little bit of everything with the Birkner box, a baker’s dozen of the bakery’s most popular items — like the raspberry rosebud and custard Bismark.  Other specialties include the enormous, extra-fluffy Texas doughnuts, and the Beesting: two rounds of sweet dough coffee cake filled with Bavarian cream.