National Doughnut Day

One of my husband’s pet peeves is the spelling of doughnut. He sees the word “donut” and can’t help always making the comment, “It’s not a dooo-nut. It’s a dough-nut.” Thankfully, we don’t live in New England and have a Dunkin’ Donuts every other block so I don’t hear this comment a lot. But last week, I finally responded, “Why is it even called a doughnut? There are no nuts in it.” He didn’t have an answer for that.

Today is National Doughnut Day. (Or Donut Day? Whatever.) So, I thought I’d do a little research:

By definition, a doughnut is a type of fried dough confection or dessert. Which begs the question of why we consume them for breakfast. I guess the phrase “life is short, eat dessert first” explains that. They are either cake-like (my favorite) or yeast-risen. Typically, they are shaped like a ring but filled doughnuts are just as popular. Of course, doughnut holes are an all-time favorite, too. They now come in so many varieties, a lifetime may not be long enough to try them all. My personal favorite remains powdered.

Historically, the modern doughnut seems to have originated in Holland. The earliest American mention of them is Washington Irving in a book about the history of New York, which was settled by the Dutch. They appeared in a cookbook as early as 1803. An American sailor/cook named Hanson Gregory claims to have created the first ring-shaped doughnut, alleviating the problem of the center not cooking all the way through. Apparently, his mother would put hazelnuts or walnuts in the center. Hence, the “nut” part. More likely, the etymology comes from an older definition of the word “nut” which meant “small rounded cake or cookie”. More in the style of what we would now call a doughnut hole.

As far as the spelling goes, “donut” started appearing in various books and articles at the turn of the 20^th century. One historian claims a doughnut-machine company first used it in hopes that foreigners could pronounce “donut” easier than “doughnut”. The wide spread use of the “donut” spelling started in the 1950s with the creation and spread of Dunkin’ Donuts. According to the Oxford Dictionary, “doughnut” is used internationally, but “donut” is strictly American. In which case Dunkin’ Donuts may be more accurate than they know with their catch phrase, “America runs on Dunkin’.”

As far as National Doughnut Day (the first Friday in June each year), this was created by the Salvation Army in 1938 in honor of their members who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I – an easy baked good to bake on the war-torn battlefields of France. These women became known as “Doughnut Dollies”. Oddly enough, the term “Doughboy” came into popular use during World War I in reference to American soldiers. Although, historically, that term was used as early as the Mexican War in the 1840s. So, it probably has little to do with doughnuts.

And while even Wikipedia is accurate when it says, “Donuts are unhealthy”, is dessert supposed to be healthy? Of course not. It is meant to be enjoyed. And it won’t kill you to have a doughnut (or a bite of your child’s) to celebrate the day. So, enjoy!

Emry and Ethan enjoy their doughnuts – with sprinkles, of course!