Did you know that donuts were first called olykoeks, which translates to oily cakes? Although this perfectly describes a donut, it does not sound very appealing.
I love donuts. No, scratch that. I am obsessed with donuts! So naturally, when visiting Dubai, I had to research where to find the best donuts. Some of my favorite donut shops are small local businesses, while others are international chains.
Crumb and Co
This small-batch bakery specializes in creative pastries and bakes and has the best artisan donuts! They do not have a physical store, so you will need to order online, either directly from their site or through Deliveroo (just not on a Monday as they’re closed).
Some of their classic donuts include plain sugared, vanilla custard, and raspberry jam. Their menu also has more adventurous and out-of-the-box donuts such as Tiramisu, orange chocolate, burnt caramel in spiced sugar, Black Forest, and vanilla cheesecake.
You must try their signature donut, ‘The Fink’, a combination of sweet vanilla custard and tart raspberry jam. This has become a fan favorite!
I recommend getting a mixed box of donuts. This way, you can have a small taste of everything without limiting yourself to one or two flavors.
You can even get mini donuts if you feel that six regular donuts are too much.
Crumb and Co also sells croissants and cookies – so many options to satisfy your cravings if you have a sweet tooth.
- You can order through Deliveroo from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 3:30 pm or directly from their website.
- Their website is https://crumbandco.me/, and you can find them on Instagram at @crumbandco.me
- Their email is hello@crumbandco.me
Doh
Doh was initially a small stall at the Ripe Market in Dubai but now has multiple franchises across the UAE.
They sell the most incredibly soft and fluffy donuts, and you can even create your own and watch them be prepared right in front of you. You can choose between 16 toppings (from Nutella to blueberry sugar) and 12 types of sprinkles (including pecans, flower petals, and pretzels).
Some of their pre-decorated signature donuts include Kinder, Biscoff, Pistachio, Lavender, and Mocha.
You can even order yourself a box of savory donuts for lunch if you have a donut craving. The savory options are cheese and Omani chips, labneh and za’atar, and cheese, honey, and sesame seed donut.
This shop has great specialty coffee – the perfect drink to complement your donuts (plural because you won’t be able to resist getting multiple). Your choices range from a s’mores hot chocolate to a cereal latte.
- Al Shamkhah, Marsa Mina, Al Ain, Al Barsha South, Last Exit, Khorfakkan and Fujairah.
- The Last Exit store is open 24 hours a day, and the Al Barsha South store is open 7 am to 3 am.
- Their Instagram account is @dohuae, and their website is https://doh.ae/
- You can contact them at +971 56 411 3391 (Al Barsha store).
HERE-O Donuts
This is a delivery only (although you can collect donuts from their warehouse) donut shop that sells excellent quality, fresh and handmade donuts. You can buy their donuts via their website, Instagram, or at a pop-up event or market.
HERE-O Donuts have traditional flavor donuts such as cinnamon, chocolate, and vanilla, a couple of limited-edition flavors, and various vegan ones. Two popular flavors of vegan donuts are Colombian coffee and green tea.
You can also buy mini donuts with more original flavors like mango cheesecake and salted caramel.
You can purchase HERE-O donuts individually, or if you want to try a few flavors, you can order a mixed box. You can also get a gift box of donuts and some beautiful flowers to accompany them.
- You can get your donuts delivered or pick them up at their warehouse at SOBH Al Quoz Warehouse 8 First Al Khail Street.
- HERE-O Donuts is open 8:00 am-9:30 pm.
- The link to their website is https://hereodonuts.com/, and you can find them on Instagram @hereodonuts
- You can email them at hey@hereodonuts.com
- Their contact number is +971 4 547 7591
Common Grounds
Common Grounds is a unique coffee shop with a relaxed atmosphere in Dubai with a bakery section called Rise & Dawn Bakehouse that makes the most delicious donuts.
You can visit the store and order from them or order online for collection or delivery. Besides donuts, you will find a variety of croissants, loaves of bread, cakes, cookies, and coffee.
Four words – Dulce de Leche donut. This donut is filled with caramelized white chocolate cream, topped with Dulce de Leche and homemade honeycomb, and finally dusted in cinnamon and sugar. Can you even picture it?!
Their caramel cronuts are another fan favorite and are out of this world – so you must give this a try!
Some baked goods have gluten-free options, all just as tasty, especially the chocolate brownie. There is also a vegan, gluten-free brownie.
The bakery offers various box collections. They have a cookie box, croissant, bread and croissant, gluten-free, salmon bagel, weekend brunch, and more.
- The Beach Mall JBR, Mall of the Emirates Level 2, JLT Almas Tower, and DIFC Building 5
- The Bakehouse is open seven days a week from 8 am to 4 pm.
- You can find their website here: https://www.riseanddawnbakehouse.com/ and their Instagram is @_riseanddawn_
- To place an order for delivery, email orders@riseanddawnbakehouse.com
- The phone number for the Mall of the Emirates store is +971 56 411 0637, and +971 50 211 3358 for the Bakehouse directly.
Il Donaccino
This donut store makes and sells a wide variety of incredibly fresh, eggless, and vegan donuts every morning. They also make a mean coffee (and plant-based milk is available).
It would be best if you planned to get to their store early for the widest choice of the donut because the flavors sell out fast. Otherwise, you can place a custom order online.
Boxes are available to pre-order, and you can even customize your donuts to spell out “Happy Bday.”
It may be difficult to choose what donuts to buy from Il Donaccino because the options are endless. There’s apple cider glazed, coconut glaze, matcha, white chocolate and blueberry, tangerine, and many more (some savory options too)!
In 2018, Il Donaccino won an award at the JLT Dining Awards for the “Best Sweet Tooth.” So, if you want to know what all the hype is about, grab a donut from this store!
- There is a store in Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT) and another in Business Bay.
- Business Bay is open every day from 12 pm to 10 pm, and the JLT store is open from 9 am to 10:45 pm (11:45 pm on Fridays and Saturdays).
- To order from their website, visit https://order.chatfood.io/donaccino/menu or visit their Instagram @ildonaccino.
- You can contact them on WhatsApp at +971 4 276 7110
Donuts Time
Donuts Time is a rapidly growing home-grown brand with 18 stores in the UAE and a few stores in Saudi Arabia and Oman. They are known for their personalized service and exciting store atmosphere.
At Donuts Time, you will find classic, glazed, or premium donuts. The classic donuts are either plain, cinnamon, or sugar, while a few glazed options are Kinder, Nutella, white chocolate, and pistachio.
If you want a donut with toppings, I recommend trying a premium donut. You can get Oreo and white chocolate, pretzel and caramel, or cheese and Oman chips.
Donuts Time also offers various hot and cold coffees and signature drinks such as a mango or saffron frappe or an acai smoothie.
You can buy a medium or large gathering box for an event or occasion. They even have a cold drinks box!
- There are stores in Abu Dhabi, SharJah, Ajman, Rak, UAQ, and Fujairah. The stores in Dubai can be found in Al Khawaneej, Jumeriah, Nad Al Hammar, and Hatta.
- The Al Khawaneej store is open from 9 am to 1 am, Jumeriah from 12 pm to 2 am, Nad Al Hammar 2 pm to 12 am, and Hatta from 10 am to 12 am.
- Their website is https://www.donutstime.ae/, and you can find them on Instagram @donutstime.ae
- Call +971 50 390 0755 for the Al Khawaneej store or +971 54 751 5332 for the Jumeriah store. You can find the numbers of the other stores on their website or Instagram page.
Chocomelt
Chocomelt offers a unique dessert experience. Besides donuts, their sweet treats range from crepes and cookies to ice cream and Tiramisu.
While their traditional donuts are delicious, you have to try their lukomades donuts! These are small round donuts stuffed with pastry cream and covered in caramel sauce. You’ll also get a side of either melted milk chocolate or vanilla ice cream.
These desserts are extremely decadent and rich, so I would recommend ordering a coffee or water on the side. Oh, and don’t forget a serviette because the treats can get messy!
You can order directly from their store through their website or WhatsApp or Deliveroo, Talabat, and Zomato.
- There are Nad Al Hammar, Yas Mall, Sharjah, and Dubai Mall stores. Delivery is available to various areas in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, and Abu Dhabi.
- Chocomelt in Dubai Mall is open from 10 am to 12 am from Sunday to Wednesday and from Thursday to Saturday until 1 am.
- The website for Chocomelt is https://linktr.ee/chocomelt.ae, and their Instagram is @chocomelt.ae
- To connect to the store via Whatsapp, the number is +971 50 275 7448
Krispy Kreme
Who doesn’t know Krispy Kreme? If you are reading this and you’ve never tried a donut from Krispy Kreme, stop what you are doing and order a box now!
There are over 35 Krispy Kreme stores across the UAE, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find one near you – which can be a problem if you are trying to eat healthily.
The flavors are endless, ranging from the original glazed to New York cheesecake. Other popular favorites include Red Velvet Crunch and Caramel Kreme Crunch. They also have limited edition donuts that change each season.
- There are many stores in Dubai and the rest of the UAE, but some locations include the Mall of Emirates, Ibn Battuta Mall, Oasis Mall, Mirdiff City Center Mall, Dubai Mall, and Burjuman Mall.
- The stores mentioned above are all open from 9 am to 12 am.
- The UAE website is https://krispykremearabia.com/home?country=ae, and their Instagram is @krispykrememe
- One of the numbers for Krispy Kreme in Dubai is +971 60 052 5556
Dunkin Donuts
Dunkin Donuts is an incredibly large chain that first opened in the UAE in 1997. It now has 70 stores and more than 550 express towers across the UAE. If you visited a different Dunkin store every day, it would take you one year and nine months to visit all of them.
This donut chain has all the classics: Maple Frosted, Apple and Spice, Boston Kreme (the most well-known), and Strawberry Frosted. They have a variety of promotions and serve breakfast all day.
If you want to get donuts delivered to your door, you can order from their website or through Talabat, Deliveroo, Zomato, InstaShop, Careem, or Now Now.
- Visit their website to find the full list of stores. You can find high-profile outlets in the Mall of Emirates, Dubai Mall, and La Mer Dubai.
- Each store has slightly different opening times, so look at their website for more details.
- Their website is https://dunkin.ae/, and you can find them on Instagram at @dunkin_uae.
- The number for the Mall of Emirates store is +971 4 526 9059
- Feel free to email them at customercare@dduae.ae if you have any queries.
Tim Hortons
There are currently 75 stores across the UAE and almost 5000 outlets in more than 20 countries. The first store only arrived in Dubai in 2011, and there are now 50 of them.
Tim Hortons is the perfect spot to grab your morning coffee and freshly baked donut. You can grab breakfast, lunch, or dinner here! There is something for everyone.
There’s a wide selection of cakes, muffins, croissants, and cookies (other than donuts). On the savory side, you can choose between a muffin sandwich, bagels, ham and cheese croissants, and toasted sandwiches.
In the UAE, the delivery options are via Deliveroo, Zomato, and Talabat.
If I had to list every donut on the menu, it would take a significant chunk out of my day, so here are a few favorites. Some classics include chocolate, maple, honey, vanilla, and pistachio dipped.
The premium donuts are top tier. You can choose from Nutella to Oreo to Smarties – heaven for someone with a sweet tooth.
- A few of their outlets can be found in the Dubai Mall, Latifa Towers, Jumeriah Centre, Burjuman Centre, and the Mall of Emirates.
- The opening times for their stores vary, so check their website to find the time for your desired store.
- Here’s the link to their website https://timhortonsgcc.com/ and their Instagram is @timhortonsgcc
- The number for the Dubai Mall store is +971 800 8467, and for the Jumeriah Centre, +971 800 8467