Homer Simpson may have said it best: “Mmm, donuts.” As the restaurant scene has boomed in recent years, so has the dessert scene — including doughnuts. There’s now a full lineup of delicious doughnuts in Colorado Springs.
Sure, the international mega-chain Dunkin’ has been here since the ’60s (where are they not?). Long-time Springsters might remember the hours-long lines when Krispy Kreme opened in 2002, then shut down in 2006, then drew long pre-opening lines when it returned in 2022. Those big box donut shops will always have their place, but if you’re looking for another level of doughnut delight with a (mostly) local touch, you’ve got a wide range of options. Several new shops or expansions are just opening, and we’ve been tasting all around town. So here’s where you can find the Best Doughnuts in Colorado Springs, in alphabetical order.
Best Doughnuts in Colorado Springs
Amy’s Donuts
Since opening in 2013, Amy’s Donuts has become the O.G. of local, creative doughnuts in Colorado Springs. If there’s anything you can think of to put on a doughnut, Amy’s has probably done it: cereal, cookies, candy, bacon. Amy’s has a huge selection of handmade doughnuts every day of the year, and they’re always colorful and creative. We’re fans of the Elmo and Cookie Monster faces.
Where to Find Amy’s Donuts
Since opening their original Amy’s Donuts at 2704 E. Fountain Boulevard, Amy and Chin Kim have expanded to seven locations, including Tucson, Albuquerque and Denton, Texas.
Their second Colorado Springs location is 3765 Bloomington Street, near Powers and N. Carefree Circle.
Dad’s Donuts
Dad’s Donuts takes things to another level in gourmet doughnuts. Technically a cronut, the pastry is made of 109 layers of croissant dough hand layered and folded with a European style butter into a donut-shaped fried croissant. The process takes four days. The result is an elevated layer pastry that’s lighter and crispier than a typical doughnut. And they are made with all-natural ingredients. Pink glaze? There’s no food coloring — it’s made from real raspberry puree.
Dad’s Donuts is the newest addition to the Altitude Hospitality family of restaurants that includes Till, Trainwreck and Garden of the Gods Market & Cafe. The company’s long-time pastry chefs developed the cronuts and flavors. Grand Opening is June 7, 2024, National Donut Day. Read more in our article about Dad’s Donuts.
Where to Find Dad’s Donuts
29 E. Moreno Avenue, across the street from Denver Biscuit Company, Dos Santos and Cork & Cask
Happy Hour Donuts
Ryan and Gabby Main started a cottage business during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their gourmet doughnuts were a hit — especially the boozy doughnuts. Fast forward to May 2024, and Happy Hour Donuts just opened a brick-and-mortar location in Rockrimmon after fully renovating the space themselves. Everything about this cute, festive shop is DIY by the Mains, and the handmade doughnuts are delicious. Our recommendations? The Maple Bourbon (made with real maple syrup and bourbon) and the non-alcoholic Chocolate (a glazed doughnut with a chocolate buttercream party on top).
Ryan assures us it’s OK to hit the spiked doughnuts in the morning, clarifying that Happy Hour’s boozy doughnuts range in the 1-3% alcohol by volume. “If you have a dozen, you’re not going to be seeing double,” he says. Just make sure you get there early since Happy Hour sells out most days. Or put in your custom order for a wedding, festival or event.
Where to Find Happy Hour Donuts
6660 Delmonico Drive in the Rockrimmon Shopping Center at the corner of Rockrimmon and Delmonico Blvd.
Horseshoe Donuts
There weren’t many options when identical twin sisters Erin Monyek and Liz Schulze wanted a quality doughnut shop like they’d had growing up in Gloucester, Massachusetts. So they opened Horseshoe Donuts in Monument in 2016. All their doughnuts are handmade daily. You’ll find a Western theme in this donut shop, including horseshoe and horse-shaped doughnuts. Horseshoe makes a wicked good Northeast style cake doughnut, and you have to try their burger doughnut: a chocolate cake doughnut sandwiched in a glazed doughnut “bun.” The Saturday brewnuts are always a popular collab featuring different beers from Pikes Peak Brewing. Schulze adds, “I have people come in and tell me these are the best apple fritters in the world, and they’ve been stationed all over the world.”
Read more about Horseshoe Donuts in this article from our archives.
Where to Find Horseshoe Donuts
481 W. Highway 105, Suite 202, near the top of Monument Hill
Hurts Donut Company
If you’re hurtin’ for a doughnut, you can’t go wrong here. Walking into this east-side doughnut shop, you immediately know things are going to be fun, colorful — and big. Open every day of the year, Hurts has a huge selection of gourmet doughnuts. There are crazy toppings, flavors, designs and fillings. There are cake based doughnuts, including red velvet cake, and lighter, fluffier yeast doughnuts. And these are some big, rich, filling doughnuts. Some of our favorites include the Chewbacca (coconut creme filling, chocolate glaze and coconut sprinkles), the S’Mores (loaded with graham cracker and a full-size toasted marshmallow) and the Homer (pink and sprinkled just like on The Simpsons).
Hurts Donut Company got its start in 2013 in Springfield, Missouri, and has grown to more than 20 locations, mostly in the Midwest. Hurts opened in the Springs in 2018.
Where to Find Hurts Donut Company
6165 Barnes Road, near UCHealth Park
Mochi Thai’m Donuts & Boba
Gluten-free diners have walked into Mochi Thai’m and wept at the joy of being able to eat a delicious doughnut again. But these are no ordinary doughnuts. Owner Sakeo Williams uses glutinous rice flour, ensuring that Mochi Thai’m remains gluten free. “Ours are bouncy and chewy. They taste a little bit like a funnel cake,” Williams says. “I want everybody to be able to eat a doughnut, regardless of dietary restrictions.”
Mochi Thai’m doughnuts look like rings of joined doughnut holes, or delicious stars. Each one is fried and glazed to order. And you don’t want to miss the ube and Thai tea flavors. Williams began making the Asian American fusion pastries when her Thai Lily restaurant was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now Mochi Thai has grown to two locations in Colorado Springs, and you can get a great boba or milk tea there too.
Where to Find Mochi Thai’m Donuts
721 N. Academy Blvd. near the Citadel Mall
A second location is scheduled to open on Interquest Parkway at Victory Ridge Shopping Center on June 15, 2024.
Shipley Do-Nuts
Lawrence Shipley Sr. created the original recipe for his doughnuts in 1936 and opened his first shop in Houston in the 1940s. Now a chain of 330 locations, mostly in the South, Shipley Do-Nuts still uses the same recipe. You can choose from 60 flavors a day, with lots of sprinkles, glazes, fillings and sugars. The most popular is still the original glazed, and it is surprisingly good — not heavy but denser and more satisfying than many plain glazed donuts. And their Buttermilk and Plain Cake are classic old-fashioned doughnuts.
Where to Find Shipley Do-Nuts
Shipley has the north and south of Colorado Springs covered at 7955 Fountain Mesa Road in Fountain and on Interquest at 11010 Cross Peak View.
Two More Best Doughnuts in the Pikes Peak Region
The Donut Mill
The Donut Mill is a Woodland Park icon. Stopping by for a sweet treat on the way to mountain adventures or as a day trip destination is a tradition for multiple generations of Springs residents. The Donut Mill has been serving its big doughnuts and giant 12-inch cinnamon rolls since 1977. The scene is homey and welcoming. You won’t find crazy toppings here, but you will get a wide range of solid, yummy cake or raised (aka yeast) doughnuts, plus lots of other sweet pastries.
Where to Find the Donut Mill
310 W. Midland Avenue in the center of Woodland Park. Look for the windmill on the right when coming from the Springs.
Pikes Peak Donuts
Where else can you get a doughnut at 14,115 feet? The doughnuts at the Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center are world famous for good reason. Maybe it’s the special recipe from 1916 to account for the high altitude that has been passed down since 1916. Maybe it’s the special 1,500-pound doughnut making machine that they had to build the visitor center around. Maybe everything just tastes better on top of a mountain — especially if you’ve hiked or biked to the summit. The Pikes Peak doughnuts are a special cake-yeast blend. It’s a basic menu — plain, fudge frosted or with sprinkles — but these old-fashioned doughnuts are hard to beat. So are the views.
Where to Find the Pikes Peak Donuts
On top of Pikes Peak at the Summit Visitor Center. Explore all the ways to get there in our 47 Ways to Play on Pikes Peak.
