Austin's Gourdough's Gourmet Doughnuts

The doughnut. The favored treat for many a child. Often served with pink frosting and sprinkles, and once we grow up our tastes mature we begin to prefer far more sophisticated offerings such as the bear claw, or the understated simplicity of a good buttermilk doughnut. But the truth is that for the most part doughnuts are doughnuts; to be sure not all doughnut shops are created equal, but they all offer largely the same variety. Plain, cinnamon rolls, apple fritters, yeast risen, and most with some degree of sugary glaze.

In Austin things have started to change. Of course we have the ubiquitous doughnut shop with their cloned creations, but we also have a real gem just south of the river- Gourdough's Gourmet Donuts. What do they offer? In short, it is nothing less than the next evolutionary phase our much beloved fried pastry. Cake doughnuts fried to order and offered with dizzying array toppings. Fried chicken? Check. Maple syrup? Check. Ham and cream cheese? BACON? Check, check, and check. Dave and I have been to Gourdoughs on several different occasions, usually getting the same things. This time we decided to mix things up a bit.

 

First up, we got the Puddin'. Southern comfort food if ever there was such a thing. And as any good southerner knows, the best dessert around is banana pudding. They start with the fresh doughnut, top it cream cheese icing, bananas, vanilla wafers, and cover it with cream filling. Everything works nicely together to create that feeling that only a banana pudding can create, but with fantastic doughnut underneath. In fact, I think it's fair to say that the doughnut alone without any toppings is worth it. I'd actually go as far as to say that it may be the best cake doughnut I've had anywhere.

 

 Next up, we had to get the doughnut version of what is probably my favorite dessert- pecan pie. Pecan pie as we all know, is almost purely sugar but stuffed full of nuts so we can pretend that it's not so bad for us. Like the protein in pecans could somehow balance out the rest of the pie. It can't, but I like to pretend anyway. With this doughnut the start with the same fried to order cake doughnut, then cover it with bananas, pecans, and caramel. They finish it by adding crumbled graham crackers to simulate the crust. This is easily one of my favorite items on the menu now.

As I had stated earlier, we have been to Gourdoughs many times in the past. Perhaps too many? Hmm... Either way, we have been able to try several other items that I feel bear mentioning. Unfortunately I don't have any photos to show you, so we'll just have them as list items-

The Porky's- A doughnut with cream cheese, Canadian bacon (that is to say, ham), and a little jalepeno jelly. This is my favorite item on the menu. It feels more like a meal than a snack.

Flying Pig- A doughnut with maple icing and bacon. Sound strange? Think pancakes and bacon.

Sailor Jerry- A truly grown-up offering here. A doughnut, icing, and rum. That's right, a rumcake doughnut. This one is my buddy Devyn's favorite.

As good as these doughnuts are, keep in mind they are quite large and rather rich so you might consider taking along a partner to help you finish. As usual we had a great time at Gourdough's and can't wait to come back with visitors to our fair city just to show them the kind of town that Austin is!

AFJ Rating- 3 Lone Star Points

Gourdoughs

1219 S. Lamar Blv d

 Austin, TX 78704

Hours:

Sun: 10am-12am

Mon-Tue: 11am-12am

Wed-Thur: 11am-1am

Fri 11am-3am

Sat:10am-3am