If you’re wondering which Tim Hortons donuts are worth trying, these are the biggest hits and misses.
Favorite – Apple fritter
Apple fritter is the undisputed king of the Tim Hortons bakery case. This huge, craggy mound of yeast dough is loaded with pockets of cinnamon apple filling. With its insane crispy glazed ridges and soft interior, it’s the largest, most satisfying donut Tim Hortons offers.
Favorite – Honey cruller
When you try it fresh out of the fryer, honey crullers are nothing short of a miracle. They are so light, airy, and twisted into that perfect little wheel shape that they evaporate almost the moment they touch your tongue.
And that sweet honey glaze? It blankets each individual ridge with a flavor and mouthfeel that no other breakfast donut can match.
Favorite – Boston cream
Canada’s most popular filled donut, the Boston cream donut, is ingenious.
It’s a soft and fluffy yeast dough filled with cool, creamy vanilla custard, topped with a dense and delicious chocolate fondant with a satisfying snap. It’s rich, indulgent, messy, and totally worth the extra napkin.
Favorite – Chocolate glazed
If there’s one cake donut that true connoisseurs swear by, it’s the chocolate glazed. This chocolate cake ring is smothered in sweet sugar glaze, which seals in all that moisture you never knew you wanted.
It’s rich, fudgy, and decadent with a familiar flavor we’ve all known and loved for years.
Favorite – Canadian maple
Another variation on the filled classic is the Canadian maple. A fluffy yeast donut is injected with smooth custard filling, then topped with sweet maple fondant.
The messier contrast between gooey custard center and sweet maple topping is very satisfying, dessert-like.
Favorite – Sour cream glazed
Don’t be deceived by the name; sour cream glazed cake donut is a moist masterpiece. The sour cream added to the batter makes for an amazingly soft, cake-like inside with just enough tang to offset the super sweet heavy glaze that coats the donut.
Plus, it has a great crunchy outside that crumbles beautifully.
Favorite – Honey dip
Sometimes less is more, and this honey dip proves you don’t need creative fillings or playful sprinkles to make a delicious donut.
This easy, traditional yeast donut is fried until golden brown and comes out of the fryer supremely light and fluffy. It’s then dipped whole into a sweet, glossy glaze. It’s your basic, no-fuss morning glory.
Avoid – Blueberry fritter
Its infamous apple counterpart might be a masterpiece of texture. But far too often, its blueberry cousin is a greasy, doughy disappointment.
Where there should be crispness and chunks of fruity goodness, there lies a dense, soggy brick covered in syrupy fruit flavor. There is no crunch, just a wet mouthful of overly sweet paste.
Avoid – Old fashioned plain
Biting into an old-fashioned plain donut can feel like a direct punishment for your mouth. With neither a sugar glaze or chocolate dip to save it, this cake donut is exceptionally dry, crumbly and dustily chokeable.
Skip it unless you plan on dunking the whole thing into your cup of coffee.
Avoid – Powdered jelly
Sure, a donut dusted with sugar, packed full of fruit jam sounds great. But it doesn’t work practically.
The powder coats your entire shirt when you take your first bite, and the jelly isn’t always so evenly spread throughout, so you usually end up with a mouthful of dry dough, then a jelly filling explosion. And it’s too messy for an on-the-go snack.
Avoid – Vanilla dip
This donut relies entirely on its pretty look to hide a massive lack of flavor depth. The vanilla fondant topping is cloyingly sweet with no real vanilla bean taste, and the colored sprinkles leave an unnecessarily waxy and gross texture on an already doughy circle of dough.
It’s a rainbow-colored trap that’s only attractive to toddlers who go for looks over taste.
Avoid – Honey cruller (day-old)
A fresh cruller is a masterpiece, but let a cruller sit under those heat lamps long enough and it becomes a sad carcass of what it was meant to be.
The hours leech the glorious, pillowy inside down to nothing. The glaze turns into a hard, greasy crunch. If you don’t grab it right off the morning delivery baker’s rack, it becomes an oily disappointment.
Avoid – Maple dip
Canada has world-renowned maple syrup, so for this donut to be artificially flavoured with chemically tasting maple fondant is a national tragedy.
The flavour reminds you of those cheap bottles of syrupy substitute you pour on pancakes when you don’t have real maple. It completely masks the simple yeast donut beneath it.
Avoid – Chocolate toasted coconut
It tries to do way too many things at once and subsequently ruins what would otherwise be a delightful chocolate ring. The toasted coconut flakes that are shredded on top often dry out from the heat of the bakery lights. The resulting texture is scratchy and chewy, like eating wood shavings.
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