Who doesn’t love that nice little round dessert called a donut?  The first Friday of every June is National Donut Day!  That means this Friday we have the chance to celebrate that delicious dessert.

Where did the donut come from?  Well one theory is that the delicious dessert was a North American invention by the Dutch.  In the 19th century they were usually called oliekoek or in Dutch “oil cake”.  But Hanson Gregory says he was the inventor of the ring shaped donut.  When he was 16 on a trading ship, when he was dissatisfied with the greasiness, so he removed the center with a pepperbox.  Even then an anthropologist Paul R. Mullins, found a cookbook mentioning donuts, dating 1803.  Lastly, in 2013 there was a record of recipes and tips written in 1800 by the wife of Baron Thomas Dimdale for “dow nuts” that was found.

So who started National Donut Day and why?  In June 1983 a young military doctor by the name of Morgan Pett was on his way to help wounded soldiers.  He thought the soldiers would like a little pick-me-up, so he stopped by a local bakery and grabbed 8-dozen donuts to handout to the wounded soldiers. One of the wounded soldiers Samuel Geary greatly appreciated the donut and decided to create a fundraiser with Pett to give every wounded soldier  & the needy a donut.  A couple years later The Salvation Army joined in with helping the movement.

Before Morgan Pett gave donut to wounded soldiers, The Salvation Army had created “huts” or social/canteen centers where soldiers could obtain supplies and fresh bake goods during World War I in France. They had sent over 250 volunteers, usually four women per hut to help take care of them men. They then started having trouble making enough bake goods in these small huts, so they took over abandoned buildings near the front line. Then Margaret Sheldon & Helen Purviance, two volunteers, came up with the idea to make donut. They were an instant hit with the soldiers and the ladies and the workers became known as “Doughnut Dollies”.

In Chicago National Donut Day is used to raise money for The Salvation Army.  This year will be their 78th annual National Donut Day with Entenmann’s.  For more information please click here.  Entenmann’s is also giving the chance to win FREE donut for a year!  For more information and to enter please visit their Facebook @ Facebook.com/Entenmanns.

Don’t forget the other donut holidays! Jelly donut day is June 8th, Cream filled donut day September 14th & buy a donut day on October 30th.  So don’t forget to mark your calendars for those days.

Now with a little more knowledge about this delicious dessert, why not go enjoy a nice donut on June 5th.  If you have Krispy Kreme around you, they will be handing out a FREE donut of your choice.  Dunkin’ Donuts will be giving out a FREE donut with a purchase of a drink.

Not really in the mood to go out and wait in those long lines?  You could always make your own donuts, check out my Pinterest board for all your donut recipes @ Pinterst.com/TiffSetzler/Fried-Rings.

Living in the Pittsburgh area, don’t forget to checkout Buzz N The Burgh to see where you can get your local donut @ BuzzNTheBurgh.com/

Don’t forget to share your donut or donut selfie on Instagram #NationalDonutDay!