I put aside my hatred for donuts to try Krispy Kreme’s new Dessert Minis

On Jan. 12, Krispy Kreme launched Dessert Minis: four dessert-themed, miniature Krispy Kreme donuts released as part of the company’s push to “celebrate ALL life’s wins, big and small” in 2021.

Some people might describe me as “brave,” as I made my way through Times Square to New York’s giant Krispy Kreme flagship. At least, that’s what I was thinking about myself, considering I famously do not like donuts, and yet I was going to buy a box containing four of them — one of each flavor: strawberry cheesecake, birthday cake, lemon bar and chocolate chip cookie dough.

There are two ways to order the minis: either in a four-count box (which I did) or by splurging on a 16-count box, which comes with three of each flavor plus an additional four original glazed donuts.

I was pleased that Krispy Kreme went with good dessert flavors instead of something crazy (like, say, a ghost pepper) and for whatever scientific reason, things that are smaller than they should be are very cute to me.

For my rating system, I analyzed how much the donut tastes like the dessert it’s named after — then, I ranked all four donut flavors.

The order in which I ate these was random, except I deliberately ate the lemon bar last because I love lemon and didn’t want it to taint my experience.

Strawberry Cheesecake

How much does it taste like the dessert: 1/10

Ranking: 4/4

This tasted exactly like a regular Krispy Kreme donut. Relative to the other minis, there wasn’t a lot of icing, and thus the underlying glazed donut overpowered the taste.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

How much does it taste like the dessert: 8/10

Ranking: 2/4

I was impressed with this one. It tastes very chocolatey, but I actually think the icing is really made out of edible cookie dough. I liked the experience of a chewy donut and crunchy chocolate chips.

Birthday Cake

How much does it taste like the dessert: 3/10

Ranking: 3/4

Birthday cake is cute, don’t get me wrong, but the donut straight up doesn’t taste like one. Krispy Kreme needs to add either more icing or those little cake bits on top because it’s simply too thin to compete with the glazed donut. This wouldn’t stop me from buying it for a friend’s birthday, however.

Lemon Bar

How much does it taste like the dessert: 9.5/10

Ranking: 1/4

Surprise, surprise, I loved the lemon bar-flavored one. This is how thick all the icing and flavoring needs to be on all of the donuts, Krispy Kreme! Is lemon flavoring just more powerful than, say, strawberry cheesecake? Who’s to say. I loved this one because it did not taste like a donut, which is my ideal donut experience.

@watchintheknowfood

We tried Krispy Kreme’s new mini doughnuts

♬ original sound – In The Know Food

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