# How did doughnuts come to be breakfast foods? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 4, 2007, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517 "2007-03-04T06:46:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![berff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@berff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berff)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/1 "2007-03-04T06:46:32Z")
It seems that doughnuts are traditionally associated with breakfast more than they are with other meals, but really, why would eating a bowl of ice cream or a piece of cake or even a candy bar be any different? They’re all high carb, high fat, low protein foods, but people would probably think I’m crazy if I prepared a breakfast of M&Ms and french fries the next morning. Along the same lines, why is it that many other foods are often reserved for certain meals? I sometimes enjoy a bowl of cheerios with oatmeal for dinner, which unlike doughtnuts, actually provide nutrients. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/2 "2007-03-04T07:03:36Z")
Simple. Donuts are sugary, giving you a quick jolt…but not too briefly, like a candy bar would, since doughnuts have enough starch and fat to even out the sugar rush a bit. Really, though, it boils down to convenience. Donuts are small, cheap, and come in a large variety (in a large group, everyone gets what they want). They aren’t too messy to eat on the run or while driving, are easy to hold while doing other things, and don’t need utensils or dishware. ---
**Author:** ![Jaochai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2acd7d/32.png) [@Jaochai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaochai)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/3 "2007-03-04T07:39:20Z")
I think it’s also because anything dough-y or bread-y is considered natural for breakfast. I mean, croissants aren’t good for you either, but that’s the ubiquitous European breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/4 "2007-03-04T07:56:38Z")
Who eats doughnuts for breakfast? Other than one car salesman I used to work with whose breakfast consisted of two chocolate doughnuts and a Pepsi (blech!). I don’t know anybody who eats them for breakfast, though. Best all-round bready breakfast treat? Muffins, without question. You can make them at home easily, fill them with goodies like whole grains, nuts, and dried fruit, and they’re non-perishable (well, unless you leave them sit in the sun, I suppose). Having said that, I do remember when the baker used to come and sometimes I’d have brownies for breakfast on a Saturday morning but now I’m grown up, I can’t hack anything that sweet for breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/5 "2007-03-04T08:27:42Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Who eats doughnuts for breakfast? Other than one car salesman I used to work with whose breakfast consisted of two chocolate doughnuts and a Pepsi (blech!). I don’t know anybody who eats them for breakfast, though. Best all-round bready breakfast treat? Muffins, without question. You can make them at home easily, fill them with goodies like whole grains, nuts, and dried fruit, and they’re non-perishable (well, unless you leave them sit in the sun, I suppose). Having said that, I do remember when the baker used to come and sometimes I’d have brownies for breakfast on a Saturday morning but now I’m grown up, I can’t hack anything that sweet for breakfast. [/QUOTE] Don’t kid yourself about muffins. They’re slightly better than donuts, but only slightly. Admittedly they’re less sweet, but often have more fat than people are aware of. The nuts you mention contribute to this, I might add. And dried fruit is pretty much solid sugar, and murder on your teeth to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/6 "2007-03-04T09:04:22Z")
Doughnuts and bacon are the two things that make me actually want to get out of bed. Yes, together. Why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/7 "2007-03-04T09:25:58Z")
Bacon doughnuts? I think you’re on to something! ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/8 "2007-03-04T10:42:17Z")
I don’t know. My favorite donut is devil’s food with chocolate frosting. If it were in the shape of a wedge it would be chocolate cake and therefore an after-dinner dessert. But since it’s round with a hole in the middle, it’s breakfast food. I don’t know why. It just is. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/9 "2007-03-04T12:19:43Z")
It is not just in America. The standard breakfast food here is a savory donut, usually eaten with beans. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/10 "2007-03-04T12:30:59Z")
[QUOTE=Red Barchetta] Bacon doughnuts? I think you’re on to something! [/QUOTE] Mmm… Bacon with scrambled egg inside a jelly doughnut, with cheese. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/11 "2007-03-04T13:33:01Z")
There is no logic regarding breakfast. You can have steak…if only if you put eggs next to it. You can have hash browns. But not french fries. Fot godsake just have some cereal and a nice cup of tea and go to work. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/12 "2007-03-04T13:39:24Z")
Whoever was doing the cooking would have to get up in the middle of the night to start dough for bread. This was acceptable in cities where the neighborhood baker supplied everyone (except that deadbeat Jean Valjean), but on farms, or lumber, mining, army etc. camps it was tougher for the same person who had to clean up after the previous evening’s meal to be back up to start the bread. So people got donuts, biscuts and cornbread for breakfast. Or you could serve up bowls of gruel to the troops. Just as easy to whip up as donuts, but if you do it too many morning is a row you get it thrown back at you. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/13 "2007-03-04T17:10:26Z")
[QUOTE=Malienation] Don’t kid yourself about muffins. They’re slightly better than donuts, but only slightly. Admittedly they’re less sweet, but often have more fat than people are aware of. The nuts you mention contribute to this, I might add. And dried fruit is pretty much solid sugar, and murder on your teeth to boot. [/QUOTE] Muffins one makes at home from scratch are likely to be quite a different thing from the store-bought muffins, which are about five times the size of my muffin pan, and are more like cake-shaped-like-a-muffin than a muffin. Some of them are even dusted with icing sugar. Healthy? Nope. I’ve never seen for sale muffins, the size of the muffins my mother used to make, and the size of my muffin pan. Maybe two inches across, max, at the base. Bran muffins of a reasonable (small) size, with raisin or banana in them, homemade… Please don’t take this away from me! ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/14 "2007-03-04T17:18:16Z")
New thread! [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8320478#post8320478](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8320478#post8320478) What else has grown TOO big for reasonable eating? ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-doughnuts-come-to-be-breakfast-foods/394517/15 "2007-03-04T17:43:03Z")
[QUOTE=Savannah] Muffins one makes at home from scratch are likely to be quite a different thing from the store-bought muffins, which are about five times the size of my muffin pan, and are more like cake-shaped-like-a-muffin than a muffin. Some of them are even dusted with icing sugar. Healthy? Nope. [/QUOTE] Exactly. I’m not talking about the store-bought, laden-with-oil abominations. They are dessert. Homemade muffins are a completely different animal. You can reduce the fat a lot or substitute prune purée or applesauce even if you want to go totally fat-free. A homemade muffin will have calories less than or equal to those in a plain bagel where doughnuts have between 200-350 calories each (from the Krispy Kreme site). So 280 - 300 calories for a couple muffins vs 400 - 700 for a couple doughnuts make a big difference.