Muriel’s Donuts

Found Muriel’s as we were passing through on 89 and looking for a snack to hold us over to our destination in VT. It’s in a bit of a weird location, and I felt like I was walking into Muriel’s personal kitchen. But these are definitely the most delicious donuts I’ve ever had. Fresh out of the fryer, jelly filled sticks hand coated in a powdered sugar & cinnamon mixture. Still warm, perfectly crisp on the exterior and cakey on the interior. The jelly was even warm! Take the detour off of 89, bypass dunkin, and Don’t miss this lovely spot!

I was on a short visit to The Valley and discovered here the Parthenon of donuts. I mean, these are the most delicious donuts I have eaten in many decades. There’s only one problem: I live 1500 miles away. Muriel, are you interested in franchising your brand and product?

Awesome donuts, have been a Patch family tradition since we were kids. I just wish you were open on Sunday’s :)

It’s a really cool place, but to be fair, I’m not always a donut person. I eat certain donuts, but I will often pass on Dunkin for example when I get coffee. Donuts are cheap and given to you by Muriel herself! However, I ate one and man, it was super, super rich. I felt like I needed to eat salad the rest of the day. They are super reasonable, but be prepared to bring cash. Also, check on the hours-Muriel’s is open for three hours or so-​maybe 10 am to 1 pm? Probably because she can.

Hot baked Muriel’s for hot, baked people.

It’s National Donut Day so let me tell you about the best donuts you’re gonna get in the Upper Valley.
There are a few drawbacks to this little hole in the wall. Muriel keeps unusual hours. The shop is very small and dated with nowhere to sit. There’s no coffee offered so you still need to take that trip to Dunkin’. The selection is very limited. And, as one astute Unilocaler pointed out, the donuts are cooked with lard (because apparently someone thought donuts were supposed to be healthy…).
But Muriel’s only claims to do one thing; make a small selection of donuts. And when you’re the best at what you claim to do then you damn well better be getting five stars. Stop by, drop a few bucks, get a couple jelly sticks, and have yourself a good morning.

We stopped by Muriel’s donuts to see what we would find after reading the only other review. My goodness, a donut like this simply doesn’t exist anywhere else I’ve been! This was the freshest donut I’ve had in my life. It was perfectly crispy on the outside, a golden, fragrant crispiness, dusted with sugar right before our eyes (one sugar, one cinnamon), and the cake inside was soft and light. On first bite we looked each other in the eyes, both thinking, THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE DONUT!!! There was no need to use words.
This is something special. The fact that Muriel is making the donuts herself, and that she had a lovely smile and kindly words for us, and that the space is just a little walk up window in the house looking straight into the kitchen makes it even better. A hidden gem.

Muriel’s Donuts is a no frills spot — the basement of a multifamily building, it has a walk up window where you face the donuts, the baker, the solid as all get out donut making table (it was in the building before the donut business when there was a butcher in residence but don’t worry, the donuts are rolled out on a new wood surface on top of the old butcher block) and the fryer all at once. Donuts are the basic — plain, jelly, coated with sugar or cinnamon & powdered sugar, and they also have krullers, — known also as a jelly stick if you want jelly in it. But in taste and texture, these donuts have no peer. I ordered a stick with powdered cinnamon sugar. The chosen stick was taken out of the tray and dropped into a plastic bag with said mixture, shaken up on the spot and served up freshly coated. The outer texture was slightly crusty and crunchy on the outside, which yielded to a flakey soft, light interior that had a very fresh not too sugary taste. I suspect part of the secret was the big can of lard I saw tucked under the counter. So, enjoy, but in moderation!