12 Popular Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Ranked Worst To Best

There are two types of people in this world: Those who see the "Hot Doughnuts Now" sign at Krispy Kreme and pull in without hesitation, and others who truly haven't lived. Not every state gets to experience the glow of the Krispy Kreme light, but a fresh, hot doughnut is a national treasure, and nobody does it better than Krispy Kreme. While the original glazed is the doughnut darling of the chain's decadent products, it does not stop the brand from bringing other flavors to the table. Everyone has their go-to, and some even take store-bought doughnuts and upgrade them at home with simple ingredients. 

Maybe you like cake doughnuts best. Perhaps it's a filled doughnut that does it for you. You could be an adventure seeker when it comes to sweet treats and love all of the seasonal and specialty flavors that pop in and out of the menu rotation. Krispy Kreme is no stranger to magical doughnut collabs that drive traffic to its stores. You could easily walk into a Krispy Kreme with a small village and find a flavor for every person in the pack. There's a lot of competition in the doughnut market, but there's only one Krispy Kreme. I love a doughnut, so being able to grab a dozen from Krispy Kreme to rank and review feels like my time to shine. I stuck with popular regular and seasonal flavors, but there are always new, limited-time varieties on the menu, too.

For this Krispy Kreme review, I purchased a dozen doughnuts. The flavors are all menu regulars, and most have been staples for years. I ranked them all based on flavor, texture, fillings, icing, toppings, and sweetness. 

Instead of venturing into Krispy Kreme for a Strawberries and Kreme doughnut, just pour an entire bag of sugar down my throat and toss in a strawberry or two. It will be the same experience as the Strawberries and Kreme doughnut. It might even be better to be honest. I can't even do justice to highlighting the flavor profile accurately because all I taste is aggressive, unrelenting sugar. I took the smallest of bites and was still taken aback by the sweetness. How does anyone actually finish this, and are you okay? I need to know.

The pink iced doughnut is filled with cream mixed with a dollop of strawberry jelly. It looks pretty, but the rest of the doughnut completely eclipses the actual flavor. It was offensive, and I felt attacked by sweetness. I would stay away from the Strawberries and Kreme at all costs unless you want to risk hitting up your dentist with a mouthful of cavities from the sugar content. If you do prefer sweets so intense they make your eyes twitch, this is without a doubt the Krispy Kreme doughnut for you.

Oh, how I wanted to revel in this doughnut. I love apple pie and all the apple pie things. The soft, velvety apples drenched in thick, sweet jelly-like filling with a flaky, buttery crust is what it's all about. The cinnamon apple-filled doughnut looks appetizing. It presents as fluffy and is generously dusted with powdered cinnamon that makes it look legit. All signs point to shoving a delicious apple pie into the body of a Krispy Kreme doughnut. As I went in for the first bite, I felt good about it. The cinnamon dust tastes good, and the doughnut is definitely soft. Unfortunately, it went off the rails from there.

The moment the doughnut's apple filling hit my taste buds, I felt immense regret. The filling looked similar to an apple pie, but the flavor was off-putting and accompanied by an equally terrible aftertaste. I don't know exactly where it all went awry in the Krispy Kreme process, but I ended up spitting it out because it wasn't worth digesting. Whatever is going on with this Krispy Kreme nod to apple pie, it's not good. The cinnamon apple-filled is utterly disappointing and a pretty close second to the Strawberries and Kreme disaster.

I don't think cake doughnuts get enough respect. A good cake doughnut is spectacular. It's a completely different texture than a traditional yeast doughnut, and as far as I'm concerned, there is plenty of room for both at the table. I am an equal opportunity doughnut fan and am sad to report that Krispy Kreme's Original Glazed Cake Doughnut is barely mediocre. It's not bad, but it's also not a frontrunner in any world. I do like the texture of this cake doughnut in general. It's soft and moist with a nice subtle crunch and sugary icing finish.

Where Krispy Kreme falls flat is the overall flavor of the glazed cake. It's just okay, and there's nothing that would make me come back for it. It also has a slight aftertaste similar to the cinnamon apple doughnut. I'm not sure why, but a number of the Krispy Kreme doughnuts had this issue, and some were more noticeable than others. I think without that funky aftertaste, it could have ranked higher on this list. I would possibly give the original glazed cake a second chance to see if it was just a fluke, but definitely not a third.

Krispy Kreme has a selection of filled doughnuts in the display case, and it's a good variety for those who are into filling. Personally, I am not a huge fan of custards and jellies inside a doughnut, but creme — or Kreme, as the popular doughnut chain calls it — I can get behind. The Chocolate Iced Kreme doughnut certainly looks the part. It's perfectly round and looks like it's just the right amount of fluffy. I will give it that. The fluff factor is there, and it's consistent with Krispy Kreme quality in that sense. The Kreme is the problem with this doughnut.

The white cream has a nice texture, but it's so offensively sweet that it was hard to stomach. Since most Krispy Kreme doughnuts have a baseline that's already sweet, any more sugar can easily take it on an unfortunate path past enjoyable. That's the case with the Chocolate Iced Kreme doughnut. I ended up eating around the edges like a toddler and tossing the remaining center that held the saccharine-charged cream right into the trash.

When I saw the New York cheesecake-filled doughnut behind the glass case, I was probably more excited than I should be about a doughnut. I knew immediately that it was coming home with me. While it doesn't resemble cheesecake, it has all the notes. It looks delicious and indulgent from the get-go. Krispy Kreme nailed the round, puffy exterior with this filled doughnut. It's topped with a thin layer of white icing and then with a good amount of graham cracker crumbs for fun. Those crunchy graham cracker bits paired with a soft doughnut and smooth cream offer a great play on textures and are well-balanced.

After the excessive sugar high from the first few Krispy Kreme confections, I assumed this one would disappoint me as well, so I went in with low expectations. Thankfully and surprisingly, the sweetness of the cheesecake-filled treat was much more chill than the others from Krispy Kreme. The cheesecake-flavored Kreme does slightly resemble the signature tang of a good cheesecake, but it could be so much better. As far as texture, it was in a weird place between thin and thick. I wish it were thicker like actual cheesecake to truly capture the essence of a quintessential slice of New York's finest.

Just like its Kreme-filled cousin from earlier, the chocolate-iced custard doughnut from Krispy Kreme offers a soft, pillowy base to work with and a modest layer of chocolate icing. It really doesn't need more than that, though, because even a smidge extra would take it past the acceptable amount of sugar. Less is more when it comes to Krispy Kreme's icing and fillings. While I already admitted I'm not a custard enthusiast, I do appreciate that Krispy Kreme does not go overboard with the filling in this particular doughnut. I still don't like the custard at all, but it's easier to avoid when there's not an overwhelming amount.

If you enjoy a Boston cream doughnut or an eclair, you'll probably be into the chocolate-iced custard. Overall, the flavors are much more controlled and understated, which is the only reason I ranked it higher. However, there's also nothing memorable about this one to make it stand out and keep it on my doughnut radar. The chocolate-iced custard is mid and not a point more, so it's fitting that this Krispy Kreme treat landed in the middle of the heap.

What the Oreo Cookies and Kreme doughnut really succeeds at is the overall aesthetic. When you see any type of cookies-and-cream style dessert or treat on a menu, certain expectations come with it. It has to have some variation of the signature black and white Oreo color palette, and it must incorporate crushed cookies in some way. Krispy Kreme understands the assignment and delivers a doughnut worthy of the Oreo legacy from a visual perspective.

It's a round, puffed-up doughnut with chocolate icing, crushed Oreo cookies, and a cute little white icing drizzle. Nailed it. The cream inside is a little too runny, but there's one substantial flaw with this Krispy Kreme creation, and it's too big to ignore. The cookies-and-cream flavor is there, but muted. It's like a shy version of cookies and cream that hasn't found its voice yet, so it just shrinks into the crowd. Krispy Kreme seems to either overdo it with intensity or hold back, not letting a particular flavor shine. This one is the latter, and it's a shame because it looked like a winner.

My family suddenly shows up every time I review food. The second I walked in the door with the Krispy Kreme box, they swarmed like vultures. The Hershey's Double Chocolate doughnut was for sure one of my husband's top picks, and he had his eye on it, waiting for the green light from me. It was fine, nothing special. To me, Hershey's has a very specific and recognizable flavor, and I love it. The doughnut did not have it. Don't get me wrong, there is more than enough chocolate in this Krispy Kreme doughnut. Perhaps even too much. I love chocolate, so take that for what it's worth.

It just doesn't have that beloved Hershey's flavor. It's just plain, uninspired chocolate. Krispy Kreme's Original Glazed doughnut is the base, and the top is dipped in a layer of Hershey's chocolate, allegedly. Then a generous dollop of chocolate buttercream sits right on top, signaling chocolate lovers everywhere to come get a taste. With the intense amount of chocolate involved, I was surprised how boring it actually tasted. My husband disagreed and loved it. You know what they say, though. Opposites attract.

This is where things started to finally turn around for the doughnut giant. Krispy Kreme's Original Glazed Blueberry Cake doughnut is practically screaming for a cup of coffee to sit next to it, and maybe even give it a dunk or two. It does not skimp on the blueberry flavor, right down to the little bits of blue infused in the actual doughnut. Blueberry is making its way into everything from lattes to cocktails and beyond. Similar to the plain glazed cake doughnut from Krispy Kreme, it has the slight crunch of sugar in the sweet coating, and it's delightful against the soft doughnut. 

It is definitely on the sweeter side, but much more palatable than some of the other Krispy Kreme treats. I wouldn't be mad, though, if they toned it down just a little more and let the blueberry do its thing instead of making sugar the main event. After we polished off the glazed blueberry cake doughnut, I had regrets about not popping it in the microwave for 10 seconds to warm it up just a smidge. I might have to go back to make this happen and see if reality matches fantasy, in the name of research, of course.

There are a handful of tried and true classics behind the Krispy Kreme counter, and the strawberry iced with sprinkles is definitely one of them. It looks like a picture-perfect doughnut, and I feel like there's no way to be sad when eating one. I mean, just look at her. From the silky smooth pink icing to the rainbow sprinkles, there's no denying that it's one of the most cheerful Krispy Kreme doughnuts on the menu.

It tastes exactly like it looks. The pink icing is fruity, sweet, and just the right amount to complement the original glazed doughnut underneath. If you don't need the fanfare of specialty doughnuts with fancy fillings or other bells and whistles, the strawberry iced with sprinkles is a great go-to. Plus, if you are not a chocolate person, it's a decent option to satisfy your sweet tooth. The strawberry iced with sprinkles is wildly popular with kids, as evidenced by how many mine have scarfed down in their lifetimes. The one from Krispy Kreme is a crowd pleaser for sure and always consistent.

This one is for you, chocolate lovers. If you prefer chocolate-flavored treats to the fruity varieties, listen up. Everything I said about the strawberry iced with sprinkles above is also applicable to Krispy Kreme's Chocolate Iced with Sprinkles. The original glazed doughnut is delectable and sweet, and the chocolate icing gives it another boost, but it's doable. The chocolate iced with sprinkles is another model treat by doughnut standards. It's very put together in a classic way. The doughnut is a perfect circle, and every single sprinkle is in its place and ready to party.

For the doughnut traditionalists who prefer to keep things simple, the chocolate iced with sprinkles is a long-time Krispy Kreme classic that fits the bill. Try this. Grab yourself the chocolate-iced doughnut and pour a glass of cold milk to accompany it. You will not be sorry. The sugar, the crunch of the rainbow sprinkles, and the excellent original glazed doughnut are a solid choice for a fulfilling sweet delight. Krispy Kreme knows exactly how to bring customers in the door and fulfill their doughnut cravings, and it has the track record to prove it. 

This is where it's at, and I will die on this hill. The original glazed doughnut from Krispy Kreme is downright legendary and deserves a spot in the doughnut hall of fame. It's the most compelling reason to pull into the parking lot when the "Hot Doughnuts Now" sign is illuminated. You can fill doughnuts with expensive jewels and top them with 24-carat gold, and I would still choose the original glazed every single time without question. The OG Krispy Kreme Glazed doughnut has come a long way from its original recipe, but put simply, it's the GOAT of the Krispy Kreme dynasty.

I remember when they sold these in high school for fundraisers, and I had to control myself to only buy one. I'm going to make a bold statement and say that this is a flawless example of how a classic glazed doughnut should be. The flavor is fantastic, and the doughnut itself melts in your mouth. It's a challenge not to polish off a dozen on your own. When the original glazed is hot, forget it. It can't be outdone, and there's a reason it's the Krispy Kreme staple. I swear they could remove every other doughnut from the menu and just serve the original glazed for the rest of time. It never disappoints. This one from Krispy Kreme is a showstopper, and it doesn't get any better. No notes.