21 Best Krispy Kreme Donuts

On our largest tasting expedition yet, we took on the behemoth task of tasting as many Krispy Kreme flavors as we can. I asked them at the store to add every unique flavor they had, and to add their best Krispy Kreme donuts if I needed extra.

Not only did they miss adding the Original flavor, which to many is one of the best Krispy Kreme donuts, but they also included two New York Cheese cake donuts (you will find out why this is a problem very soon).

We decided to try a quarter of each donut to do this ranking. Even then, we had to split the tasting over three sessions because it was too much sugar intake.

With my semi rant out of the way, lets get into the results below!

21. New York cheese cake

I have never had new York cheesecake, but if this donut is supposed to taste like it then I hope I never have to.

This was pretty terrible actually. Extremely bitter, with a weird hint of orange. There was a cheesecake flavor, but it was vastly overshadowed by the bitterness. It leaves a terrible after taste and is terrible overall. Yes, I said “terrible” three times.

Whatever they put on top of the donut is a disaster, but the filling isn’t great either.

Score: 1.5

20. Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Swirl

I should have bought my donuts before October, when everyone tries their own version of Pumpkin Spice but usually fails.

There is cinnamon and pumpkin spice, and that is it. There is a very light, extremely hard to find, hint of orange. This was sad. I didn’t really like it, the different flavors didn’t really mesh well together.

As someone who really enjoys pumkin pies, this was a disaster. It didn’t necessarily taste bad, it just didn’t taste like anything in particular.

Also, where is the cheesecake?? Should I just avoid anything with the word Cheesecake at Krispy Kreme?

Score: 3

19. Pumpkin spice original glazed

This was much better than the Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Swirl, but it was still pretty bad. The donut itself has this weird cinammon taste.

The second taster said there was a terrible after taste. I think the glaze made it slightly better because of the sugar.

Score: 3.5

18. Maple Iced Glazed

To say that I was disappointed with this one is a grand understatement. I love maple syrup and I live in Canada.

The donut itself is very good. However, the maple ice glazing was BAD. It tasted artificial and it also felt like it was burnt. More importantly, it did NOT taste like maple syrup, which was the biggest problem for me. The second taster thought it was too sweet. Just bad across the board.

Just get maple syrup from the store instead.

Score: 4

17. Chocolate Iced Kreme Filled

This was a mockery of a cream filling. Half of the donut literally had a spit of cream. Aside from that, the donut didn’t taste much different from the chocolate glazed one. Meaning the choclate didn’t taste that great.

The cream actually tastes good, but I had to deduct a few points because there was only a microscpic level of cream.

Score: 4

16. Chocolate Iced Sprinkles

I have mixed “fillings” about this one. The chocolate glazing isn’t anything to write home about and the sprinkles just didn’t feel right in here. It had a weird after taste too.

The second taster thought there was an oily taste. They thought the choclate glaze tasted cheap. They would eat it if it’s there for free, but wouldn’t buy it.

Score: 4.5

15. Pumkin spice cake

Out of the three pumpkin spice ones, I liked this one the most. I find the donut itself tastes better. I am not saying this one is good, it’s just the most tolerable. If you are bent on buying any of the pumpkin spice ones, I recommend this one. But I question your motives.

Score: 4.5

14. Glazed lemon filled

So we had VERY different opinions on this one.

I thought the filling was incredible. The lemon flavor tastes very unartificial and almost taste like lime juice. As someone that really enjoys citrusy things I was blown away.

The second taster despised this donut because they hated the zestiness and the lemon flavor. So if you’re not a big fan of this flavor, you might hate it.

However, if you like citrusy things, this will be an absolute lemon bomb. I highly recomend!

Second Taster: 2. Me: 8.

Score: 5

13. Glazed Chocolate Cake

It’s an okay cake, but not a good donut. I personally didn’t find the taste very appealing, and thought the chocolate flavor was odd and left a bit of a weird aftertaste.

One thing to note, is that this has the texture and dough of a cake and not a donut. It’s denser for sure. I personally liked that but some people might not.

Overall, the taste was lacking and very meh. If you want to eat a chocolate cake, just get an actual chocolate cake.

Score: 5.5

12. Chocolate Iced Glazed

Same as the Chocolate Glazed with sprinkles from above. The removal of the sprinkles made this slightly better though.

Score: 5.5

11. OREO® Cookies and Kreme

This was another donut where we were pretty divided.

It definitely tastes like Oreo, although not strong. But the cream filling inside isn’t good, and I just didn’t find it appetizing. I have to agree with the second taster though, there is a TON of cream in the donut; It just sucks.

Second taster: the cream tastes good, the sprinkles taste good, I like it, it’s a good donut. There’s a very good amount of cream in the donut as well.

Second Taster: 8. Me: 4

Score: 6

10. Original Filled Chocolate Kreme

HOLY, there is a lot of crème. The first bite was a magical experience. My eyes lit up. The chocolate filling unfortunately, has a bit of a weird taste and is artificial, but the cream’s texture is incredible.

Again, I cannot stress how great the first bite was. Unfortuntaely, the cream tastes kind of weird and that lingers with you for quite a bit after.

It started off as a 10, but ended as a 5.

Score: 7

9. Cinnamon apple filled

This is actually REALLY good. It’s like you’re eating an apple pie. The filling is plentiful and tasted very good, although could be improved slightly as there was a bit of a weird artificial taste.

Regardless, it was very delicious. The cinnamon and apple flavor was very well balanced.

Score: 7.5

8. Glazed Raspberry Filled

Very nice! I thought it was strawberry in the beginning because it tasted exactly like the powdered strawberry filled donut. This was an excellent donut. The filling wasn’t enough though. They should add a bit more filling because that would bring it up to an 8.5 easily.

The second taster wished it was powdered instead of glazed.

Score: 7.5

7. Chocolate Iced Custard Filled

We were a bit divided on this one too.

The filling is nice, but only fills half the donut on the inside. The second taster really liked this one because of the custard. I wasn’t too impressed overall. I think if you like Custard you will like this one though.

I personally found the chocolate to still be a big problem. It tastes weird. The chocolate has been very problematic for every donut we tasted, they should do something about it.

Second taster: 9, Me: 6.5

Score: 7.75

6. Strawberry Iced with Sprinkles

It’s the exact same as the strawberry iced donut, but with sprinkles. The sprinkles don’t add much though. It definitely looks more fun, and kids would likely prefer this over the plain one. I just don’t care too much for sprinkles or looks.

Score: 8

5. Strawberry Iced

The strawberry glazing is very similar to the Pocky one. It tastes a bit like strawberry ice-cream.

The donut is very light and airy and it really does melt in your mouth. The strawberry glaze has a bit of an artificial flavor to it, but it doesn’t detract from the experience.

Again, nothing to really hate on this one. However, the vanilla cream filled donuts are better than this for sure.

Score: 8

4. Caramel Kreme Crunch

There is a weird taste that I can’t figure out but other than that it’s actually pretty decent. There is a good amount of caramel filling in the donut as well.

Second taster: the caramel mixed with the crunchiness of the stuff on top is a perfect match. Whoever thought of this mix together is genius.

Score: 8

3. Powdered Strawberry Filled

This was REALLY good. The quality of the strawberry filling was surprisingly very good and didn’t taste artificial. Seriously, the filling only had a tiny hint of artificial flavoring. The powder added a nice touch and it was decently filled with the strawberry filling.

The sugar was at a good level. This might be because they used sugar powder instead of glazing.

Overall this was very very good. I personally liked this over the strawberry glazed one. The second taster liked the strawberry glazed more than this.

Score: 8.25

2. Cake Batter

The first bite made me think of those cakes you got as a kid. The filling had the exact same taste. It was surprisingly incredible. I was a little bit worried it might turn out like the birthday cake Oreo (which was horrific) but this was the opposite.

The sprinkles at the top were unecessary and really took away from the experience. They also took away from the cream which was the highlight of this donut for me. Without the sprinkles this would be a 10 (for me atleast).

Score: 8.5

1. Original Filled Original Kreme

After my first bite, I knew this was going to be one of the best Krispy Kreme donuts.

The crème is very light and nice, the other taster said it was ethereal. The whole donut is very light, but extremely flavorful. The glaze is nice, and for the other taster it was a bit on the sweeter side. For me it was fine, it was wonderful.

It melts in your mouth. My biggest complaint is that the dough is not thick enough, and you end up finishing way too quickly. Also, it would be much better if it had more cream, there was not enough of it.

The cream isn’t distributed equally throughout the donut. It’s only in like half of it.

Score: 9

Final Thoughts

Krispy Kreme has a strong reputation for making some very good donuts. It has an insane variety and offers a lot of unique flavors.

Unfortunately, some of those unique flavors and varities are often not that great.

My biggest problem with Krispy Kreme was the chocolate and pumpkin spice donuts. They absolutely need to change the chocolate to a more premium tasting flavor. They should probably get rid of their pumpkin spice ones.

That being said, their good flavors, are unrivaled. The Original and the Strawberry filled ones were incredibly delicious. The Cake Batter was an amazing surprise.

Overall, the donut itself is very nice and airy and is easy to eat. I have nothing negative to say about the donuts.

Also, never get the New York cheese cake.

You can find all the Krispy Kreme flavors here.

Keywords: Best Krispy Kreme Donuts