The grand prize winning doughnut for the “Create Dunkin’s Next Donut” is “Toffee for Your Coffee,” a glazed, sour cream cake doughnut topped with chopped Heath Bar created by donut devotee Jeff Hager of Hoover, Alabama. Jeff wins $12,000 and his winning doughnut will be sold in Dunkin’ Donuts locations throughout the country beginning this fall.
To commemorate National Doughnut Day and the announcement of the grand prize winning doughnut, today participating Dunkin’ Donuts shops throughout the country will offer every customer a free doughnut of their choice, with the purchase of any beverage, limit one per customer. National Doughnut Day, held the first Friday of June each year, was started by the Chicago Salvation Army more than 70 years ago.
According to Jeff Hager, the inspiration for his doughnut creation was simple.
“Glazed sour cream donuts are my absolute favorite, Heath toffee is by far the best candy treat, and Dunkin’ Donuts sells the best coffee,” he says. “Put that all together and you’ve got ‘Toffee For Your Coffee!’”
Jeff was selected as one of 12 contest finalists from nearly 130,000 donut contest creations submitted online. As a finalist, he received $1,200 and traveled to Dunkin’ Donuts’ headquarters in Canton, Massachusetts last week for a bake-off before Dunkin’ Donuts’ culinary team and company leaders, along with Paul Mullins, author of Glazed America: A History of the Doughnut, and Diane Werner, food director for Taste of Home, the No. 1 cooking magazine in the country. The winning doughnut was selected based on the vote of the bake-off judging panel, as well as America’s online vote at www.dunkindonuts.com/donut.
