“There’s something really special about donuts….It’s that it’s like music.  It’s that sense memory. There’s something familiar whether it’s the smell, look, or the feel.  People are just reminded of either the last time they had our doughnut or the first time that they had a doughnut whether it was with their parents or their grandparents. Whenever it whenever it was.”

This ain’t your average doughnut shop.

“At Union Square donuts we’re chefs, we’re bakers.   We’re we’re constantly pushing the boundaries of creative flavors but also staying really true to what to what we do.”

And whether you’re at their flagship store in Somerville or outposts in Brookline and The Boston Public Market, you’re bound to go nuts for Union Square Donuts.

What started as a small operation 5 years ago, has turned into a delicious empire, where they make each and every doughnut by hand according to owner, Josh Danoff.

“Every doughnut his hand rolled and hand shaped, fried and hand dipped and the just the amount of care and time and energy and just a labor of love that this is even as we grow to still be doing this all by hand it means a lot.”

You’ll always find Executive Pastry Chef, Cory Clark heading up the team of Union Square bakers

“So many people work on this every single day.   Different people mix them.  Different people shape them.  Different people sheet them out and cut them.  It really has to all work together as a team in order to get it right, and when it does,  it’s so satisfying.”

The process starts early every morning.

“So these are yeasted raised donuts so what that means is they have yeast but they also have butter. We start by mixing our dough.  We cut them.  We portion them by hand and then people roll them into balls.   And once they’re in balls, they go onto trays and then they’re sheeted out and cut so they look like the donuts you see right here.”

Then it’s time for a dip in the fryer.

“So right now we’re going to be frying some of our classic brioche dough and we’re going to be frying them each for a minute and ten seconds on each side.  What you’re looking for when I flip these over you’re going to see a golden ring around the outside and that is what happens when you’ve done it correctly.  When all of the dough gods have assembled and you know you’ve done a good job.  It’s a little bit crispy on the outside and if you cut it open you can see this gorgeous lovely crumb inside and that is exactly what you’re looking for.  It just light and buttery and delicious.”  

From there, it’s all about the glaze and toppings.

“Right now were going to make one of our staff and customer favorites called the brown butter hazelnut crunch…so we’ve got this brown butter glaze and we’re going to dip our donut in there.  This is step number two and this is dipping them in a bunch of chopped salted roasted hazelnuts.  If you do it right you got the glaze just sliding off and it takes the nuts with it so it gets completely enrobed in nuts and butter.  It just kind of takes it to the next level.  Something about brown butter in general is just awesome but good quality hazelnuts roasted just so it brings out that nuttiness and wonderfulness. Gosh yah- you put brioche and that together you’ve got a winning combination.” 

And nothing beats the combination of sweet and salty you get from the Maple Bacon doughnut topped with smoky bacon and real Vermont Maple Syrup.

“We’ve described it as a pancake breakfast that you don’t need any fork or knife for.  I mean, it’s got everything you need. It’s got maple. It’s got bacon. It’s got donut.”

Other incredible options include the Toasted Coconut wrapped in fresh shredded coconut.   This one stuffed with sweet raspberry jam and a delicious homage to a Boston favorite.

“Our Boston Cream donut is it truly is amazing. You know, you take that bite and….first you get the first you get the dough. And then when you get to the filling.. it’s just beautiful pastry cream. And you get some vanilla notes, some nutmeg.  It’s delicious.”

Of course everyone loves the classics, whether you order the Cinnamon Sugar, Honey Dipped or Glazed with Vanilla or Chocolate.  And at Union Square, they use nothing but the very best.   

“What is really great about all of the doughnuts that we make is that they taste like what they are and we use real ingredients so you take a bite of that vanilla bean It tastes like vanilla.  For our chocolate it’s a Belgian dark chocolate. and it tastes like chocolate you know it tastes like how chocolate is really supposed to taste.  You gotta have a strong vanilla donut and you gotta have a strong chocolate donut. Those donuts are absolutely strong here.”

The thing is, all of the Union Square donuts are winners.  One bite and you’re bound to agree.

We’re probably one of the best donut shops around.  There’s a very good chance it will be one of the best donuts you ever have.”