'Gourmet' gas station doughnuts? We tried Sheetz's new confections so you don't have to

Lena Tzivekis and Angel Albring, York Daily Record
·4 min read

Who doesn't love a good doughnut? Of course, defining what a "good" doughnut is can be hard, but most people would agree that gas stations aren't known for having the best of these sweet treats. Sheetz is trying to change that.

The convenience store giant recently waded into new territory by launching a line of "gourmet donuts" that can be grabbed while you're on-the-go. The lineup of eight new sugary delights are baked fresh daily and can be found at all Sheetz locations.

But are they any good? YDR reporters Angel Albring and Lena Tzivekis went out to taste-test the doughnuts, and they found some were better than others − with a clear winner rising above the rest.

Sheetz introduced eight gourmet doughnuts to their menu. The flavors include: peanut butter cup, cookies n cream, strawberry shortcake, vanilla galaxy, turtle brownie, coconut chocolate, apple fest fritter and classic glazed.
Sheetz introduced eight gourmet doughnuts to their menu. The flavors include: peanut butter cup, cookies n cream, strawberry shortcake, vanilla galaxy, turtle brownie, coconut chocolate, apple fest fritter and classic glazed.

Let's start with the least favorite of the eight doughnuts:

Vanilla Galaxy

From Angel: The Vanilla Galaxy has "multi-color swirls of vanilla icing and crunchy gold stars," per a news release Sheetz shared about the new lineup, and we knew it was going to be bad from just looking at it. Something about blue and purple swirls on an hours-old doughnut just doesn't appeal to the senses, but we tried it.

It was as bad as it looked.

I have a very distinct memory of being a little girl in Louisiana and coloring in a coloring book outside on a hot day. The crayons melted and, somehow, I got the yellow one in my mouth. This doughnut tastes like that crayon.

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Coconut Chocolate

From Angel: I may be biased about this, as I believe coconut is a better smell than it is a flavor, but the Coconut Chocolate doughnut, with its chocolate caramel icing, toasted coconut, chocolate and shortbread pieces, was more akin to a dollar store snack cake than a "gourmet" food.

The chocolate had a plastic taste, it was a little too sweet, and the dough was very dry.

The coconut chocolate doughnut is topped with chocolate caramel icing, toasted coconut, chocolate and shortbread pieces.
The coconut chocolate doughnut is topped with chocolate caramel icing, toasted coconut, chocolate and shortbread pieces.

Cookies N Cream

From Lena: According to Sheetz, Cookies N Cream is made up of cookies and cream mixed icing and chocolate and vanilla cream cookie sandwich pieces. This doughnut was not exploding with flavor, but not overly sweet. It was not great, but not bad by any means.

Classic glazed

From Lena: The classic glazed is exactly what you would expect from an average glazed doughnut. The fried dough is sweet and pillowy, glazed with syrup, but is not overly sweet. It reminded us of a Fastnacht.

Strawberry Shortcake

From Angel: The Strawberry Shortcake doughnut has a candy strawberry icing, pink and white flavorettes and sweet strawberry clusters, and it was really well done.

It reminded us of Fruity Pebbles because the strawberry glaze has a lemon-flavored kick to it, making it tart and sweet.

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Peanut Butter Cup

From Lena: Peanut butter and chocolate are always a winning combination. This doughnut has a rich peanut butter icing, chocolate drizzle and sliced peanut butter cups.

One bite into the peanut butter cup doughnut made you feel like you were eating a peanut butter cup candy. The peanut butter icing was rich and slightly salty, and the chocolate drizzle added a nice balance of sweetness. The sliced peanut butter cups on top were chewy and added the perfect texture.

The peanut butter cup doughnut is topped with rich peanut butter icing, chocolate drizzle and sliced peanut butter cups.
The peanut butter cup doughnut is topped with rich peanut butter icing, chocolate drizzle and sliced peanut butter cups.

Turtle Brownie

From Lena: The turtle brownie doughnut features a sweet caramel icing, mixed brownie and candied pecan pieces, and crunchy gold stars. This one was pillowy-soft and moist, and the caramel icing was not overly sweet, but had a rich flavor with notes of espresso from the chocolate combination. The mixed brownie and candied pecan pieces on top also added a delicious texture.

I cannot say enough great things about this doughnut. Please go get one right now, you will thank me later.

Apple Fritter

From Angel and Lena: Our absolute favorite was the apple fritter. This was perfect for fall with a warm cup of coffee. The fritter has chunks of sweet and tangy apples mixed into the rich, soft dough with light hints of cinnamon to make you dream of crunchy leaves and cool breezes.

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Ranking:

  • 1st: Apple Fest Fritter

  • 2nd: Turtle Brownie

  • 3rd: Peanut Butter Cup

  • 4th: Strawberry Shortcake

  • 5th: Classic Glazed

  • 6th: Cookies n Cream

  • 7th: Coconut Chocolate

  • 8th: Vanilla Galaxy

If you get out to try any of these new gourmet doughnuts, let us know what you think. You can email Angel at aalbring@ydr.com or Lena at etzivetkis@ydr.com.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Sheetz's new "gourmet donuts" had some winners and a clear loser