Where to Find the Best Donuts in Alberta (According to Thousands of Albertans)

My eldest and I have been on a mission to find our favourite donut shop. We’ve tried a bunch of Edmonton’s best donut shops, and now that summer has hit, we’re branching out.

I put the call out on Facebook for suggestions, and wow, did Albertans show up!

The viral post got almost 2000 replies! I went through every suggestion, organized the results, and even recruited the computer to help crunch the numbers so I didn’t miss anything.

The results? Two clear provincial favourites, several legendary runners-up, and more than 80 additional donut shops worth adding to your Alberta bucket list.

Whether you love classic glazed donuts, brioche creations, cake donuts, gluten free mochi donuts, or something completely different (ever tried a spud-nut?), there’s something here for every donut lover.

Land Acknowledgement

This land has welcomed First Nations from across Turtle Island, and settlers and visitors from around the world. Alberta lands are part of Treaties 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10, and the homeland of the Métis.

Alberta Mamas respects and celebrates the sovereignty, lands, histories, languages, knowledge systems and cultures of all Indigenous, Métis, and Inuit nations. We are striving to better listen, understand, and learn from the Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.

We are all Treaty people.

How We’re Reviewing Alberta Donut Shops

Up until now, our best donut hunt has been pretty unscientific and undocumented. But with this many recommendations, it’s time to get serious!

Going forward, our donut reviews will look at:

1. Visit details: Day of the week and time visited, plus what we paid.
2. Donut basics: Which donuts we ordered, and what style they were (yeast, cake, mochi, brioche, etc).
3. Dough: Texture, freshness, chewiness, moisture, flavour.
4. Glaze & filling: Flavour, texture, balance/ratio, distribution.
5. Execution: Freshness, appearance, and overall quality
6. Overall Rating:
   S Tier – Absolute perfection. Worth driving across Alberta for.
   A Tier – Outstanding. Worth a 1–2 hour drive.
   B Tier – Very good. I’d grab it if I were in town.
   C Tier – Solid but unremarkable. Only stopping if it’s on the way.
   D Tier – Below average. I’d eat it if it were free.
   F Tier – Avoid at all costs. You couldn’t pay me to eat this again.

As we visit and review shops, I’ll add ratings and links below so you can follow along on the donut journey.

Alberta’s Favourite Donut Shops

According to Albertans, The hands down, nearly universally acknowledged best donuts in Alberta are:

1. Crooked Creek General Store, Crooked Creek (just south of Grande Prairie)
2. Calmar Bakery, Calmar (south of Edmonton)

These two were mentioned over and over again, averaging about three times more than the runners up.

In a distant third to ninth place, these donut shops were all mentioned about the same amount. In alphabetical order, the runners up are:

• Blokes Bakery, Stettler: must try the Cream John’s
• The Donut Man, Crossfield
• The Donut Mill, Red Deer
• Sherwood Park Bakery, Sherwood Park
• Sugared Donut Shop, Webster
• Tollers Bistro, Lacombe
• Zold Doughnuts, Sylvan Lake: farmer’s market only

More Great Donut Shops

Still craving sugar? Here are more Alberta donut shops recommended by readers across the province.

Bolded shops were recommended five or more times.

It’s a massive list – visiting them all is going to take a few years, I think! Be sure to follow our journey on Facebook, and check out our current reviews by clicking through!

• Bakery, Barrhead
• The Bakery, Spruce View: Wednesday and Saturday
• Bear Country Inn, Wanham: will make them fresh for you!
• Bliss Baked Goods, Edmonton: sourdough instead of yeast, dairy free
• Blush Cake Bar, Beaumont
• Bon Ton Bakery, Edmonton
• Bootsma Bakery, Lethbridge: spudnuts
• Bread Haus, Edmonton
• Calmar Bakery, Calmar
• Chartier’s Mother Bakery, Beaumont
• Coaldale Bakery, Coaldale
• Co-Op Grocery Store (various locations, and if you don’t like one shop, try another before writing them off completely as they are made in house and every baker is unique)
• Corpuz, Edmonton
• Country Crumbs Bakery & Cafe, Medicine Hat
• Coulee Cafe, Taber
• Coulee Tea House, Donalda: Tuesdays & Thursdays
• Crooked Creek General Store, Crooked Creek
• Destination Donuts, Edmonton: gourmet donuts
• Dig-ity Donuts, Drumheller
• Diamond J Bakery, Lougheed
• The Doughnut Lady, Hotchkiss
• Donut Party (various locations)
• Drayton Valley Bakery, Drayton Valley
• Dutch Delicious, Edmonton
• Elieneke’s Bake Shop, Barrhead
• Empress Bakery, Edmonton
• Enjoy Dough, Edmonton: brioche donuts available at The Columbian and Krew Cafe Friday to Sunday
• Evansburg Bakery and Ice cream Shoppe, Evansburg
• The Farmhouse Bakery, Camrose
• Farrows, Edmonton
• Fawkes Coffee, Edmonton: gluten free, cake-style
• Fergie’s Bakery, Canmore
• Fuzion Donuts, Edmonton
• Glamorgan Bakery, Calgary
• Ginger’s Bannock House, Edmonton
• Golden Loaf Bakery, Elk Point
• Grandin Bakery, St Albert
• Greedy Donut, Calgary
• Hello Mochi, Edmonton
• Hey Sugar, Calgary
• Holy Grail Donuts, Pigeon Lake
• Hunterhorn Bakery, Calgary
• Italian Bakery, Edmonton (partner with Mercato, St Albert)
• Italian Centre, Edmonton
• J’s Bakery Cafe, La Crete
• Jaminah’s Bakery, St Paul
• Jelly Modern Doughnuts, Calgary
• Kooyman Bakery, Coalhurst
• Korner Kitchen, Kinuso (Saturday mornings)
• Koster’s Bakery, Picture Butte
• Krispy Kreme (must get fresh ones that are still warm)
• Lani’s Spudnuts, Fort Macleod
• Marla’s Marvelous Donuts, Alix
• Marvelous Munchies Bakeshop, Thorhild
• Mavericks Donuts (various locations): cake donuts
• McBrides, Medicine Hat
• Mercato, St Albert
• Min Mex Bakery, Two Hills
• Mood Cafe, Edmonton: Sundays
• Mountain House Bakery, Rocky Mountain House, Red Deer & Sylvan Lake
• Northern Dough, Grimshaw
• Old Beverly Cafe, Edmonton
• Old Fashioned Bread Bakery, Smoky Lake
• The Pantry, Alix
• Paris Baguette (various locations)
• Peers Grocery Store Bakery, Peers
• Pendryl General Store, Pendryl: Friday, Saturday or Sunday
• Prairie Cottage Bake Shop, Brooks
• Redcliff Bakery, Redcliff
• Rocky’s Bakery, Strathmore
• The Rolling Pin, Bow Island
• Rosewood, Edmonton
• Serotonin Sweets, Medicine Hat
• Shekinah Coffee, Edson: Wednesdays
• Sprinkles & Co in Fresh & Local Market & Kitchens, Calgary
• Spruce View Bakery, Spruce View: Wednesday and Saturday
• Stone Mill Bakery, Duchess
• Sweet Rice, Calgary: mochi donuts, gluten free
• The Sweeterie, Camrose
• Tina’s Bakery, Glenwood
• VanHout Bakery, Athabasca
• Wonder Donuts, Calgary
• WOW Bakery, Calgary
• The Westwood, Diamond Valley: weekends