This year, National Donut Day is on June 5 and deals from your favorites are coming in hot and ready. The "holiday" is always celebrated on the first Friday in June.
Krispy Kreme: You'll get a free donut of any flavor with no purchase necessary.
Dunkin' Donuts: You'll get a free classic donut with any beverage purchase. Your free donut was going to need coffee with it anyway, right? To make it even sweeter, GrubHub is offering a free half-dozen donuts on Dunkin’ orders of $10 or more from June 6-7.
National Donut Day was established by the Chicago Salvation Army in 1938 to raise money for the Great Depression and commemorate the work of Salvation Army volunteers who helped feed soldiers during the First World War.
During World War I, Salvation Army "lassies" traveled to the front lines in Europe making home cooked foods, including doughnuts for troops. They were the only women outside of military personnel allowed to visit the front lines.
The "lassies" often put cooked the doughnuts in oil using soldiers' metal helmets.
On the Salvation Army's website, the organization posted the following original doughnut recipe used by "lassies" during World War:
Salvation Army Lassies' Doughnut Recipe
Yield: 4 dozen doughnuts
- 5 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ‘saltspoon’ of salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 3/4 cups milk
- 1 tablespoon lard
Directions:
Combine all ingredients (except for lard) to make dough.
Thoroughly knead dough, roll smooth, and cut into rings that are less than 1/4 inch thick. (When finding items to cut out doughnut circles, be creative! Salvation Army doughnut girls used whatever they could find, from baking powder cans to coffee percolator tubes.)
Drop the rings into the lard, making sure the fat is hot enough to brown the doughnuts gradually. Turn the doughnuts slowly several times.
When browned, remove doughnuts and allow excess fat to drip off. Dust with powdered sugar. Let cool and enjoy.