We are NOT your typical donut people since we are relatively low-carb eaters. Occasionally, I get a hankerin' for a nut roll from Tasty Pastry in my hometown of Clay Center, KS, 100 miles from where we now live in Newton. The nut roll from Tasty Pastry is my standard, and I compare all other sweet rolls to them. They are made from a secret family recipe handed down from generation to generation. When we visit Clay Center, we usually pick up a dozen plain nut rolls to take home and enjoy with our morning coffee for a few days. Tasty Pastry has filled nut rolls as well. They also have other donuts, rolls, and breakfast sandwiches. All their products are top-notch.
But I digress.
Today, I had such a hankerin', so we decided to try out the two local donut places in Newton, KS: Newton Donut and Drubers Donut. We had never been to Newton Donut, and it had been over ten years since we went to Drubers. At one time, Drubers was the go-to place for donuts. Our oldest Son used to bring college friends back from Emporia State, seventy miles, to get Drubers donuts in the wee hours of the morning. That was before Druber sold to a new owner.
So today, my wife and I conducted a taste test between the two Newton establishments. We like a good apple fritter and enjoy cinnamon rolls. We went to each store and bought a fritter and a cinnamon roll. We divided them in half, and each of us ate half of each.
The Kansas Donut fritters looked very good and were okay, although they did not have much actual fruit in them. They were also on the dark side and crispy. We did not find any cinnamon in the fried cinnamon roll and did not see any baked rolls. The dough was okay, nothing to write home about.
Druber's fritters were about 50% bigger than the Newton Donut's were, and were lighter in color. There was some fruit in them but not nearly enough for our preference. Between the two stores, the dough was lighter at Druber's, but not close to the Tasty Pastry Nut Rolls. We saw and tasted some cinnamon in Druber's cinnamon roll. However, it was just enough to warrant being called a cinnamon roll.
If you are going to have a cinnamon roll, there needs to be plenty of cinnamon in it, not just barely enough. Druber's also did not have baked cinnamon rolls that I saw.
Final verdict: Druber's won our taste test for both fritters and cinnamon rolls.
As a side note for people reading this, both places have other breakfast items, such as sandwiches and burritos. Druber's actually has breakfast made to order on the menu, including eggs, pancakes, sausage, and such.
Both places are okay as donut shops, but neither is close to Tasty Pastry in Clay Center, KS, at least IMHO. If you happen to be on I-70 reading this or within forty miles of Clay Center, make the short trip and visit the Tasty Pastry. You will not regret it. read more
