Irish Maid - The Story of Two Arkansas Doughnut Shops.

Irish Maid is a beloved named in doughnuts for two very different Arkansas towns. Find out where this homegrown pastry brand came from, and where it's gone to since.

Dale's Donuts Were The First Amazing Thing I Ever Put In My Mouth.

We're not talking about as a food writer, or even an adult. My first restaurant food memories are of this little shack on a triangle in Benton, Arkansas, and I still to this day can't walk into the place without overwhelming nostalgia.

Delta Doughnuts - Lybrand's Bakery in Pine Bluff Dates Back to 1940.

The former Main Street mainstay at the intersection of Arkansas's Timberland and Delta has flourished through the generations. Let's visit Lybrand's Bakery in Pine Bluff.

Road Eats: Butter Krisp Donuts of Covington, Louisiana.

Sometimes you backtrack because you've heard something amazing about a place you passed up. This time, we backtracked to a location we missed two years ago, because of a name and a sign. Results? Doughnuts. See what we found at Butter Krisp Diner.

Jeri-Lin Donuts, An Arkansas Breakfast Classic.

Long heralded as a barbecue mecca, Blytheville is home to another Arkansas classic that stands out not only as a long-runner with great pastries, but for its eclectic location. Let's check out Jeri-Lin's doughnuts.

Once Again, Spudnuts in Magnolia.

The potato-flour goodness of that particular breakfast treat, the Spudnut, is once again available in Magnolia. See what else is happening at the Spudnut Shop and Deli.

Baked Fresh: Julie's Sweet Shoppe in Conway.

I've been going to see Julie Goodnight at Ed's Custom Bakery in Conway for ages. Butterfly rolls for Thanksgiving, toad cookies (green glazed toad-shaped sugar cookies) for Toad Suck Daze and doughnuts year-round... Julie knows how to make good stuff and I have been thrilled to work with her, first at Today's THV (now THV 11) and later in my roll as food writer.

Everyone's gotta fly at some point or another, and Julie's doing just that. After 27 years at Ed's Custom Bakery, Julie has left the Oak Street eatery to strike out on her own, taking on the big responsibility of a booming business. On Veteran's Day, Julie's Sweet Shoppe opened its doors to a crowd -- a mass of veterans who have been coming to Ed's each year on that date to enjoy breakfast and a chance to catch up.

Julie's, housed in the former Wimpy's location (which I am a little sad to see disappear from Conway), offers more space for patrons... and Julie herself is offering new things that go beyond the traditional bakery fare -- things like chocolate gravy and biscuits, for one. Things like this Jalapeno Kolache -- which, she says, is a jalapeno-spiced sausage within that lovely bread. Things like sweet buns and scones. Oh yeah.

But the good stuff you're used to from before? It's all still here. Sugar cookies, mammoth sugar-crystal topped muffins, fresh breads and rolls and doughnuts too (yes, even my Kryptonite, red velvet cake doughnuts!). And there are fried pies, which make me happy. Don't fried pies make you happy?


Though I lament the disappearance of my favorite raspberry shake at Wimpy's, I'm quite thrilled about Julie's -- not just because of Julie herself but because I now have a great stopping-off point before I begin journeys up Highway 65. Check out the Facebook page for specials.

Spudnuts: Potato Flour Goodness.

This is one in a series on historical restaurants in the state of Arkansas. For a look at the Arkansas restaurant timeline, click here.

South Arkansas boasts two bakeries with a similar product – a singular item that ties them to a 70+ year shared history with more than 600 other locations.

Mr. Spudnut

A Spudnut.  (Kat Robinson)

Spudnuts were the creation of Al and Bob Pelton, two Salt Lake City boys who first encountered potato-flour doughnuts in Germany. They came back to the States in the late 30s and attempted to recreate the addictive rounds themselves – and succeeded with a recipe they started utilizing in 1940 – which became the heart of their Spudnut Shop franchise. Six years later they had 200 stores that utilized their dry spudnut flour in the making of golden rounds. 20 years after that they were stretched coast to coast with more than 600 outlets.

Spudnut stamp in Magnolia (Kat Robinson)

Spudnut was a big deal… but big deals lead to the end of that franchise. It started with the Peltons selling their company in 1968 to National Oven Products, owned by Pace Industries. Pace turned around a few years later and sold off National Oven Products to Dakota Bake-N-Serv… which itself went away after some bad business by its owner. The company and its company and Spudnuts the franchise all evaporated with a conviction of fraud and conspiracy in 1979. Franchisees were left holding the bag and most disappeared within 10 years.

But not all of them. Two of the franchises held ground here in Arkansas – one in Magnolia, opened in 1959 – and the other in El Dorado, opened in 1948. The two stores have differently styled buildings and different vibes… but they both still sell the golden rings six mornings a week.

The El Dorado location (via Facebook)

Daisy Stringfellow started the one in El Dorado. She discovered them on a trip to visit relatives in Oregon, and visited one of the original Salt Lake City Spudnut Shops on her way home. By the time she arrived back in LA (Lower Arkansas), she had decided she wanted to own one of those franchises. Her daughter Nancy Varnell and son-in-law William Varnell are co-owners today – and Bud McCann is still the only manager the store has ever had.

The Magnolia location (Kat Robinson)

The El Dorado store is more art deco, more stylized on the outside with a tiny dining room within. In Magnolia, it’s more of a country-style diner. Magnolia’s store sells more than pastries, though… in fact, they do sell something called Pigs which seem to be a pastry-wrapped turn on the traditional pigs-in-a-blanket. They also do some weird varieties of Spudnuts, such as peanut butter and jelly – and bacon maple. Indeed.

Spudnut making in Magnolia

While the two stores have a different atmosphere, they do share their mix with each other when one or t’other is running low. That’s saying a lot – since it has been made from scratch since the franchise disappeared.

If you haven’t gone for a Spudnut before – you start with the plain Jane glazed round. For one, Spudnuts seem to be thicker to me. Not in the consistency, mind you, but in the fluff. That potato flour fluffs up high. One bite, and you get it. There’s a substance to it – yes, it still melts on the tongue like all good doughnuts, but you feel as if you’re eating something more than just sugar and air.

Spudnuts are the sort of doughnut that prefers coffee to chocolate milk or cocoa. The round has heft. It has delight.

It has an addictive quality that doesn’t leave your system. Nay, I have indeed heard time after time about individuals who have driven three or four hours to arrive while a Spudnut shop is still open. I know – I’ve been one of them.

Other Spudnut creations (Kat Robinson)

Spudnuts and coffee: it's
what's for breakfast.
Kat Robinson

Here’s the other thing about a Spudnut: they don’t keep.
After six hours you might as well give up on them, put what you have left in a bread pudding or something. The same pliancy that makes the rounds rise so high also pulls them back to Earth and makes them chewy.

Strange Magnolia Spudnut creations

Hungry now? Good. Tomorrow morning get up early and drive to either El Dorado or Magnolia and have yourself one. The Spudnut Shoppe is at 810 West Faulkner in El Dorado, (870) 863-9914 – or find the other Spudnut Shop in Magnolia at 612 East Main Suite B, (870) 234-2005.

If you’re a Spudnut fan, do yourself a favor and check out this website. And you might be interested in this website if you are a home cook.

Biggest doughnuts in the state -- at Craig Family Bakery.

• GRAV WELDON
• KEEP IN MIND: That's a cafeteria-style tray

It’s easy to want to talk about food that stretches the limits. The biggest this or that usually creates waves… whether or not it’s especially the tastiest of anything. Yet sometimes large food deserves notice.

That’s the case at Craig's Family Bakery in Van Buren, where the large doughnuts have caught my attention… and the tiny gingersnaps have stolen my heart.

• KAT ROBINSON

The doughnuts… there really is no better way of sharing the image of the doughnuts without the photos. They are monsters, eight inches or more across, glazed and yeasty. They’re proportionally flatter than regular doughnuts but they’re still thicker than their counterparts. I would estimate one of these sunuvaguns is worth six regular doughnuts. They are huge.

And when you go to order one, if you mention they’ll cover it in chocolate for you — they aren’t kidding. Takes them just a minute or so to drizzle a thick chocolate glaze on top.

• GRAV WELDON

• GRAV WELDON

But the doughnuts are just one big thing there. They also have these ginormous cinnamon twists in the case that are easily breakfast for 

• GRAV WELDON

two people.

They have regular doughnuts, Long Johns, sweet rolls, cookies and such. And then there’s something stranger. See, Craig's Family Bakery could be known for the big stuff, but they also offer tiny versions of this and that. Such as the tiny yet tasty two-bite cinnamon rolls, maybe two inches across and just as tasty as a full sized one. They are decadently good.

• KAT ROBINSON

There are doughnut holes — chocolate drizzled ones, brown sugar dusted ones. There are fudgy no-bakes and iced sugar cookies and Toll House cookies. And then there are the ginger snaps — delicate circles of ginger-scented goodness wrapped like a cannoli around a delicate cream filling. 99 cents for something truly beautiful… and if you like cannoli, they have those, too.

• KAT ROBINSON

For the amazing show and wonder of the many items in

• GRAV WELDON

those bakery cases, you aren’t going to spend a whole lot. For testing purposes, I acquired one large doughnut (with the volunteered chocolate glaze), a chocolate covered Bavarian filled Long John, a tiny cinnamon roll and a ginger snap. The Long John was creamy 

• GRAV WELDON

but with a firm dough that more resembled what you might get with a loaf of bread. And the doughnut got sliced up and shared with several people… and still there was left-overs.

You'll find Craig's Family Bakery at 805 Fayetteville Road on top of the big hill in Van Buren. It's open 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, until 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. (479) 471-8800. They also have a Facebook page.

Red velvet doughnuts and more at PattiCakes Bakery.

• GRAV WELDON
• HEAVENLY EDIBLES: Pumpkin Spice & Red Velvet Doughnuts

Dropped by PattiCakes Friday morning. It’s terrible, I know — not the bakery, of course, but the fact that I haven’t been able to get up any of these fantastic photos of the place in the meantime. I entirely blame my lack of a reliable computer (sent it off to HP for a fix, this is my backup and my backup is one slow 1GB machine).

Of course, that means I’ve sorta kept a secret to myself, and that’s not right. It’s my job to share the little treasures I find along the way, even if I want to keep a helluva good Red Velvet cake doughnut to myself. Darn it.

Because that’s one of the magical items I found in the cases at PattiCakes Friday morning. Patti herself (that’s Patti Stobaugh, wife of Stoby’s founder David Stobaugh who also dropped in while we were there) allowed us to come back behind the counters and shoot away at the baked loveliness that awaited there, all while handling a steady stream of customers.

• GRAV WELDON

I’m familiar with many of the products; the Colossal Cinnamon Rolls the Russellville bakery’s been providing to that store are a must-have any time I’m up there for breakfast; the fudge I am required to pick up and share with my out-of-town friends during the holidays. Opening up a second bakery next to Stoby’s in Conway was a no-brainer, and I am so glad there’s one within an hour’s drive now. I mean, I love Russellville, but it’s not always easy to get away and hit the road just for fudge, ya know?

For its second day (PattiCakes Conway opened on November 11th), it was rolling. The new building is a cottage on the back end of the Stoby’s property, a lovely sage green and painted hardwood interior and a long bakery case full of fudge, pastries and cold salads through the center. The customer space is larger at this location, and the entire kitchen is open. There were several ladies working hard behind the counter, kneading dough and exchanging sheets of pastries from the oven.

• GRAV WELDON

Grav got back to the croissants, big six-inch or better crescents of golden buttery goodness that smelled powerfully wonderful; these are used for Stoby’s sandwiches and such in the restaurant

• GRAV WELDON

Of course, all the photos in the world can’t compare to having some of the fine and fantastic pastries actually sampled. We were on a very tight schedule - at least, we intended to be. We found ourselves in conversation with Patti and David for a half hour or more before we had to pull away and head to our next assignment. Coffee is available to go along with those pastries, four different varieties along with the traditional add-ins like half-and-half and sweeteners and cooler things like a choice of one of three flavored syrups. There are also soft drinks available. It’s a self-serve operation.

Grav tried out a blueberry scone and pronounced it finely textured with more than enough blueberries and enough heft to conquer breakfast. We both tried the two featured doughnuts of the day — a Pumpkin Spice doughnut and a Red Velvet doughnut. The Pumpkin Spice more than settles the craving for that particular flavor that’s been so hot recently. It’s more spice than pumpkin in my honest opinion, but that’s good, more of a spice cake doughnut with pumpkin overtones.

• KAT ROBINSON

That Red Velvet cake doughnut, though… oh dear Lord. Wow. I love Red Velvet Cake and figured it was either going to be a red doughnut or a cake in doughnut form. Instead, it was the consistency of a good cake doughnut with all the sweet cherryish flavor you get with Red Velvet Cake. Best of all, the icing was influenced with cream cheese rather than heavy with it, so you get the flavor of the cake all through each bite without anything being covered up with “OMG it’s CREAM CHEESE!” stickiness.

So that would have been good enough, but I have to tell you about the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Scone. It is unlike any scone I have ever had. It’s like a scone married a coffeecake and had sweet, buttery kids. Served up hot (the scones were still oven-hot when we got them) it was ideal and yet so different, a firm crispy crust on the outside and biscuit soft within. The only think I could think to make it better would be to apply fresh butter — I bet if you asked nicely that could happen.

• GRAV WELDON

Actually, what would have been better would have been to have had a photo of the scones. They had just come out of the oven, and the smooth motion of scones from baking sheet to cake plate to counter to bag to us was so smooth, neither of us got a good shot. And once we got them we couldn't keep ourselves from eating them. Wowsome.

So I’m gushing over the place. Yeah, I am. I’m sorry, I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to fine baked goods and I found two things at PattiCakes I have been craving ever since my visit. I want to go back up there, just wish my schedule would permit it. Sometime soon, yeah.

Anyway, PattiCakes’ Conway store can be found at 2106 Robinson Avenue (at Donaghey). You can call (501) 205-1969 or check out the website.