May 17, 2019

What You Need to Know about the Butler County Donut Trail (and more!)

A few weekends ago, I had the opportunity to check out the Butler County Donut Trail and let me tell you..

9 year old me would be so, SO proud of 25 year old me.

I put away a serious number of donuts. Sure, I boxed some up and took a few donuts home to my friends and family. I’m not talking THAT many donuts. The thing is, you can’t just walk into each store and pick a single donut to try and head on over to the next stop. Each donut shop has a very unique variety of SEVERAL (read, many) donuts that look incredibly delicious. Take this glazed croissant and jelly filled pastry from Jupiter Coffee and Donuts, for example.

What You Need to Know: The Butler County Donut Trail (and more!)

No way did I walk into this cute little store expecting to pick a croissant as my donut of choice. But have you ever heard of a glazed croissant?? Me either. And I wasn’t going to let the opportunity surpass me.

All 12 Stops on the BC Donut Trail

Before we get too far into things, here’s a complete list of the shops that make up the Butler County Donut Trail:

Central Pastry Shop
The Donut House
The Donut Spot
Holtman’s Donuts
Jupiter Coffee & Donuts
Kelly’s Bakery
Martin’s Donuts
Milton’s Donuts
Mimi’s Donuts & Bakery
Oxford Doughnut Shoppe
Ross Bakery
Stan the Donut Man

Yeah, there’s a lot of donuts.

Donut Trail Stop: Kelly’s Bakery

To back up a little, our first stop of the day (bright and early at 8:30am) was at Kelly’s Bakery. As soon as we saw the Smores donut, we knew we had to have it.

But I will admit that the buckeye donut (upper left in image below) stole the show. The peanut butter cream in the center of the round chocolate donut was the perfect combination…that only lasted about 2 minutes flat. We split that sucker and inhaled it before we knew it!

Now of course, you have to go into the Donut Trail with a plan. Like the rest of the state, Butler County is spread widely across the rolling hills (er.. plains?) of southeast Ohio. Embrace the scenic drive, throw on a few throwback songs (Pokerface by Lady Gaga was one of our faves), and maybe even make a few pit stops in between sugar rushes. Here are a few of the stops we made that weren’t donut related, but were a nice break from caffeine and icing:

Jungle Jim’s International Market

The international section of this mega-grocery store is organized by country. How cool is that?
Large cheese.

Karma in the Kitchen

The mother/daughter-in-law duo at Karma in the Kitchen were two of the nicest business owners we met while on our trip in Butler County. This specialty chocolate and handmade candies shop has just about anything you could imagine, even dreamsicle flavored chocolates! They gave us a behind-the-scenes look at how these impressive chocolate shoes are created. Fun fact: You can order them online! They’re hot sellers for Mother’s Day weekend.

Donut Trail Stop: Jupiter Coffee & Donuts

I mentioned this cute little shop earlier in the post, but had to make a mention of the coffee. I made the grave mistake of forgetting to get a cup to enjoy with my buckeye donut at Kelly’s Bakery, but you bet I remembered to get a nice big cup o’ Joe at Jupiter. It didn’t disappoint!

Next, we swung through the city of Hamilton and enjoyed some stops along the way.

Hamilton: A Donut Trail Pitstop You Don’t to Miss!

Breweries, drive-thrus, and home decor shops, oh my! The little “main street” of Hamilton was a bustling little sub-division of Butler County that we were so happy to breeze through as we were nursing donut food babies throughout the day.

Scripted Studio

Here we met Carrie, the passionate (and adorable) owner of the stationery/gift wrap/doodad store “Scripted Studio”. Turns out, she is an Ohio State Alumni just like me! She opened the studio less than a year ago, but it has already come together and filled up with the funniest and niftiest little trinkets that make the best gift for family members. (I totally identify with the card in the picture above). If you’re looking to follow a cute and well-curated Instagram, check out their page here! Scripted Studio

Jolly’s Drive-In

At this point, we were SALIVATING for something savory. I love a good donut trail as much as the next guy, but at this point I just needed some cheese and pickles in my body.

…Never thought I’d say those words strung together, but anyhow. Here we are. Jolly’s Drive-In is an old fashioned drive up joint – you just stay in your car and the servers bring the food to you! The prices were cheap and the root beer was colder. What else could you ask for?

Okay okay, back to the donuts!!

Donut Trail Stop: The Donut Spot

Our last stop of the day was at The Donut Spot. Apparently it should have been the first, because we found out that they open their doors at 3am EVERY DAY. Secret: It was totally our favorite. I pulled this glazed donut out of the box to arrange it for a picture, and my slight finger squeeze almost flattened the pastry immediately. Now that’s FRESH!

Alright booze lovers. If you can’t go anywhere without trying the local watering holes, here are two stops in Butler County that we enjoyed:

Municipal Brewworks — Municipal Brew Works is a fun brewery right off of the main street of downtown Hamilton with a gigantic outdoor patio. It was bumpin’ on the Friday night we stopped by!

Although the drive was a bit scenic, we enjoyed a glass of bubbly at Hanover Winery. The local winery grows their own grapes right on site! There’s plenty of room for lounging around the spacious backyard and picnic tables for relaxing.

Thanks for following along on my Donut Trail adventure! If you’re interested in exploring Butler County for yourself, check out more information here: Butler County Donut Trail.