This is Dolly’s Donuts, a doughnut shop specialising in freshly fried traditional and gourmet doughnuts. The original store opened in Glenbrook, in the Blue Mountains, before a second location opened in Bowral, in the Southern Highlands.
In June 2026, Dolly’s Donuts won Australia’s Best Donut at the National Donut Competition hosted by the Baking Association of Australia for the second consecutive year. Their Beef Nachos took the overall title, while Mango Weis and Lemon Meringue placed second and third in the gourmet category. Their savoury entries also claimed first, second and third place with Nachos, Truffle Mac & Cheese and Bánh Mì. Strawberry Jam placed second in the traditional jam doughnut category.
Glenbrook
This was the original Glenbrook store, which we visited a few weeks after our visit to Bowral. A full selection of doughnuts was available in the display around mid-morning.
Lemon Meringue ($10.00)
Lemon Meringue placed third in the gourmet category. It featured a brioche doughnut filled with tart lemon curd and topped with torched Swiss meringue.
The lemon curd was distinctly zesty and tart, with a vibrant lemon flavour that tasted fresh rather than artificial, avoiding the flatter, processed character associated with packaged lemon juice. The Swiss meringue was thick and slightly chewy, with a marshmallow-like consistency and pronounced sweetness. This was well balanced by the curd’s acidity, which cut through the sweetness without diminishing the meringue’s character. The smooth, creamy filling complemented the soft brioche, while the thicker, chewier meringue added textural contrast. The combination was particularly effective in balancing sweetness against the bright acidity of the lemon.
Strawberry Jam ($7.00)
Strawberry Jam placed second in the traditional jam doughnut category. It featured a vegan doughnut filled with house-made strawberry jam.
The doughnut’s vegan formulation was not immediately apparent, and we only discovered it afterwards. Its texture was similarly light and fluffy to the regular brioche doughnuts, although marginally less springy. The strawberry jam was thick and smooth, without seeds, with a good balance of sweetness and tartness. Unlike a solid-set pectin jam, it retained a softer consistency that integrated readily with the dough.
Strawberry & Cream ($10.00)
This featured a brioche doughnut filled with the same house-made strawberry jam and elderflower mascarpone cream, alongside fresh strawberries and a topping of vanilla sugar.
The fresh strawberries supplied the tartness and freshness missing from the Strawberry Jam doughnut, cutting through the jam’s concentrated sweetness. The elderflower mascarpone cream added a floral dimension and creamy contrast, giving the filling greater depth. The additional components produced a more balanced combination, making this the preferred option of the two strawberry doughnuts.
Chocolate Sprinkles ($5.00)
This featured a brioche ring doughnut topped with chocolate icing and colourful sprinkles. The doughnut itself was competent, with the same light, springy texture as the other brioche varieties. However, the chocolate icing was excessively sweet, with a comparatively cheap-tasting chocolate profile despite its thick, creamy consistency.
Chocolate Mousse ($10.00)
This featured a brioche doughnut filled with rich chocolate mousse, topped with milk chocolate glaze and finished with dark chocolate shavings and cocoa powder.
The milk chocolate glaze had a more balanced sweetness and a higher-quality chocolate profile than the icing on the Chocolate Sprinkles doughnut. The mousse was light and aerated, yet retained a distinct chocolate flavour without the cheaper notes of the other glaze. Dark chocolate shavings and cocoa powder added further contrast to the milk chocolate coating. The combination produced a more layered chocolate profile, with better control of sweetness and a more refined overall structure.
Bee Sting ($9.00)
This featured a brioche doughnut filled with vanilla bean custard and vanilla mascarpone, topped with a chocolate honey glaze, vanilla buttercream and caramelised almonds.
The honey was muted, registering mainly through the glaze rather than establishing a defining flavour. The vanilla bean custard and mascarpone supplied layered vanilla notes, but the overall profile leaned too heavily towards vanilla for a doughnut built around a bee-inspired concept. The caramelised almonds contributed a toasted crunch, while the buttercream added unnecessary richness. A shard of honeycomb would have provided a more direct honey flavour and a brittle textural contrast. The main limitation was the imbalance between the restrained honey character and the dominant vanilla components.
Bowral
At Bowral, nearing the end of a day, we tried their hot, freshly fried doughnuts ($3.00 each, $12 for six, $20 for 12).
Cinnamon Donut
The doughnut carried a generous coating of cinnamon sugar in a well-calibrated ratio. The cinnamon supplied an aromatic warmth without bitterness, while the sugar crystals added gentle crunch and sweetness. The crisp exterior yielded to a tender, moist interior, with the raised dough retaining a distinct flavour of its own. The contrast between the lightly crisp coating and soft interior was particularly effective.
Pineapple Donut
The interior matched the Cinnamon Donut, with pineapple sugar providing the main point of difference. Rather than the sugary glaze more commonly used on pineapple doughnuts, the flavoured sugar supplied a lightly crunchy coating. Its subtle sweet-tart tropical tang reinforced a natural yet pronounced pineapple profile without overwhelming the raised dough.
Raspberry Donut
Again, the doughnut shared the same tender interior, this time coated in raspberry sugar made with freeze-dried raspberry powder. Steam from the freshly fried doughnut partially rehydrated the coating, giving it a more glaze-like consistency. The exterior nevertheless retained sufficient crispness to prevent the doughnut from becoming soggy, preserving some contrast with the moist interior.
Lime Donut
The doughnut featured the same tender interior as the other freshly fried varieties, with lime sugar providing a subtle citrus lift. Its restrained zestiness added brightness and balanced the sugar without dominating the dough. As with the other varieties, the flavourful raised dough remained central to the experience, providing the foundation that made the doughnut enjoyable rather than relying on the coating alone.
Spring Iced Tea ($7.50, +$1.00)
This featured iced tea with raspberry syrup, freeze-dried raspberries and dried rose petals. The soda was excessively sweet, with the raspberry syrup dominating the flavour and producing a pronounced, syrupy finish. The rose became heady rather than providing a restrained floral note, further contributing to the drink’s intensity. The sweetness obscured the more delicate floral character that might otherwise have provided contrast.
Overall, Dolly’s Donuts was defined by freshly fried dough with a tender, moist interior and flavoured coatings that were most effective when their sweetness and texture complemented the dough.
Dolly’s Donuts is located at Shop 1, 310–312 Bong Bong St, Bowral NSW 2576.