You Need To Eat This: Doughsant

OAKMONT (KDKA) – By this point, most people are familiar with the Cronut obsession in New York.

But recently, the trend has come to Pittsburgh in the form of the "Doughsant."

As crazed-eyed New Yorkers lined up in the early hours to grab the city's hottest food, Pittsburgh's own Oakmont Bakery came up with a delicious take on the sugary treat.

"We already knew about the hype," Oakmont Bakery owner Marc Serrao said.

Oakmont Bakery has been selling its Doughsants for about three weeks and Thursday I made my way over there to try out the magical-sounding croissant-donut hybrid, and it's just what I'd hoped it would be.

Serrao says once they got wind of the Cronut craze, his son Tony spent about a week finessing his "Doughsant" recipe before selling it, but is continuing to experiment.

Before trying it, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I couldn't tell if the Doughsant was going to be more croissant or more donut. But after some explanation from Serrao and tasting it, it's basically a croissant made from donut dough.

How does it taste? Well, it's lighter than a cake donut, but heavier than a croissant. And the layered inside is almost more crepe-like than flaky like a traditional croissant.

To my delight, Serrao says the key to making it is butter – or more specifically: laminating the dough.

For those who aren't familiar, the laminating process consists of rolling out the donut dough very thin and coating it with butter and then repeating.

"The laminating process is very labor intensive," Serrao says.

For the Doughsant, the thin dough is layered, fried, covered in honey glaze, pumped with filling and then given a thick ring of fondant on top. Sounds like too much? It's not.

Right now, Oakmont Bakery is offering four flavors: cinnamon with a cream cheese fondant, chocolate cream, custard-filled with chocolate fondant on top and Pittsburgh cream. However, Serrao says as they experiment, you might show up and see an unexpected flavor.

In the end, I have to say the cinnamon was my favorite. It's flavorful and sweet, without tasting as bread-y as a cinnamon roll -- and not quite as gooey.

So, as long as the Doughsants stay popular, Serrao says Oakmont Bakery will continue to sell them until Paczki season next year. And don't worry, they're making Doughsants all day, so you don't have to worry about them running out.

To try them yourself, Oakmont Bakery is located at 531 Allegheny Avenue and is open Monday through Saturday.

Filled Doughsants cost $3.50 and the plain ones sell for $2.50.

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