When Mike and I went to the North Carolina State Fair last year, I had two goals: pet as many dirty, adorable barnyard animals as possible, and eat as much ridiculous, unhealthy food as possible. High on my list was the Krispy Kreme burger, an admittedly gimmicky new sandwich being marketed (and mocked) across the country. The burger was just like any other burger, except that it was served on two Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the place of a bun. I was sure I was going to absolutely love every bite.


YES.

My first goal was readily accomplished. Mike and I stumbled around until we spotted the closest pettable livestock, whereupon we bought a bag of carrots and subjected our fingers to great peril. We fed goats, sheep, llamas, and even a camel or two. Is it weird that I think there may have been a buffalo in there? I might’ve made that part up.

Anyway, the animals pranced around, joyously accepting our scritches until we ran out of carrots. During this fiasco, I may or may not have illicitly scaled a fence to feed a goat that had been head-butted out of the way by his siblings. Put it this way: I didn’t get caught. Or head-butted.

My second goal turned out to be more complicated. We nibbled around the fair — corn dogs, cheesesteaks — until we finally found the vendor selling the notorious Krispy Kreme Burger. We slipped in line and waited our turn for greatness. When I got up to the booth, the cashier asked me what I’d like on the burger. That was the first sign of trouble.

I hate being asked what I want on my sandwich. Before you decide I’m one of those insufferably picky diners (okay, you might decide that anyway), let me explain. I go to a restaurant to taste a dish someone else has conceived of and prepared. I want the creator of a sandwich to decide what ingredients should be on it to create the right overall flavor. I don’t know what to put on my sandwich to make it taste like the dish they envisioned! And if I wanted to taste my own vision — to create my own sandwich — by golly, I wouldn’t have bothered coming to a restaurant to do it! (Side note: This is why I never go to Subway anymore.) (Side note #2: I think italics make people sound snootier. Don’t you agree?)

So when the cashier asked me to construct my own version of the Krispy Kreme Burger, I was understandably nervous. Would it taste okay with lettuce and tomato? Would mayonnaise be appropriate on it? Mustard? How about cheese? I was stumped and a little miffed, but I ordered the burger with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. Mike and I fought the crowds and found a seat by a kiddie ride to enjoy our culinary adventure.

Mike lasted two bites before he handed me the sandwich. I thought he was just giving me a turn, but it turns out he was down for the count. “I don’t like it,” he declared, wiping doughnut glaze off his fingers with an air of finality.

Really? After hours of waiting and pushing through sweaty throngs of people, you give the sandwich two bites’ worth of a chance? I wasn’t going to be discouraged so easily. I grabbed that sandwich, took a giant bite, and–

It was okay.

The pulsing carnival music from the ride in front of us suddenly seemed a little louder, a little more grating. After hours of waiting and pushing through sweaty throngs of people, the Krispy Kreme Burger was just OKAY?!

I debated in my head: would it have been better without the lettuce and tomato? Was it the mayo that made it so-so? I polished the sandwich off pensively, still disappointed with its mediocrity. Mike and I headed off defeated, in search of better treats (don’t worry, some deep-fried cheesecake later cheered us up).

The other day, though, I had a stroke of inspiration. I was planning on creating a fancy breakfast for Mike and I’d been craving a delicious Southern staple: fried bologna biscuits. Before you start in about how you don’t like bologna: I don’t like bologna either. But fried bologna is an entirely different experience (particularly with little cheese, some yellow mustard, and for breakfast, a fried egg). I knew I didn’t have time to squeeze biscuit making into my schedule, though.

Like a flash of brilliance straight from the heavens, I realized that these flavors — fried bologna with cheese and a gooey fried egg — were the exact sort of flavors that would’ve rocked that Krispy Kreme bun. Instead of the muddy, inexact flavor profile of the State Fair burger, this sandwich would have a bold salty and sweet combination in addition to the gooey, mild saucing of the egg. Far from a gimmicky novelty item you might dare your friends to eat, this sandwich was gonna be delicious.

And it was. In fact, unlike its burger cousin, it was more delicious in real life than it was in my imagination. I’d wait in line behind a thousand other sweaty fair-goers for this baby. Thankfully, though, I don’t have to. It takes about 5 ingredients and maybe 15 minutes to make your own in the comfort of your kitchen.

So listen, JUST TRUST ME! I know it sounds a little weird. I know it packs a caloric-punch. But I promise it’s an incredible breakfast treat. Pick a special weekend, scope out the “Hot Doughnuts Now” sign at your local Krispy Kreme, and try it for yourself.

What’s your favorite weird indulgence?

The “Just Trust Me” Fried Bologna Breakfast Doughnutwich


Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking
Yields: 2 doughnutwiches

This breakfast “doughnutwich” has the absolute perfect balance of salty and sweet. Pillow-light Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts act as a bun for savory fried bologna, a slice of cheese, and a gooey fried egg. Make this your new special occasion breakfast. It’s a little out of the ordinary, but so incredible!

Ingredients:
2 eggs
4 Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnuts*
2 tablespoons butter
2 slices bologna
2 slices American cheese

Directions:
Lay 2 doughnuts out on a plate. Cut a slit from the middle of each slice of bologna to the edge (so it won’t curl). Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and melt 1 tablespoon of butter in it. Place the slices of bologna in the frying pan. Laugh at how they start to look like little PacMen. Fry them until they’re browning on one side and then flip them. Add a slice of cheese to the top of each piece of bologna and continue frying until bottom is browned. Place the slices briefly onto a paper towel-lined plate to drain off the excess butter, and then place them onto the 2 waiting doughnuts.

Melt the last tablespoon of butter in your skillet. Break one egg at a time into the pan and fry it to your desired doneness (I’d like to make a pitch for over-easy or -medium, since the gooey yolk is delicious in this sandwich!) Place the fried egg briefly on the paper-towel lined plate to drain off the excess butter, and then place one on top of each slice of bologna and cheese. Top each doughnutwich with another doughnut as the “top bun” and serve immediately.

*Note: Feel squeamish about eating 2 doughnuts in one sitting? Carefully split one in half with a serrated knife to use as your bun. I don’t have this issue myself…!

Edited to add: Oh by the way, someone just asked in the comments if Mike liked it. Of course you’d want to know if it was Mike-approved. I’m happy to report that he loved every bite!

Edited to also add: I didn’t receive any compensation or product from Krispy Kreme — I just love ’em.

by | 51 Comments

51 Comments on The “Just Trust Me” Fried Bologna Breakfast Doughnutwich

  1. Julia
    October 11, 2011 at 2:29 pm (13 years ago)

    I’ll trust you. I love the sweet/salty combo, and well, this has that goin ON! I can’t even get my husband to try this at the fair…And I can’t bring myself to order one alone.

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      October 11, 2011 at 3:23 pm (13 years ago)

      Thanks Julia 😀 Tell your husband he can at least take 2 bites to make you feel less guilty 😉

      Reply
  2. Sally Strong
    October 11, 2011 at 2:31 pm (13 years ago)

    OK, I am a lover of fried bologna from my earliest memory. Living in Michigan as a child, we used to get Kowalski’s ring bologna (think of a kielbasa “ring” but made of garlic bologna), and my dad would fry it up with butter and onions and make a sandwich out of it, or eat it plain. There is nothing quite like the taste of fried bologna, and I crave it often because I can’t get it here in California. The shipping costs from Kowalski’s are as much as the case of bologna, so I’m not too inclined to have it shipped here. Still, I often go to their website and drool over it, consider it, then remember I have 2 kids in college and decide against it. LOL This fried egg/bolgona/donut combo is killing me to look at, and making those cravings come back in a huge way. Looks like heaven to me 🙂 Oh, and the best part is slicing the bologna in thin slices and making the little slit in them to look like pacman, otherwise you end up with little quarter sized umbrellas.

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      October 11, 2011 at 3:20 pm (13 years ago)

      Aww, I love these memories, Sally! I will have to look for the Kowalski’s ring bologna — it sounds amazing. Thank you so much for sharing 🙂

      Reply
  3. jamiesunnycalb
    October 11, 2011 at 2:44 pm (13 years ago)

    I’m going to the Fair Saturday! Very excited to sample all things fried!

    Reply
  4. Cathy
    October 11, 2011 at 3:15 pm (13 years ago)

    I have to say your pictures make this thing look amazing! And I would trust you, if you were making this for me…I would certainly try it… 😉 I am like you, I do not like bologna-but my husband made me a fried bologna sandwich a lil while back and it was pretty freaking good! And of course eggs make everything better!

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      October 11, 2011 at 3:21 pm (13 years ago)

      So true — a nice gooey egg is perfect on so many things. I’m glad your husband brought ya over to the dark side 😉 Thanks, Cathy!

      Reply
  5. Kat
    October 11, 2011 at 3:25 pm (13 years ago)

    Wait a minute, missy! Did Mike like it or not? That’s the proof for me….

    Reply
  6. Maggie @ A Bitchin' Kitchen
    October 11, 2011 at 4:15 pm (13 years ago)

    Doesn’t sound weird to me at all! McDonald’s has these delicious breakfast sandwiches that use pancakes as the bun, with sausage, egg, and cheese in the middle. Kind of a similar idea.

    I also hate when people ask me what I want on a sandwich. Before I even read down far enough to see you mention Subway, I was thinking of them! I hate ordering food there!

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      October 11, 2011 at 4:50 pm (13 years ago)

      I LOVE those McGriddles, Maggie! Yum! 😉

      Sounds like we’re two of a kind on the sandwich issue — isn’t that annoying?!

      Reply
  8. Amanda (onceuponarecipe)
    October 11, 2011 at 6:36 pm (13 years ago)

    This looks ridiculously awesome. Love! Although I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never tried a Krispy Kreme doughnut…they’re a little hard to find around these parts of Canada. And I too dig the combination of sweet and savory! A breakfast of champions! 🙂

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      October 11, 2011 at 6:38 pm (13 years ago)

      Thanks, Amanda! You would just love the Krispy Kremes — they literally melt in your mouth. They’re like clouds of awesomeness! 😀

      Reply
  9. *Just Fran*
    October 11, 2011 at 9:58 pm (13 years ago)

    O.M.G. Yes. I have to try this. HAVE TO.

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      October 11, 2011 at 10:00 pm (13 years ago)

      Let me know if you love it a TON or BUNCHES and BUNCHES, Fran! I’ve no doubt it’ll be one or the other. LOL. Thanks for sharing my joy 🙂

      Reply
  10. ali
    October 12, 2011 at 6:38 am (13 years ago)

    This is such a beautiful post, sorry the sandwich at the fair wasn’t wasn’t you expected but I bet Mike really loved your version of it. Looks delicious.

    Reply
  11. icookbythebook
    October 12, 2011 at 8:30 am (13 years ago)

    That actually looks pretty amazing. I’ll have to see if there are any Krispy Kreme shops left around my area. We had a whole bunch open about 8 years ago and everybody was over-the-moon excited that we were FINALLY getting Krispy Kreme. Then I think the entire greater-Pittsburgh area fell into a sugar-glaze induced coma and they started going out of business one-by-one!

    Sara

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      October 12, 2011 at 8:37 am (13 years ago)

      Thanks, Sara! Aww, Krispy Kreme going out of business! I can’t imagine it 🙁 Except that I do kind of remember low-carb diets didn’t do their stores any favors!

      Reply
  12. Parkie35
    October 12, 2011 at 10:56 am (13 years ago)

    Wow! That is crazy, it makes me feel a bit nauseous looking at it… yet I want to try it! Too bad I don’t have a Krispy Kreme here!

    Reply
  13. Mary Claire
    October 12, 2011 at 1:40 pm (13 years ago)

    Petting dirty farm animals and gorging yourself on fair food? Were we separated at birth? That sounds like a perfect day to me, and this sounds like a perfect sandwich. Can’t wait to try it out! One of my favorite combos that always gets me the side-eye from my compatriots – BBQ potato chips dipped in peanut butter.

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      October 12, 2011 at 1:48 pm (13 years ago)

      LOL, we may very well have been, Mary Claire! Totally trying the potato chip trick 😉 I bet I’ll love it. Thanks!

      Reply
  14. RavieNomNoms
    October 12, 2011 at 3:29 pm (13 years ago)

    Ok so I have definitely tried something like this before. It was in burger form with bacon…and it was at The Big E (a fair we have here in New England every year – which is HUGE) and I have to say it was quite grotesque haha. Although I did think to myself how much better it would be IF it were homemade. You know the burger wasn’t premade and frozen, the bacon wasn’t wiggly, the donuts were smashed and crusty.

    I think I will be brave and try this again but this time do it right and make it homemade. Thanks for sharing this! Your photos are great

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      October 12, 2011 at 3:31 pm (13 years ago)

      I think that’s the way to go! That’s what I did here — remade a disappointing sandwich at home with my own twists. It was, indeed, a ton better — so worth the effort. I love the idea of toasting the doughnuts! Maybe using a panini press?

      Thanks 🙂

      Reply
  15. Anna
    October 12, 2011 at 11:02 pm (13 years ago)

    I became suddenly excited to try different variations of your recipe! I am a sandwich lover, to the truest sense of the word…(doughnuts included, because in this recipe, you used them to sandwich stuff!)I am already creating a mental list of all the things I will be needing. I may try toasting the doughnuts too. Wow! This is great! Thanks for sharing this!

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      October 12, 2011 at 11:08 pm (13 years ago)

      I love it!! Can’t wait to see what you come up with, Anna! I think toasting the doughnuts sounds so yummy!

      GO CRAZY and spread the doughnutwich love! 🙂

      Reply
  16. S & R
    October 13, 2011 at 2:43 am (13 years ago)

    “Look out McGriddle! Here comes the doughnut-ham-hamburger!”
    – Jim Gaffigan

    That was immediately all my boyfriend and I could think about upon seeing this. Thanks for making my entire week!

    Reply
  17. a snowsprite
    October 13, 2011 at 9:48 am (13 years ago)

    I don’t know … I can kinda see it. We don’t have crispy cream where I live though, so I suppose I’ll just have to keep wondering.

    Reply
  19. jazmin
    October 13, 2011 at 8:54 pm (13 years ago)

    This looks AMAZING!!!
    Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  20. Foodiewife
    October 13, 2011 at 9:24 pm (13 years ago)

    I have to agree that your fair burger made me wince… wondering if you’d like it. Your version is FAR better. When I was a little girl, my father used to make fried egg and bologna sandwiches. As I recall, I loved them. We don’t have a Krispy Kreme remotely close to where I live (which is a good thing). I can certainly envision this combo as being great. My son used to love peanut butter, bologna and relish sandwiches. For real. He finally stopped asking for them when his friends made fun of them.

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      October 13, 2011 at 11:24 pm (13 years ago)

      LOL! I love it!! PB, bologna, and relish — I’m just going to leave that flavor to imagination 😉

      Thank you!

      Reply
  21. sayre
    October 14, 2011 at 9:56 am (13 years ago)

    Never thought I would want to eat something like this, but…Let’s just say I wish my dining hall had these for breakfast. Loved the post. Feeding the animals reminded me of feeding a camel with Sophia. It was all fun and games until the camel decided to spit all over my face. ew!

    Reply
  22. Scottie
    October 17, 2011 at 10:05 pm (13 years ago)

    I remember the bison, too. And I’m sorry about your burger —from the shiny stall outdoors? They were kind of awful. Inside one of the buildings there was a small grill selling them —-amazing! Doughnuts were warm, hamburgers were actual cow and fresh and hot, and I didn’t get lettuce and tomato because I didn’t want to cool down the doughnuts. Sometimes it’s not the plan, it’s the execution.

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      October 17, 2011 at 10:15 pm (13 years ago)

      I’m glad I’m not having bison hallucinations 😉

      You’re so right, Scottie! I’ll have to give the KK burger another go with the proper execution 🙂

      Reply
  23. *Just Fran*
    November 20, 2011 at 4:12 pm (13 years ago)

    I had bookmarked this because I knew we *had to* try it. Today was the day. No Krispy Kremes in our neck of the woods, and had to settle for plain glazed doughnuts, but the sandwich didn’t disappoint. It was everything that you expect. Pure sin.

    Reply
    • Julie @ Willow Bird Baking
      November 20, 2011 at 7:56 pm (13 years ago)

      I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it!! It was a TOTAL A+ indulgence for us! 😀

      Reply
  24. Amanda
    October 19, 2012 at 10:43 pm (12 years ago)

    I think I would like to try just one doughnut, and slice it like a bagel ^_^ maybe a little baby spinach (I love spinach on my fried bologna and egg sandwiches).

    Just found your blog today, and quite enjoying looking through the archives. You’re funny and you’re food looks/sounds pretty tasty!

    Reply
  26. James Poe
    July 23, 2015 at 3:16 pm (9 years ago)

    I am the kitchen supervisor at a homeless mission and last week we received a large donation of doughnuts, followed by a large donation of bologna, a couple of days later. I went to my computer and typed in bologna and doughnuts and the “Just Trust Me” breakfast doughnutwich popped up. I just wanted you to know that we prepared your sandwich for our guys (120 men), and they loved it. I don’t know if you are a man of faith, but I hope you can appreciate how God used you to help us in our ministry. God bless you, and thank you….

    Reply
    • Julie Ruble
      July 23, 2015 at 4:25 pm (9 years ago)

      This made my day, James <3 Thank you so much for letting me know! I'm so glad they enjoyed it!

      Reply
  27. James Poe
    July 23, 2015 at 3:18 pm (9 years ago)

    I meant to say woman of faith….Sorry!!

    Reply

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