Doughnuts joyfully embrace their role as one of the most toxic fresh foods on the planet. Nobody in his or her right mind even pretends that eating a doughnut is good for you on any level. Doughnuts are basically bleached white flour, sugar, and rancid oil – yum. Why oh why do they taste so good? The gluteomorphins in the flour are directly addictive to the brain as is the sugar. I don’t know why we love the taste of rancid polyunsaturated oils, but we do in a big way.
Why would I torture you with such an obvious value conflict – taste versus health? What if I told you I actually found a healthy doughnut? More than that, what if I told you that you didn’t have to make it yourself, but could buy it at a doughnut shop? Well I have.
I was searching the web looking for a place to go for lunch in Roseville that had gluten-free food for an Easter get together with my Mom and sister before going to the Gem & Mineral Show at the Roseville fairgrounds. A place popped up in the search called Dr Bobs Doughnuts. While not exactly a lunch place, it piqued my curiosity. Doughnuts and gluten free don’t usually go together – like never.
I went to their website and proceeded to get seriously excited. Dr Bob, a real doctor, started making healthy brownie and baking mixes for his patients to help them get off their toxic foods and onto something that might support their health. I could relate as I have been doing the exact same thing for many years now. The difference is someone (probably a patient of his) decided to take his baking mix creation and turn it into “The World’s Healthiest Doughnuts.” They opened up a little shop in old Roseville about a year ago and are still in business. Great ideas often have a hard time transitioning into the real world.
Check out the ingredients in the blonde mix used for some of the doughnuts:
Sprouted Brown Rice Flour
Yellow Pea Protein Powder
Golden Milled Flaxseed
Coconut Flour
Hemp Protein Powder
Sprouted Brown Rice Protein
Cinnamon Powder
Maca Powder
Moringa Powder
Green Tea Powder
Turmeric Powder
+ Dr. Bob’s VitaRise
(potassium bicarbonate, calcium
phosphates, probiotics)
Have you ever seen such ingredients in a doughnut? These are not only gluten free, dairy free, egg free, and nut free, but notice the addition of super foods like the Maca, Moringa, Turmeric, and Green Tea. Also amazing is the use of sprouted brown rice flour. Sprouted flour is a whole different creature from regular flour.
The next amazing thing is that these doughnuts are steamed, not fried in a big vat of toxic hot oil. The resulting creation is only 90 calories of high-powered nutrition. Naturally my first thought was that these things must taste terrible like so many healthy attempts at favorites like cookies are that I have tried from the store. None-the-less I was determined to give these guys a try.
Two other concepts that are unique to Dr Bob’s is the idea of topping your doughnut with healthy sauces, fruit, and crunchies – 35 different choices. Also is their concept of a Doyo – a coconut milk frozen yogurt on top of the doughnut. I love it. I have never seen coconut milk frozen yogurt other than what I have made up for myself at home.
So after the Gem show we all trotted over to Dr Bob’s to give this place a try. It hides in a funky little space in an odd area of old town Roseville – across the tracks from the better known old Roseville along Vernon street. Dr Bobs is on Lincoln Street near where Main Street intersects it. They are only open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays till 5:30 or 6.
Your first step is to choose a doughnut flavor from the many different choices in the steamer cabinet. The doughnuts themselves have no or low sugar, toppings will add sugar of you go for lots of fruit. Next I put a little caramel sauce on the doughnut and some vanilla frozen coconut milk yogurt, followed by a generous scoop of cashew whipped cream and some blueberries. I skipped the crunchy department as I didn’t want the extra carbs. I could have dumped on a bunch of chia seed pudding and a ton of other choices, but I was happy with my selections. Pricing is simply by weight. I think mine was about $4.50.
To my great surprise my doughnut was actually tasty. Most of the sweetness comes from a sugar replacement Dr Bob has created similar to my Dr Dave sugar – only his is six times as sweet as sugar and made with raw cane sugar, stevia, and lo han. The yogurt was also delicious, enough so that I went back for seconds just of the yogurt.
All in all we were all very happy with our dessert experience and will definitely return again. It is so nice to feel like you can have a tasty sweet treat that is actually good for you. It is doubly nice that you don’t have to bake it up yourself and have all those choices stored in your fridge. So two thumbs up for Dr Bobs Doughnuts.
Enjoy,
David