National Doughnut Day Freebies Around Miami

MIAMI, FL - Every rain cloud needs a silver lining and since Friday marked the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, someone decided it should also be National Doughnut Day. Local shops, chains and even some restaurants in the Miami area were offering tasty deals. But while some shops take doughnut-making to an art form, most Floridians are likely to choose Dunkin' Donuts when asked to name their favorite, according to a recent survey.

In Miami Beach on Española Way, Happy Place Donuts, was offering a free bag of six Hot & Happy Dough Balls with every purchase on Friday. The fried-to-order and warm, crispy brioche dough balls come generously coated in powdered sugar

Duffy’s Sports Grill in North Miami Beach and Kendall was offering a free order of Red Velvet Mini Donuts at every table with a limit of one free order per table. The soft and sweet red velvet donuts are spun in sugar and served warm with cream cheese icing for dipping.

Classic glazed doughnuts are the favorite choice of Americans overall, according to the offers.com survey though the sample size was small — about 1,000 consumers answered a Google Survey about their favorite types of doughnuts and favorite chains.

A distant second choice were Boston Cream doughnuts (17 percent), followed by jelly doughnuts (12 percent), doughnuts with sprinkles (7 percent), powdered doughnuts (6 percent) and twist doughnuts (6 percent). Some 48 percent chose the glazed.

National Doughnut Day dates back to 1938, when The Salvation Army of Chicago created it to honor the "Doughnut Girls" who served doughnuts to soldiers in World War I. The unofficial holiday is celebrated every year on the first Friday in June.

Though the honorary salute to the "Doughnut Girls" wouldn't begin until years later, two Salvation Army volunteers — Ensign Margaret Sheldon and Adjutant Helen Purviance — came up with the idea of frying doughnuts in soldiers' helmets after they and about 250 others were deployed to France to provide spiritual and emotional support for U.S. soldiers.

Here are some other great deals on doughnuts:

Dunkin' Donuts, which has more than 7,600 locations nationwide, is offering a free classic doughnut — including favorites like Boston Kreme, glazed and Strawberry Frosted with Sprinkles — with the purchase of any beverage on June 1.

Krispy Kreme, which has more than 300 stores nationwide, is offering a free doughnut of the customer's choice on June 1. No purchase is necessary.

Entenmann's, which sells its doughnuts in grocery stores nationwide, has a pretty fun contest going on. The classic pastry company is soliciting applications for the honorary position of Chief Donut Officer, which comes with a year's worth of doughnuts and a $5,000 cash award. Four runners-up will receive $1,000 and a one-year supply of doughnuts.

Duffy's is giving away a free order of Red Velvet Mini Donuts to mark National Doughnut Day. Photo courtesy Duffy's.