The most surprising thing about Dunkin’ Donuts’ forthcoming paean to doughnut-bacon confectionary amour? It’s only 360 calories, which, it turns out, is 30 calories less than the breakfast chain’s healthier-eating-angled turkey sausage sandwich. Go figure.
(MORE: ‘Cronut’ Craze Creates Black Market for Tasty New Treat)
Yes, the Doughnut Bacon Sandwich is officially a thing: mounds of fried eggs and slices of lightly salted, cherrywood-smoked bacon gathered into the sweet, sweet embrace of a “light and fluffy” split glazed doughnut. Dunkin’ Donuts says it’ll roll the sandwich out nationwide at participating stores this Friday, June 7 (“nationwide” meaning mostly east of the Mississippi, where the majority of Dunkin’ Donuts stores exist, of course). Until now, the sweet innovation had only been available in a few stores in eastern Massachusetts since April. The rollout coincides with National Donut Day, though fear not — the Glazed Donut Breakfast Sandwich isn’t a limited-time item created only for this day of days; it’ll be a permanent menu fixture.
What mad genius dreamt it up? According to Dunkin’ Donuts’ product innovation honcho Stan Frankenthaler, “The Glazed Donut Breakfast Sandwich came about by combining some of our favorite Dunkin’ products from different sides of our business and taking it to the next level to experiment with savory and sweet flavors.” Also, apparently not as simple to prepare as it sounds: “We had to train our crew members on constructing the sandwich – slicing the donut, adding the fried egg and bacon.”
Still, lest the words doughnut and bacon used in a sentence together sound unseemly, Dunkin’ is simply following in a line of eye (and belt) popping culinary pioneers. Surely you’ve heard of Chicken Charlie’s Krispy Kreme Sandwich: a piece of chicken nestled between two raspberry jelly-filled Krispy Kreme doughnuts? How about the restaurant’s new 2013 franken-food-vention: the Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe?
And remember, just 360 calories. How does that compare to Chicken Charlie’s Krispy Kreme Sandwich (with optional Swiss cheese and honey)? The Seattle Times estimated it clocks in at up to 565.
[Update: As some are rightly pointing out, calorie count is only part of the story; if you want the full nutritional picture, DD offers a full ingredient breakdown, including metrics like fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium count.]