Are there awesome homemade donuts in New Hampshire, YOU BET!!

Occasionally in my donuts travels I will find myself saddened with what I find. I regularly search reviews on-line, rope in as many willing (or un-willing, though they always change their minds) participants as possible, and set off in search of the best homemade donuts. Sometimes I will find a shop converted to a large chain store, perhaps find the shelves bare and the doors locked (a sign of just how good their items are) or once in a while even find a donut which, dare I say, makes me wish I had gone to a chain. Fortunately this weekend was not such a case, though it could have easily turned out that way.

Introducing Brother's Donuts and Deli, Franklin NH. Until this past weekend the Donut Directory was a bit light on tasty fair from New Hampshire and thusly I set out to change it. I had planned a trip to visit my friend Tony, aka "The God Father" in Warner, who has accompanied me on many such donut adventures. Naturally the first thing I did prior to departing was search for donut shops in NH; the closest to my weekends destination being Dunclare's, Claremont, and Brothers of Franklin. Experience has taught me one thing when searching out small donut "hot spots", largely known only to locals; call ahead! Lack of preparation can bring you face to face with every donut hunters worst fear....NO DONUTS!!!  Therefore, we rose bright and early fueling up on a healthy breakfast of bacon and eggs and jumped on google to confirm directions and contact information. After reading a review of Brothers on-line and speaking with the very pleasant women on the other end of the phone my worst fears were confirmed, "We only have 2 jellies and 3 lemon creme left." It was 9:30am. "It's best to just call ahead as soon as you get up and we can put some aside for you." "Thank you." I said. I died a little inside and shed a small tear. But, my spirits quickly changed as I remembered plan B in Claremont. However, a call quickly confirmed a sneaking suspicion which google alluded to, Dunclare was in fact a Dunkin Donuts. I was thwarted on all fronts. I had to act fast. I quickly called back Brothers, confirmed availability of the remaining Jellies / Lemon Cremes and we were off like lightning to Franklin.

A beautiful drive in and of itself, Franklin is nestled in the southern 3rd of central New Hampshire, just West of Tilton. A former industrial center, Franklin, like many small New England towns, has felt the affects of the exportation of American manufacturing, though still retains the down home heritage which let's a shop like Brothers thrive and keep locals filling the seats.

As I noted earlier one of the worst experiences a donut hunter will face is finding their destination, only to walk in and find the shelves bare; the only thing worse is to find total darkness and a locked front door. Today was just such a day. As Tony and I scoured the main street looking for the shop our eyes spotted the orange, red and blue sign, bookended by 2 bakers rolling out the dough, with one problem- total darkness. Upon looking closer the letters reading "Saturday-11:00am" confirmed our worst fear; it was 11:30. Slightly dejected and a bit perturbed at our own negligence at rising earlier, we approached the door for some photos and thoughts of returning at a later date. But wait just a minute...what greeted us at the front door was not just our own reflection in the interior of an empty donut shop but a small milk crate with a white pastry box sitting atop, the words " Mike, you are all set!" written across it; devine province. The folks at Brothers didn't know who I was, and I have not yet met them in person, but they left a small donut gift sitting out front and made 2 donut hunters days complete! This is the type of kindness that brings patrons back week after week, year after year, and keeps us all proud to come from small towns.

Let's just say that the donuts, well...they were just as great as the story leading up to them. To quote Tony... "I guess this entry just wrote itself."

Next time you are in Franklin, make sure to add Brothers to your list of stops- just make sure to call ahead :)