This post is written by Nick Dekker, blogger at Breakfast with Nick and author of a book all about breakfast in Columbus. You can follow him on Twitter@BreakfastwNick.

Donuts are the perfect pastry for autumn. There’s nothing better than enjoying a fresh warm donut with a mug of apple cider on a cool, crisp morning. Here are some of the spots where you can snag a baker’s dozen fresh donuts this fall!

Auddino’s Bakery is famous for their doughssant pastries: flaky croissants with a thin glaze. Roy Auddino has been making them since the early 1990’s! You can find the doughssants (and lots of other donuts) at their original shop near the Fairgrounds or their newer café in Hilliard.

DK Diner in Grandview supplements big diner breakfasts with loads of handmade donuts. Their glazed cake and sour cream donuts are top picks, as well as their softball-sized apple fritters.

Like DK Diner, Honey Dip Donuts & Diner in Upper Arlington serves up some big breakfasts to go with their donuts. If your breakfast is heavy, try a lighter honey dip donut: a yeast-raised confection with a light honey glaze. Want to really live out your donut love? Both Honey Dip and DK Diner will make you a breakfast sandwich or a burger using donuts as buns.

Schneider’s Bakery in uptown Westerville is a perfect example of the old school donut shop. Owners Jeff and Debbie Hamler maintain nearly 60 years of tradition by baking donuts using the Schneider family’s recipes. Stop in for carton of milk and their signature Davy Crockett: a cinnamon twist donut with maple icing.

Resch’s Bakery also claims old school status. Celebrating their 100th anniversary in 2012, six generations of the Resch family have served their neighborhood with cakes, bread, and trays and trays of donuts. Favorites at Resch’s include the granny roll, a cinnamon roll covered with nuts and white icing.
Heather Morris of Destination Donuts bakes her donuts at home, then delivers them to One Line Coffee, Hills Market Downtown, Luck Brothers and other shops. You’ll also find Heather set up at North Market regularly. She concocts flavors like Triple Berry Cardamom, Maple Sausage, and Apricot Pistachio, and she even makes vegan donuts!

Near Ohio State’s campus, Buckeye Donuts is a perennial favorite. Open 24 hours a day, the shop serves trays of cake donuts and their namesake Buckeye donut: a yeast-raised donut iced with chocolate and filled with peanut butter. Although they’re not officially affiliated, there’s a second Buckeye Donuts on the south side, serving up old school longjohns and custard-filled yeast donuts for decades.
Just down High Street from the original Buckeye Donuts, Little Donut Shop piles all sorts of crazy ingredients on their, well, little donuts. They use a simple cake donut base and dip, drizzle, or swirl their donuts with sprinkles, chocolate chips, M&Ms, coconut, bacon, and so much more!

Speaking of little donuts… the Lil Donut Factory in Hilliard always has to keep up with big crowds. Their longjohns, donut holes, and chocolate-glazed donuts sell out quick, so get there early!

The Golden Donuts Diner on the South Side is known for its greasy diner breakfasts, as well as its apple fritters and cake donuts. Long-time central Ohio residents can still treat themselves to donuts and coffee at the three remaining Jolly Pirate donut locations on East Broad St, in Reynoldsburg, or in Grove City.

So where in Columbus do you like to grab a dozen donuts?