One look at Jo Joe’s Doughnuts’ menu and it’s clear that this is not your average doughnut shop. With bold flavors such as Blood Orange, White Chocolate Mocha Latte, and Raspberry Bismarck, you know you’re in for something good.
Jo Joe’s Doughnuts is an upscale doughnut shop in Bellingham opened in Dec. 2021. Co-owner and baker Joseph Letournea (Joe) is no stranger to the doughnut shop business, and in the wake of pandemic lockdowns, he decided to open a brand new venture– this time in collaboration with his partner, JoAnne Dutton (Jo).
Dutton says Jo Joe’s was born from “a love of food, family, and friends.” The shop is painted and decorated by the couple’s loved ones, and on the culinary side, Dutton notes that her mother even helps make glazes.
The menu changes by the week; some flavors appear more frequently while others, such as the Beach Cat Stout, are made only once in a blue moon. They often collaborate with local businesses, and on “Wild Card Wednesdays,” Letourneau picks a customer-suggested flavor to bring to life.
“We do about 150 different flavors and we’re always creating more,” he says.
Each donut is made from scratch with high-quality ingredients. Letourneau’s French-style dough also contains less sugar than a typical doughnut, allowing individual flavors to shine. French dough is also naturally vegan, so most of the doughnuts contain no animal products.
“I have a daughter with dietary needs,” says Letourneau. “And we’re careful for kids with autism. We want everyone to be able to have our doughnuts.”
Jo Joe’s has quickly acquired a loyal customer base. They once opened at 7 a.m. with 500 donuts at the ready; by 8 a.m., every last doughnut had been sold. Both Dutton and Letourneau expressed their gratitude for the community’s support.
“With [Letourneau] being a classically trained French chef, our flavour profiles are– I mean, you’ll see!” Dutton says. “They’re not like anything anybody’s ever had around here.”
I most definitely did see what Dutton meant when I sampled my first doughnut, the Key Lime Pie ($3.75). Made with fresh lime juice, it’s zesty, cream-filled, and just sweet enough.
If $3.75 sounds like a lot for a doughnut, know that it was also large enough for me to (reluctantly) split. Between the portion sizes and handcrafted ingredients, these doughnuts are more than worth the price.
Next up was the Double Dark Chocolate Boston Cream ($3.75), a.k.a. any chocolate lover’s delight (speaking from experience). This ooey-gooey delight was as big as my head, trumped in size only by JoJoe’s magnificent Classic Cinnamon Rolls ($5).
On a technical level, the most impressive bite was an experiment by Letourneau: A gluten-free, vegan, and yeast-raised Doughnut ($4.50). If he hadn’t told me it was different, I never would have guessed– it was that light and fluffy.
Jo Joe’s website puts it best: “If you weren’t a doughnut person before, now you are.” Don’t believe me? Next time you’re near Commercial Street, try a doughnut (or three) and see for yourself. 1301 Commercial St., Bellingham, 360.820.6181, jojoesdoughnuts.com
