In The Kitchen With Your Mom’s Donuts

This post was originally published on 01/07/2014, and was updated on 01/05/2016

3:30 am was once “time to make the donuts,” but by then, Benjamin Frye is well underway baking Your Mom’s Donuts, working to have the orders boxed and ready for delivery as early as 6:00 am. We recently had the opportunity to join him in the kitchen and watch the magic happen. It was a great way to spend the wee hours of the morning and learn about our new favorite purveyor of fried, doughy goodness.

Ben and his soon-to-be wife, Courtney Buckley, started Your Mom’s Donuts to fill a gap in the Charlotte food offerings, while making use of their backgrounds in the food and local farming industries. They actually met through a mutual contact at a local restaurant, when they both worked as food brokers. They hit it off immediately, and in a matter of weeks they were living together. Before long they were running a farm, and setting the final pieces of what eventually grew into the foundation for Your Mom’s Donuts.

Ben shared with us that after working on a farm during his college days he realized that his purpose lay somewhere among farms and food, not his psychology textbooks. He received his culinary training from Johnson & Wales, and paired it with his passion for locally sourced ingredients to create the delicious donuts he bakes while the rest of us are tucked warmly in our beds.

Ben starts with flour from the historical Lindley Mills in Graham, butter from Homeland Creamery in Julian, and eggs from Bells Best in nearby Monroe. Once he adds the necessary ingredients and has his dough, he fries it up in “healthy fat” that comes from The Naked Pig farm in Oakboro. They call the fat healthy because the leaf lard from pasture raised hogs contains more omega 3 and less omega 6 than other fats and oils, but I will leave that to the nutrition scientists.  Many of these suppliers offer their goods in specialty markets around NC.  I used to buy Homeland Creamery butter for my baking at Weaver Street Market, when I lived in Chapel Hill, and am happy to hear that it is available at Reid’s, Atherton, and the 7th Street Market, here in Charlotte.

Once Ben preps all of his dough trays, he begins frying every donut by hand in a hotel pan.  We thought this was pretty ingenious because it is the perfect size for small batches to make quality control easy, as well as a great shape for flipping the donuts.

Now, the donuts are ready to be dressed and filled, and Ben has the creams and glazes ready.  The various glazes are sitting in the double boilers, and it is impressive to watch Ben work as he juggles them three donuts at a time through the glaze process. After finishing the standard glazed donuts, he switches to filling the specialty donuts with different cream and custard fillings.  On the day we visit, there is a mint custard, a pumpkin buttercream, and an espresso cream filling.

With the donuts filled, there are just a few finishing touches to make the flavors more identifiable.  For the Caramel ‘N’ Espresso donut, this includes an espresso bean on top of the caramel glaze, the Pumpkin Buttercream receives a dusting of roasted pumpkin seeds, and dried mint leaves adorn the Chocolate Mint Custard donuts.

Finally, the donuts are ready to be boxed, and make their way to your house or office for breakfast. Not Just Coffee also carries these wonderful donuts, if you want to pick one up with your morning cup of coffee.

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EZ and I were huge fans of Your Mom’s Donuts before we spent time with them in the kitchen, and now we are even more impressed, after seeing the care and attention that goes in to making their donuts. We are excited about their growth, and look forward to having their donuts available more regularly.

Your Mom’s Donuts now has a a shop located at:
11025 Suite F Monroe Road
Matthews, NC 28105

They are open Wednesday through Saturday from 7am -1 pm ( or until sold out), and Sunday from 8am- 1pm (or until sold out). You can also place orders online and over the phone.

Check out the seasonal flavors for the week on Your Mom’s Donuts Instagram, Facebook, and Website.

Read about more of our favorite Charlotte eats!
Local Loaf
Fern, Flavors from the Garden
Lenny Boy Kombucha Tap Room
Maryland Crab Co
Novel Sweets