How Fresh Are Dunkin’s Donuts? A Viral TikTok Explains How Different Locations Get the Pastries (2024)

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Some Dunkin’ locations bake their donuts in house, but not all.

There are three ways Dunkin’ locations can acquire donuts, according to TikTok user and franchise owner Amir Mohamed. In a video shared in August, Mohamed said, “You can A, bake them yourself in your own kitchen inside the restaurant. You can have them delivered from a central kitchen, which you and other franchisees team up to build, called a CML. Or you could order JBOD, which are like disgusting frozen donuts.”

For the first 12 years of being a franchisee, Mohamed said he elected for the first option and baked donuts in-house. "Personally, I love that when we made them in-house because I felt like the donuts were bigger,” he said. “Everything was filled better, it just tasted better.”

While he appreciated the quality of freshly-made donuts, he admitted it was an “absolute mad house” to make “hundreds and hundreds and hundreds” of donuts per location. This craziness led him to transition to a CML.

He, along with 30 other franchisees, built a central kitchen. There the donuts are “baked fresh every single night” and shipped out every morning to each location before they opened.

Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut way to know which option your local shop utilizes — but Mohamed suggests calling a store to ask.

A representative for Dunkin' did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for clarification.

One thing that is guaranteed is that Dunkin’s pink velvet macchiato is back, four years after its viral debut.

The colorful coffee, which was first introduced in January 2020 and hasn’t been back on the menu since, has flavors of red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting, per a statement from the company. The seasonal sip will be available hot or iced through the end of February.

Fans can pair it with a frosty red velvet specialty donut, which was added to the menu at the end of December. The new treat tops a red velvet cake donut with vanilla icing and cream cheese sprinkles.

Also new to the menu is the white hazelnut bark coffee, which combines hazelnut and white chocolate flavors in a hot or iced drink. The beverage is inspired by Dunkin’s beloved toasted white chocolate swirl, which is “one of Dunkin’s most popular seasonal flavors year after year,” according to a statement.