The Tato-Nut Shop, Ocean Springs
.... "Tato-Nut"?
Haha, yes. Tato-Nut. It's exactly what you think it means--potato donut.
This cute, little shop was established in 1960 by the Mohler family in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. In fact, my dad, having grown up in Ocean Springs, attended school with one of the Mohler kids. This place is about as family-owned, small, and local as it gets. Although Tato-Nut is small, their reputation is certainly not.
The Mohler's came up with the idea to make doughnuts using MASHED POTATO. Yes, that's right. They use literal potatoes to make these famous donuts. I know that sounds wild, but this is exactly why they are recognized around the country as one of the best donut shops. The Mohler's coined the phrase "the only real donut" when branding their businesses, which is bold, but I think I, and most others, would agree. Huffington Post (2017) pronounced them to be "the best donut shop in Mississippi". Many Ocean Springs residents could tell you that every morning, when you drive down Government Street, you can see the line wrapped around the building and down the next street of customers waiting for these iconic doughnuts. The shop is open bright and early from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday. I visited the shop at around 7:30 a.m. and, as you can see in the picture below, the line was already about 30 customers deep. This was partially due to the limited number of customers allowed inside, but, even then, that's a lot of people at 7:30 a.m. on a Tuesday mornin'.
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| a LONG line for "the only real donut" |
Did you assume that the popular "tato-nut" was all they have to offer? Heck no. The Tato-Nut Shop also offers cake donuts including red velvet, blueberry and chocolate, "the persian" which is a fancy, massive cinnamon roll, king cake donuts, and several varieties of pastries. Oh yeah, they also have a COFFEE MENU. Yep, you heard me.
Along with the Mohler's family recipe for the potato flour donut, they also made their own recipe for chocolate glaze. As I watched each customer leave with 3 to 4 boxes full of treats, these chocolate glazed donuts were what most were leaving with. So, I can assume that they did something right with that recipe.
To my surprise, the shop actually has the recipe for their tato-nuts posted on the wall inside!
The Mohlers' Tato-Nut Recipe
3 eggs
3/4 cup of sugar
3 Tbsp soft shortening
2 & 3/4 cup of flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mashed potatoes
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| Goods: secured |
After struggling to restrain myself, I ended up leaving with a dozen donut holes, a "katrina piece", and a red velvet cake donut. The shop was already sold out of their traditional potato doughnut, so I snagged as many of the donut holes as I could (they somehow disappeared within about 10 minutes of my drive home? .. weird). The "Katrina piece" was created because after Hurricane Katrina hit the store was, not only running low on supplies, but was also struggling to stay afloat. So, they came up with the idea to gather left over jagged donut edges, combine them, and fry them up to serve with the rest of the donuts to have more to sell to customers. It was such a hit, that they decided to keep making them for the next 15 years. To this day, this is one of their most popular items sold.
For all of my goodies, I only paid six dollars! That, my friends, is what you call a steal, not a deal. I think God knew what he was doing when he decided that I shouldn't live in Ocean Springs because I can promise you that, if lived anywhere near The Tato-Nut Shop, I would have spent an unsafe and embarrassing amount of money and time there.
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| The sign at the entrance |
Customers come from all over the country to visit this place, and I can't blame them. I read several reviews sharing that, on their way to and from a family vacation, they adjusted their travel route to make sure they could stop by Ocean Springs, MS to visit the shop with '"the only real donuts", and they made this a family tradition.
If y'all are feeling even slightly adventurous, I highly suggest visiting The Tato-Nut Shop in Ocean Springs. If not for the donut shop, then for the unique and fun community that the town holds.
Actually, the shop just announced that their king cake donut season is in full-swing, so, if y'all don't mind, I'm gonna sign off because I have somewhere I need to be..
Continue to support your local businesses, but please do it safely. Wear that mask and wash those hands, friends!
Hunt, K. (2017, December 07). The Best Donut Shop In Every State. Retrieved June 30, 2020, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-best-donut-shop-in-ev_b_8398644?guccounter=1
Robyn, I love Tato-Nut donuts! They are the best. They are so soft and tasty. Since I can't eat much flour and wheat, Tato-Nut donuts help me out when I really want some donuts. It is sad that we do not have them in Hattiesburg so I usually need to ask someone to buy me some when they come up to the Hattiesburg campus. I also love their Kingcake donuts. It is out of the world. Reading your blog, I now want some Tato-Nut donuts.
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