When you need doughnuts *right now* it helps that Shortstop let you order online and pick up, so there’s no wasting time in the queue. The small-batch doughnut shop sells doughnuts topped with flakes of salt, red-velvet cake doughnuts with beetroot and dark chocolate, and Earl Grey tea balls injected with lemon myrtle and dipped in rose-petal icing, not to mention a winning take on the classic French cruller made from piped choux pastry glazed with cinnamon and honey. Race you there. Outposts in Melbourne CBD, Barangaroo, Darling Square; short-stop.com.au.

Croissant queen Kate Reid has opened a new pastry shop and this time it’s dedicated to the doughnut’s fancy cousin – the cruller. For those yet to try a cruller, the piped ribbing gives the French doughnut extra crunch. Moon is focusing on the classics, which include cinnamon sugar, vanilla glaze and coffee glaze. Crullers are served piping hot and Reid recommends eating them there and there (sounds good to us). 50 Rose St, Fitzroy; mooncruller.com.

Not your ordinary glazed rings, these pudgy doughboys are spiked with creative Asian flavours. Forget the jam and cream, Papi dishes out amazing glazes, from pandan and coconut to matcha crunch, ube and more. They also do the odd savoury doughnut special, including a hot dog-nut and chicken doughnut burger. 34a Redfern Street, Redfern; donutpapi.com.

Taste the nostalgia! Hot cinnamon donuts are served up straight out of the van here. These guys know how to do donuts, with 55 years experience under the van’s belt you won’t be disappointed by the doughy goodness. It just isn’t a trip to Berry without one of these sweet treats. 73 Queen Street, Berry, berry.org.au/taste/berry-donut-van.

Move over cronut, there’s a new doughnut hybrid in town. This pop-up doughnut shop is famous for its Japanese-inspired mochi doughnuts, made using rice flour for an extra chewy mochi-like texture. Choose from the classic cinnamon and honey or go all out with flavours like roasted black sesame, matcha green tea, yuzu mint and cereal milk frost. You can also buy a pot of frosting to dip on the side. 2 The Strand, Croydon; demochi.com.au.

The deep-fried dough by Raph Rashid of Beatbox Kitchen is an oasis for sweet tooths in Brunswick. These could be our favourite glazed doughnuts in the country, and they’re positively transcendent. Flavours span raspberry glaze with milkberry rubble, coffee passionfruit, rose crème with chocolate and raspberry sprinkles, and lime brulee with an actual bruleed top. There’s usually a queue, but they rarely run out. 12 Edward St, Brunswick; alldaydonuts.com.

The wicked doughnut styling at Doughboys Doughnuts in Melbourne makes choosing just one a heart-breaking process. Choose two and it just might be a heart-stopping one. Hand-dipped citrus zest and crushed nuts, marshmallow and maple bacon, these gourmet numbers can be found all over the city (check the website for where). 535 Bourke St, Melbourne; doughboysdoughnuts.com.au.

Lady Hester’s decadent slow-proved sourdough doughnuts with luxe Persian-inspired fillings – think orange curd and cardamom; salted dark chocolate and honeycomb; vanilla cream with pistachio – are some of the city’s best. They open their commercial kitchen window in the Hobart CBD every Friday from 10am until sold out, and they have a sell-out stall at Farm Gate Market every Sunday. 136 Collins Street, Hobart (rear basement)ladyhestereats.com.

Looking like the centres that fell out of the doughnut hole, Italian bombolini are filled with Nutella at Ladro in Melbourne’s Prahan, and topped with elderflowers when they’re in season. The sugary bites are drizzled from rooftop honey from Ladro’s hives and served with ice cream weekdays in Fitzroy. 224 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy; ladro.com.au.

There are now six Mary Street Bakeries and they all offer the same winning formula: excellent coffee, flaky pies and sausages, and best of all – those salted-caramel doughnuts. Dense yet airy with a golden crust, the salted caramel may be the best but don’t let it deter you from trying out the lemon maple pecan, choc malt or pistachio rosewater. Outposts in Perth, City Beach, Claremont, Highgate and Leederville; marystreetbakery.com.au.

Cronuts, Zonuts and now Gonuts, whatever you call the frankenfood that is half croissant half doughnut, we’re fans. At Brisbane’s Flour and Chocolate “Gonuts” appear once a week on Thursdays, and they’re some of the best in the country. Slightly fermented dough is stretched and layered to form croissants and then fried. Chocolate custard with sour cherries, white chocolate with raspberry, Kit Kat and cherry pie. The combinations are crazy, go-nuts. 4/621 Wynnum Rd, Morningside; flourandchocolate.com.

Flour and Stone’s cakes, tarts and lamingtons are reason enough to never consider turning paleo or gluten-free. But the doughnuts seal the deal. This Sydney bakery does giant balls of very light dough filled with house-made berry jam and a smooth not-too-sweet custard, dusted in the finest sugar. These pillowy bites are indulgent and sophisticated at once. 43 Riley St, Woolloomooloo; flourandstone.com.au.

Gluten free means doughnuts without the guilt, right? Um, we think so, and so we’re stocking up on Nodo in Brisbane’s sticky date, vanilla bean paleo doughnuts, passionfruit topped with shaved coconut, knowing they’re perfectly healthy-ish. Brisbane CBD, Newstead, Camp Hill, Carindale, South Bank, Garden City, Indooroopily and Hawthorne; nodo.com.au.

Ranging from bay leaf to lemon custard, chocolate and dulce de leche, these hole-less doughnuts by Hobart’s Pigeon Whole Doughnuts are made from a naturally leavened sourdough base. It’s that slightly sour chewiness that makes this an essential stop whenever we’re in Tasmania. 32 Argyle St, Hobart; pigeonwholebakers.com.au.

They may look like traditional doughnuts, but these glazed rings (finally, rings!) at Sydney’s Smalltown in Avalon are all about perfectly matched and creative natural flavours that have us going in for a second and (plus maybe one to take away) every time. Rosewater and vanilla, glazed mulberry and white chocolate, salted caramel and popcorn, peanut butter and chocolate, and a popular vanilla scattered with freeze-dried strawberry dust. Chief doughnut maker Katrina Smith says her small-scale baking means she can use free-range eggs. Just 60 made each day, only on weekends. Shop 1 21-23 Old Barrenjoey Road, Avalon; facebook.com/Smalltown-1406216622977828/.