Less than a year after buying North Country Donuts in Morrisville, owners Dan Gwaltney and his wife, Jessica Palmer-Gwaltney, have invested in the operation’s first commercial-scale doughnut fryer, enabling them to increase production and distribute beyond their 73 Lower Main Street shop. The expansion starts with a series of Donuts After Dark evening pop-ups on September 10 and 22 and October 1 and 13, all at Red Poppy Cakery at 1 Elm Street in Waterbury.
If the events go well, Gwaltney, 43, said, they could become weekly. “We want to spread the doughnut awareness.”
He said the bakery will also establish satellite pickup locations for weekend preorders, starting with one at Bridgeside Books in Waterbury and possibly expanding to Montpelier and Berlin or Barre.
Since taking over the bakery, Gwaltney said, he has introduced cinnamon rolls; a cereal line made with Rice Krispies and Cocoa Pebbles; and what he calls “supreme doughnuts,” such as cookie doughnuts with embedded chocolate chip cookies and Black Forest cake doughnuts made with chocolate cake. Classics such as maple-bacon, Boston cream and cinnamon sugar continue to sell briskly, he said.
This article appears in Sep 10-16 2025.
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