Donuts Trivia for Kids
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100 free Donuts Trivia for Kids trivia questions with answers — food & drink quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This donuts trivia for kids is a sweet, easy quiz for players aged around 8 to 12 (and the grown-ups who share their dozen). It covers where donuts came from (Dutch settlers, a teenage sailor who claimed to invent the hole, and the 1920s spelling shortcut that gave us 'donut'), the big chains kids know (Krispy Kreme, Dunkin', Tim Hortons and their Munchkins and Timbits), donuts in cartoons and movies, and the different kinds you can order: glazed, jelly, cruller, Long John, cider donut and Boston cream. It also travels the world: churros in Spain, beignets in New Orleans, sufganiyot at Hanukkah, paczki in Poland, malasadas in Hawaii, oliebollen on Dutch New Year's Eve, loukoumades in Greece and picarones in Peru. Nothing requires memorising dates, and every answer comes with a short explanation that adds one more fun fact. It works well for a classroom treat day, a birthday party or National Doughnut Day (the first Friday in June). Grown-ups who want the full history can try our main donuts trivia (brainpickle.app/quiz/a/donuts). Every answer has been checked against a reference encyclopaedia, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which settlers brought 'olykoeks', or oil cakes, to New York and helped start America's love of donuts?
The Dutch
Olykoek means 'oil cake', and they arrived in what was then called New Amsterdam in the early 1700s.
Q 02Which famous author wrote about 'dough-nuts' as balls of sweet dough fried in fat, way back in 1809?
Washington Irving
It appears in his comic book A History of New York, and those little 'nuts' of dough are what we would now call donut holes.
Q 03Hanson Gregory claimed he invented the ring-shaped donut in 1847 while working where?
On a ship
He said he was 16 and aboard a lime-trading ship at the time; the middle of a donut is the hardest part to cook through.
Q 04Why was the short spelling 'donut' invented in the 1920s?
To make it easier for foreigners to say
A New York company that sold automatic donut machines shortened the word to help sell them overseas.
Q 05What are the two most common types of donut?
Ring and filled
Filled donuts are injected with jelly, cream or custard after frying.
Q 06Before it became Dunkin' Donuts in 1950, the shop had what name?
Open Kettle
It is the oldest surviving company to use the short 'donut' spelling, and it dropped 'Donuts' from its name in 2019.
Q 07Krispy Kreme was founded in 1937 in Winston-Salem in which state?
North Carolina
Founder Vernon Rudolph bought his yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans chef and sold to grocery stores at first.
Q 08Krispy Kreme's glowing red 'Hot Now' sign means what?
Hot donuts are coming off the line
Newer shops use tunnel ovens so they can offer hot donuts all day long.
Q 09Dunkin' was founded in 1950 in Quincy, a suburb of which big city?
Boston
Bill Rosenberg first called his shop the Open Kettle before changing the name.
Q 10Dunkin' sells its donut holes under what name?
Munchkins
They came along after Dunkin' merged into the same company as Baskin-Robbins ice cream.
Q 11Which ice cream chain shares a parent company with Dunkin'?
Baskin-Robbins
Baskin-Robbins' owner bought Dunkin' in 1990, and the two later formed Dunkin' Brands.
Q 12Tim Hortons, Canada's famous donut chain, was co-founded by a man who played which sport?
Ice hockey
Tim Horton played in the NHL from 1949 until he died in a car crash in 1974; the first shop opened in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1964.
Q 13What does Tim Hortons call its donut holes?
Timbits
In 2021 the chain even sold 'Tim Biebs' with singer Justin Bieber, and the first Roll Up the Rim prize in 1986 was a box of them.
Q 21A German Berliner is a jam donut that is missing what?
A hole in the middle
One of the first cookbooks ever printed on the Gutenberg press had a recipe for it, called Gefüllte Krapfen.
Q 22Which US president gave a famous speech in West Berlin in 1963 that shares its name with a jelly donut?
John F. Kennedy
'Ich bin ein Berliner' means 'I am a Berliner', and Berliner is also the German name for a jam donut.
Q 23Sufganiyot, round jelly donuts, are eaten during which Jewish festival?
Hanukkah
Fried foods recall the miracle of the Temple oil, and the treat came to Israel with Polish Jewish immigrants.
Q 14National Doughnut Day in the United States falls on which day?
The first Friday of June
The Salvation Army started it in Chicago in 1938 to honor its volunteers who served donuts to soldiers in World War I.
Q 15In which country did the Salvation Army's 'Doughnut Lassies' fry donuts for WWI soldiers?
France
It was hard to bake fresh bread near the front lines, so two volunteers, Margaret Sheldon and Helen Purviance, came up with donuts instead.
Q 16In The Simpsons, Homer works as a safety inspector at what kind of place?
A nuclear power plant
Creator Matt Groening picked the plant because it offered plenty of chances for comic chaos.
Q 17What color are the sprinkle donuts that Homer Simpson loves?
Pink
Real stores have sold them along with other Simpsons foods like Buzz Cola and Krusty-O cereal.
Q 18Which cereal company sold 'Homer's Cinnamon Donut Cereal' for a limited time in 2001?
Kellogg's
Homer's creator said the only thing his real father shared with Homer was a love of donuts.
Q 19Sprinkles are called 'jimmies' in which part of the United States?
New England
In Britain and Australia they are called 'hundreds and thousands', and one Pennsylvania candy company claims to have named jimmies after an employee.
Q 20A jelly donut is filled with what?
Fruit preserves
Germany's Berliner, Poland's paczki and the Jewish sufganiyah are all types of jelly donut.
Q 24Polish paczki are traditionally eaten on 'Fat Thursday', the last Thursday before what?
Lent
The idea was to use up all the lard, sugar, eggs and fruit in the house before the fasting season began.
Q 25Malasadas, Portuguese fried donuts, are nicknamed after which US state where they're popular?
Hawaii
They came from the island of Madeira and are often called 'Hawaiian donuts'.
Q 26Oliebollen, Dutch donuts often stuffed with raisins, are traditionally eaten on which night?
New Year's Eve
They are dusted with powdered sugar, and some are made with apple instead of raisins.
Q 27Loukoumades, the fried dough balls of Greece and Turkey, are usually soaked in what?
Honey or syrup
They are sometimes dusted with cinnamon, and a similar recipe dates back to 13th-century Arabic cookbooks.
Q 28Italian zeppole are traditionally eaten on March 19, the feast day of which figure?
Saint Joseph
On that day they are sold on many Italian streets and sometimes given as gifts.
Q 29Churros, the ridged fried dough sticks from Spain and Portugal, are often dipped in what?
Hot chocolate
The batter is piped through a star-shaped tip, which gives churros their ridges.
Q 30Beignets, square fried dough covered in powdered sugar, are the official state donut of which state?
Louisiana
French colonists brought them to New Orleans in the 1700s; the only other official state donut is Massachusetts' Boston cream.