Cops and Doughnuts – Headquarters
521 N. McEwan StreetI had to make the trip to Mackinac Island for work again this past weekend but I wasn’t in a super big hurry to get there.
I worked part of the morning in Kalamazoo before I left. My colleague was working on something that I helped him out with then I left for Mackinaw City around 11:30.
I get bored taking the same route all the time so this time, I decided to go up US-127. It’s only a few minutes longer and it would give me a change of scenery.
I realized I was going to be driving right past Clare on this trip. I’ve seen the signs for years and even stopped at the Mt. Pleasant Cops and Doughnuts location but this time, I’d actually get a chance to stop at the original.
Cops and Doughnuts Headquarters is in downtown Clare on McEwan Street south of 5th Street. The Clare City Bakery actually takes up three storefronts on the west side of the road. The original bakery had been in operation since the late 1800’s. When they were about to close in 2009, the entire Clare Police Department banded together to save the bakery and Cops and Doughnuts was born. Since that time, the bakery has expanded with locations in Mt. Pleasant, Gaylord, and Bay City plus some “substations” which sell the donuts at various retail stores and restaurants throughout northern Michigan.
You don’t actually enter through the main bakery storefront to get in to the bakery. There is another storefront to the south. Before the bakery became Cops and Doughnuts, this space was a Chinese restaurants. The new bakery expanded in to it and, for a while, it was a diner. Now it’s a retail space selling t-shits and souvenirs…..
…as well as some other food products like coffee, jams, and pickles.
You have to walk through this storefront to get in to the main bakery. Once there, you find a big, wide open space with rows and rows of donuts.
I got there pretty late in the day, it was already 4:00 and there was still a big selection of donuts to choose from. There was only one guy working the bakery and he was in the kitchen area preparing dough for tomorrow. He noticed me after a few minutes then came over to fill up a box for me.
My family loves vanilla long johns. I’m not sure if this is a Chicago thing or not but J and I both grew up on vanilla long johns from Dunkin’ Donuts. You don’t see the vanilla long john at Dunkin’s in Michigan very often but they were a staple for us growing up in Chicagoland. I got a couple of vanilla long johns when I picked up donuts from the Central Precinct in Mt. Pleasant a few years ago and they were a big hit. I got four of them this time so we’d each have one when I got home for Sunday morning.
L and I love these donuts. They’re big, hearty yeast donuts that can come filled with either custard or vanilla cream. I got all vanilla cream filled. The donuts are super sweet which is kind of a turn off for B and J. They both like sweet but not too sweet whereas L and I are way more into the sweetness. J told me she probably would have liked a custard filled one better. My opinion is that these are, by far, the best vanilla long johns I’ve ever had. I love these donuts and have no problem going a little out of my way for them. They’re so good.
I also grabbed two cinnamon sugar twist donuts. One of them, I ate for breakfast one morning before heading over to Mackinac Island. I brought the other one home and this is really the one B liked. He ate the long john I brought home for him but he much preferred this cinnamon sugar twist. When I was ordering, the guy picking the donuts tried to sell me on a glazed one. He said they only had one left. Those must be popular but I really liked the cinnamon sugar so that’s what I got.
The cost for the six donuts was right around $12.
I will die on the hill that Cops and Doughnuts makes the best vanilla long johns. I love these donuts so much. I go to Mackinac Island once, sometimes twice, a year for work. I don’t always go this way but it’s kind of worth the extra ten minutes just so I can pull off in Clare and bring some of these delicious donuts home to the family.
SW Michigan Dining 