Entrepreneurs Christopher Ballard and Sean Willis are sweetening the growing vegan movement in Seattle with 100% vegan and plant-based yeast donuts for all to enjoy.

Despite their immediate success, however, the concept of a donut truck was not a business venture they initially planned for.

Sean and Christopher, the couple behind the LGBTQ-owned media brand Outbound Herbivore, have been amplifying the vegan food scene in Seattle through their food blog and Instagram, partnering with restaurants and creating their own special events.

After founding the Outbound Herbivore blog in 2019, Christopher and Sean brought folks together for curated vegan mini markets, co-hosting secret vegan dinner parties alongside local chefs, and even created an official Outbound Herbivore Magazine that releases quarterly.

When the pandemic hit, events were canceled, restaurants closed indefinitely - some permanently - and overall uncertainty loomed, the two were left scrambling to find ways to pivot their brand and create something that could weather the storm.

“During COVID we had time to think about what we really wanted to do and how we could positively contribute to the future of the vegan movement here in Seattle,” Sean says.

An Opportunity Arrives On Four Wheels

As fate would have it, a food truck became available during this time - one that had brought major success to two previous Seattle vegan food concepts: No Bones Beach Club (formerly No Bones About It food truck); and later, Cycle Dogs, when No Bones moved into a brick and mortar and sold the truck.

When Cycle Dogs owner Keaton Tucker found a restaurant space during the pandemic and listed the food truck on the market, Sean and Christopher couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a new concept, and to continue the legacy of the now iconic vegan food truck.

What was missing from the Seattle’s vegan scene, they thought, was something fun, colorful, joyful, and totally Instagrammable - something that people would be excited about, that didn’t quite yet exist in the city for vegans.

The two decided on donuts - which, despite checking all of the boxes, neither of them had any experience in. Taking on the challenge anyway, recipe development became a fun and laborious adventure.

“Because we had zero baking experience, we really had to dive right in,” Sean says. “After months of recipe testing, endless trips back and forth to the store for flour and ingredients, countless taste tests with neighbors and friends, we ended on a fluffy, melt in your mouth doughnut that we are super proud of.” 

Colorful and Creative Flavors Are The Forefront

Arguably, it is exactly their newness to baking that’s key to Dough Joy’s inventive use of flavor. Though grounded with more traditional fare like the Chocoholic and a straight glazed donut fittingly named Basic B, it’s Dough Joy’s creative combinations that really makes their menu shine.

Dough Joy’s Sour Watermelon donut is an engineering marvel. The fluffy, not-too-sweet yeast donut is topped with a delightfully fruity icing woven with a bright sour sugar.

Perhaps skeptical at first, it’s the kind of flavor that you might try out of curiosity but on first bite you are won over by its sumptuous, nostalgic charm. Those sweet/sour/tangy flavors harmonize perfectly together, creating a wholly (pun intended) satisfying bite. It’s the donut you go out of your way for, the donut you tell your friends about, the donut that ruins all other donuts for you.

...that is, until you try all of Dough Joy’s other flavors. 

The Mango con Chile features intensely punchy, tropical mango-infused icing adorned with tangy, spicy tajin. And the punny Faconator offers a plant-based spin on the classic maple bacon flavor, with just a hint of complex florality and twang thanks to the coconut bacon. The menu is a visual treat as well - there’s nothing quite so nice as opening a box of cheery, brightly-colored donuts with the promise of all that is delicious ahead of you.

In addition to their standard donuts, Dough Joy rounds out their food menu with Chik’n & Waffle Donut Hole Skewers drizzled with maple syrup (um, HELLO sweet and salty, nice to see ya’) along with their Little Dippers offering of nine donut holes with rich vegan chocolate sauce.

And it wouldn’t be a Seattle donut concept if it didn’t involve coffee. Dough Joy’s coffee menu features cold brew and a variety of plant-based lattes crafted with local ingredients.

Dough Joy Donuts Are For Everyone, Vegan or Not

While Seattle’s vibrant donut scene continues to thrive all over town, we’re thrilled to see plant-based options making their mark, and competing with the best out there. And their multiple sell-out days make it clear we’re not alone in our excitement. These aren’t simply “veganized” donuts; they’re damn good donuts, with an added environmental bonus.

“Whether you're plant based or not,” Sean says, “we think you will love our tasty creations that are better for people, animals, and the planet.” 

Where To Find Dough Joy Donuts

You’ll find the truck parked in a corner lot just South of Market Street in Ballard, on 17th Ave NW.

ADDRESS: 5401 17th Ave NW, close to Cycle Dogs and Swedish Hospital.

HOURS:10 AM - 3 PM Tuesday - Friday; 10 AM - 1 PM Saturday and Sunday; Closed Mondays

With the truck’s small batch production, donuts are sold on a first come, first served basis until sold out. We recommend arriving early for the best selection. Keep an eye on their IG stories for any sell-out notifications, and for special rotating flavors.

Have you visited the Dough Joy donut truck? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!