Krispy Kreme seems to enjoy seasonal specialty donut releases almost as much as Buddy the Elf loves Christmas. The chain’s announcement comes just two weeks after the debut of the Krispy Kreme fall donut line. Last year’s holiday donut theme was Santa’s Bake Shop, which included the filled Santa’s Belly donut, a Gingerbread Cookie Crumb donut, a Holiday Sugar Cookie Donut, and a Red Velvet Cake donut.
There was love for all of the 2022 Santa’s Bake Shop donuts, but Red Velvet really took the cake, so to speak, with commenters on Krispy Kreme’s Instagram saying, “RED VELVET CAKE BE BUSSIN BUSSIN,” “omg it is my new favorite!!” and many begging Krispy Kreme to sell them year-round. The brand replied to one such commenter, saying, “Thanks for the idea!” While that Christmas wish doesn’t appear to have come true yet, Red Velvet has appeared at more than just Christmas; it showed up in the Fourth of July box as the “Red Velvet Sparkler.” However, whether the company will release the red velvet cake donut this season is unclear.
This year’s holiday offering only brought back the annual Santa Belly donut. One commenter asked why it wasn’t chocolate-filled; Krispy Kreme traded chocolate for vanilla cream in 2022. This year, it’s a cookies and cream filling (because Santa’s belly is full of milk and cookies from all his stops on Christmas Eve, of course).