Review: Krispy Kreme - 2023 Fourth of July Donuts (Stars and Stripes Dozen)

Krispy Kreme's 2023 Fourth of July Donuts include the new Red Velvet Sparkler Donut, Freedom Flag Donut, and All-American Apple Pie Donuts.

The Stars and Stripes Dozen includes three of each of this year's Fourth of July-themed donuts as well as three Original Glazed Donuts for $20.99 near me (prices may vary with location) but I received these donuts courtesy of Krispy Kreme.

The Red Velvet Sparkler Donut is a glazed red velvet cake donut topped with cream cheese icing and a stars-and-pearls sprinkle blend.

While technically a "new" donut, it's the same donut that they offered last Christmas only with sprinkles instead of red velvet cake crumbles. Also, they seemed to have made this batch wrong as the donuts came topped with Kreme filling (which is like whipped cream/topping) instead of cream cheese icing. I have to say it lost something with the plainer Kreme filling versus the slightly tangy and richer cream cheese icing. The cake donut was decently moist and chocolaty and the sprinkles added a nice crunch versus the cake crumbs.

The Freedom Flag Donut features an Original Glazed Donut dipped in red icing and decorated like an American flag with blue and white sprinkles and white icing stripes. It's less "new" and more like a new look for the patriotic holiday. The design is nice but the icing and sprinkles on top of glaze made for a very sweet donut.

The All-American Apple Pie Donut consists of a shell donut filled with apple-cinnamon filling, dipped in caramel icing and graham cracker crumbs, and decorated with an icing lattice. Like the Red Velvet Sparkler Donut, the All-American Apple Pie Donut is just a slight twist on a previous donut. In this case, it's a slightly different version of the Dutch Apple Pie donut that was offered as part of the Easy as Pie Donuts in 2019. The difference a switch from streusel to graham cracker crumbs in the "new" donut. It doesn't really make a difference as the streusel offer similar textures and very mild flavor. The donut itself offers a bit of apple-cinnamon pie filling to go with a light note of sweet caramel.

Overall, Krispy Kreme's 2023 Fourth of July Donuts made for a nice visual look for the holiday to go with fairly traditional and familiar flavors. There's not really much in the way of newness but it makes for enjoyable eating.