The bakers are Karen Kosta, Vanessa Rowsell and Erick Johnson.

By Harry Kane

A quirky gourmet donut hole shop called Mass Hole Donuts in Somerville sells golf ball size donut holes and names them after Massachusetts landmarks and legends.

Mass Hole Donuts is located at 1157 Broadway. The shop opened in May of 2023, and is owned and operated by Peter Gladstone. Their slogan reads: The Filet Mignon of Donuts.

“We like to joke that we’re the flavorful center cut, where most donut places throw out the middle, we keep the middle and throw out the ring,” Gladstone said.

They’ve created 101 different donut holes since they opened. Gladstone washes the dishes and works the counter; he leaves the baking up to the professionals. The bakers are Karen Kosta, Vanessa Rowsell and Erick Johnson.

Two of the most popular donut holes are the Johnny Appleseed Cider Donut and the New-Berry Street Chocolate Cake Donut. Recently, The Wicked Pissah Pistachio Brioche has gained popularity.

The Wicked Pissah Pistachio is a tender brioche dough filled with pistachio custard, covered in a pistachio glaze and topped with a white chocolate drizzle and chopped pistachio nuts. It’s green, it’s delicious, and it has the nest name evah!

The Johnny Appleseed Cider Donut is named after Leominster’s most famous son. It’s a rich spiced apple donut, studded with chunks of real apple, covered in cinnamon and sugar, with a satisfying crunch on the outside.

The New-Berry Street Chocolate Cake Donut.

The New-Berry Street Chocolate Cake donut is topped with vanilla bean icing, a dollop of Nutella and a fresh blackberry.

Every week they make six different donut holes and they change their menu constantly.

“We are committed to having a few good bites and variety,” Gladstone said.

Every Sunday they decide what 6 donut holes they want to make for the upcoming week. They typically come up with two brioche donut holes (one that’s filled and one that’s not filled), two poppyseed cake donut holes, a chocolate donut hole and cider donut hole.

“That occasionally might change where we will swap in a different dough, but typically we are doing four doughs across six donuts,” Gladstone said.

The bakers arrive around 4 a.m. and they make 1000 donut holes per day on average. Weekends are busier. They have four hours to make, fry and decorate the donuts, and open for business at 8:00 a.m. They stay open until 11:00 a.m. or sometimes 11:30 a.m.

Mass Hole Donuts makes singles, but since they are all about variety, the most popular packs they sell are 3-packs ($7), 6-packs ($14), and 12-packs ($26).

They sell hot and cold coffee that they get from Broadsheet Roaster right in Somerville. There’s also merchandise like branded t-shirts, hats and mugs.

Recently Mass Hole Donuts has been opening on Friday nights to make hot donut sundaes. It’s been popular, so during the Autumn, it may happen more than just on Fridays, Gladstone said.

Mass Hole Donuts offers corporate catering and can make custom donut holes for clients. As an example, for Harvard, Mass Hole Donuts came up with the Crimson Donut Hole.

“We can create new donut flavors or looks for weddings and clients,” Gladstone said.

Sometimes they get silly and dress up in bear outfits.