'Monkey-See, Monkey-Donut' Swings Into Dunkin' Donuts

CANTON, Mass., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Beginning next week, donut devotees can go bananas over the winner of Dunkin' Donuts' "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" contest. "Monkey-See Monkey-Donut," a bananas foster-filled donut topped with chocolate icing and chopped Reese's® Peanut Butter chips, will be available now through September 12 at participating Dunkin' Donuts restaurants nationwide.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080513/NYTU022LOGO )

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080513/NYTU022LOGO )

Created by Rachel Davis of Sharon, Mass., "Monkey-See Monkey-Donut" was chosen from nearly 90,000 contest submissions. As the grand prize winner, Rachel received $12,000 along with the opportunity to have her donut sold in participating Dunkin' Donuts restaurants throughout the country. The 12 contest finalists received $1,200 and traveled to Dunkin' Donuts' University in Braintree, Mass. for a bake-off presided over by the Dunkin' Donuts' culinary team and company leaders. The winning donut was selected based on the vote of the bake-off judging panel, as well as America's online vote.

According to Rachel, creating her grand prize-winning donut was a lot of fun, but not so easy that even a monkey could do it. "I love chocolate covered bananas dipped in peanut butter so I used that as inspiration to create the perfect donut," she said. "I'm really excited for people across the country to have a chance to try the 'Monkey-See Monkey Donut' for themselves, and I hope they enjoy it as much as I do."

Stan Frankenthaler, Executive Chef for Dunkin' Brands, served as one of three contest judges. "We were thrilled with the response to this year's donut contest and the level of creativity and originality people have displayed through their own personalized donut creations," he said. "The 'Monkey-See Monkey-Donut' stood out as a winning combination of banana and peanut butter flavors, and we believe it will satisfy anyone looking for a sweet treat."

To download broadcast-quality video of the bake-off and the contest winner, including scenes of Dunkin' Donuts surprising Rachel and her family with the announcement of her victory, visit http://www.bluestarmedia.com/DunkinDonutsBakeOff.htm. To see online videos and to learn more about the inspiration behind the winning donut, go to www.dunkindonuts.com/donut.

Dunkin' Donuts has led the donut category for 60 years, selling 2.5 million donuts and Munchkins® donut hole treats every day. To find a participating restaurant near you, visit www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/store/Search.aspx.  To learn more about Dunkin' Donuts, follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/DunkinDonuts) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/DunkinDonuts).

About Dunkin' Donuts

Founded in 1950, Dunkin' Donuts is America's favorite every day, all-day stop for coffee and baked goods. Dunkin' Donuts is a market leader in the regular/decaf coffee, iced coffee, hot flavored coffee, donut, bagel and muffin categories, and the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world. Dunkin' Donuts has earned the No. 1 ranking for customer loyalty in the coffee category by Brand Keys for four years running. The company has more than 9,000 restaurants in 31 countries worldwide. In 2009, Dunkin' Donuts' global system-wide sales were $5.7 billion. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Dunkin' Donuts is a subsidiary of Dunkin' Brands, Inc. For more information, visit www.DunkinDonuts.com.

SOURCE Dunkin' Donuts