A baker's dozen is just what you'll end up with if you purchase a dozen doughnuts from Dayton's only doughnut shop.
Baker's Dozen Donuts owners Rico James, Dan Norten and Tim Thompson throw in that 13th doughnut for every customer ordering a dozen at their new shop at 140 Douglas St. #C.
The term dates back to the 13th century in England, when a baker could lose a hand for cheating a customer. Bakers threw in that 13th pastry to ensure the longevity of their extremities, according to Wikipedia.
While such dire consequences are no longer in practice, Baker's Dozen Donuts' owners believe in the good will that an additional deep-fried delicacy thrown into every box will foster.
"This has been a dream of ours for a long time," said Thompson. "There wasn't a doughnut shop in Dayton, and we've always wanted to open one. We talked it over for a few years before starting."
Thompson and his brother Norten graduated from Virginia City High School in the mid-90s. James, Thompson's stepdad, graduated from Carson High School. With more than 30 years combined food experience among them, all three now call Dayton home.
The shop offers a full selection including glazed, long johns, jelly-filled, lemon-filled, custard-filled, twists, bismarks, maple bars and cake doughnuts.
Baker's Dozen Donuts also features a special "Donut of the Week" each week, and on weekends only, their speciality is bacon-maple bars.
The shop is open seven days a week from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., but an owner arrives at 10:30 p.m. the night before to start making up to 1,000 fresh doughnuts every day.
"We make everything from scratch so everything is fresh daily," Thompson said.
Bakers Dozen Donuts also believes in getting involved with the community, so every weekend they make doughnuts resembling the Dayton High School mascot, the Dust Devils, with frosting to match.
"We wrote 4 and 0 on them last time, but I think we're going to have to change it to 5 and 0 now," Thompson said, referring to the football team's winning record.
They've also provided the refreshments for fund-raising events like the Harley-Davidson run, Pee Wee football leagues and churches, as well as for Terrible's Casino's Monday and Tuesday bingo games.
Part of the fun for the family, which hosted a grand opening Aug. 22, was converting office space into their bakery, Thompson said, and watching their dream transform.
More experimentation is in the future for these business owners.
"We eventually want to try some blueberry cake doughnuts and churros and other things," he said.