There is a ‘hole’ lot that Juanita Friday Market patrons are getting excited about this year. That hole is not in the construction across the street – but in the middle of a doughnut from the Daring Darling Bakery.

Owners Kit Topaz and Hilary Lemaster, who cook out of their kitchen in Bellevue, brought a new flavor, carrot to be exact, to the farmers’ market that opened Friday with their gluten-, dairy-,  egg-, soi- and corn-free doughnuts.

“We have had an amazing response,” said Topaz. “Their eyes pop and tell us that they have not had a doughnut in years. We have had a lot of happy customers.”

A couple of little girls with allergies were able to enjoy the first doughnuts of their lives, thanks to the special recipe, said Topaz.

The doughnuts are fried and come in classic flavors such as chocolate, and plain glazed, along with carrot cake.

But starting Daring Darling Bakery was not easy. The two women are neighbors and began talking about making more money over the fence.

“We knew that everyone in the family was going to want some, but we had to accommodate everyone’s allergies,” said Topaz, who figured out the basic recipe in just three attempts. “I have been baking gluten free for three years. We tell people, these are not french pastries they are doughnuts.”

Whatever they are called people at the six farmers’ markets that the tandem set up shop at flock to the stand. Some of that success has to do with the novelty of doughnuts at a farmers’ market.

“We had a lot of hoops to jump through. It is not their normal product,” said Topaz about getting into the markets. “But cooking it gluten free was the key.”

The two women are stay-at-home moms and the doughnut business has become a full-time job.

“We are a little crazy,” joked Lemaster. “But it is all the things that you can’t see, all the little pieces and the amount of time it takes.”

Lemaster said the doughnuts are especially popular in Seattle with vegan customers.

The women have come up with some interesting flavors such as Cider, Cranberry, Pumpkin Spice and Chai Spice.

“We call the egg nog ‘vegg’ nog for all the vegans,” joked Topaz.

The Juanita Friday Market also has the normal fresh produce, arts and crafts and jewelry booths this year.

Kathy Boczar runs Exclusive Designs by Kathy and said that the construction hasn’t hurt business at the market.

“We get a lot more people from the shopping strip over here,” said Boczar, who has been selling at the market for four summers. “Each market has good and bad things.”

Boczar said that it takes between 45 minutes and an hour to set up her stand, but that it has become easier.

She added that she enjoys the feel of the markets and that she does not sell anywhere else.

“I am computer illiterate,” she said. “I have no desire or tolerance for it.”

So for now, the person-to-person sale will live on for all the market’s business owners at the Juanita Friday Market.

More information

The Juanita Friday Market is located at 9703 N.E. Juanita Drive. It is open from 3-7 p.m. Fridays through the summer.