If the test run was any indication, mornings are going to be a little brighter and more delicious on 23rd Ave starting Saturday.

Raised Doughnuts, transformed from the old Collins Gold Exchange and mini-mart at 23rd Ave and Spring, officially opens this weekend with raspberry holes, maple bars, apple fritters, sugared mochi, and good ol’ plain glazed doughnuts for its new Central District neighbors.

“The community right away was embracing us,” I-Miun Liu, a prolific Seattle food and drink entrepreneur and business partner in the project tells CHS. Liu said the opening was eased by advice and help from “businesses in the neighborhood who have come by and supported us.”

The new doughnut bakery and counter is the creation of Mi Kim who first built her project as a pop-up featuring classic styles plus seasonal specials, “mochi doughnuts” and other “unique flavor combinations.” “The texture is it for me,” Kim told CHS about the ideal raised Raised doughnut creation back in March when news first broke about the new shop. “A doughnut should be soft and also chewy.”

Go ahead. You can also eat more than one.. Kim said simple ingredients like “pretty much just pure milk and sugar” help make her doughnuts go down easily. “My whole goal with Raised is you can eat a couple.”

They should also be fresh. Kim advises the best doughnuts should be less than six hours old. With the new bakery fine tuning its run Friday, you’ll have the opportunity starting Saturday to make the fresh doughnuts a habit.

The plan is to be open daily 7 AM to 3 PM — or until they sell out. Wednesdays will be sad — that is the current plan for Raised’s one day of weekly rest. The menu includes the “Originals” — Maple bar, Plain glazed, Chocolate bar, Raspberry Holes, Apple Fritter, and Sugared Mochi — plus the inaugural batch of “Monthly Specials” — Strawberry Pie, Ube Coconut, Blueberry Basil, and Black Sesame. The doughnuts run $2,00 each for the basics — fancy ones will cost you $3.50. Drip coffee, tea, orange juice, and, of course, milk and chocolate milk are also on offer.

Saturday’s opening is part of a busy time for the business partners. Liu has also been working on the opening of East Trading Co. on E Pike where some of Kim’s sweet creations will round out a menu of Chinese and Korean bar food.

It is also part of a bounty of new food and drink options coming to the neighborhood with Tacos Chukis lined up for a big new venture at 23rd and Union and That Brown Girl Cooks part of the inclusive development plans at 24th and Union. Across the street from Raised, the Midtown Center is ready to be redeveloped as a mixed-use project with more than 400 apartments, a 12,000-square-foot drugstore, and the new Africatown Plaza. Nearby, the Liberty Bank Building is also under construction with the East Union building and its planned New Season grocery store nearing completion on the northwest corner of 23rd and Union.

Raised Doughnuts is located at 1101 23rd Ave and open Thursdays through Tuesdays, 7 AM to 3 PM. You can learn more at raiseddoughnuts.com.

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