What dish should you order before the Iowa State Fair ends? A gigantic Amish doughnut.

Whether riding the DART shuttle to the Iowa State Fair, chatting with food vendors on the Fairgrounds, or eavesdropping on conversations, it seems that fairgoers have one dish they all recommend — Peachey’s doughnuts.

Don’t let the name fool you. There’s nary a peach in sight anywhere aside from the name. Peachey’s Baking Co. serves these gigantic glazed doughnuts, these yeasty doughnuts bigger than your palm, fried on the spot, dipped in glaze and hung on pegs to allow the sugary coating to drip off and cool while awaiting the next customer to order.

Peachey’s founders, brothers Nate and Sam Peachey, used to call the Sarasota, Florida-based company Amish Baking Co., since they grew up in the Amish community. The recipe they used since opening in 1985 is an Amish recipe as well.The Peachey brothers serve their confections at state fairs across the country — Minnesota, North Carolina, Florida, New York, and Iowa. From November to April, the food truck serves doughnuts and pretzels in Sarasota and hopes to open a brick-and-mortar location there in the fall.

One doughnut goes for $5, three for $12, and a half dozen costs $24.

A heavy aroma of sweetness wafts out of the box when you open it. Half a doughnut feels like an appropriate serving, if there is such a thing with doughnuts of this size.

Find it on Rock Island Avenue south of the Triangle.

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, X, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.