National Donut Day honors women who served soldiers donuts during WWI

National Donut Day, which falls on the first Friday of June every year, isn't all sugar and spice and everything nice (though it does involve hefty doses of the first, and a sprinkle of the second.) 

Founded in 1938, National Donut Day commemorates the women who tirelessly offered up donuts to soldiers during World War I, The Christian Science Monitor reported. The sugary-sweet pastries first became popular with troops in 1917, after a nurse named Helen Purvience served the first donut to a man in uniform from the Salvation Army, according to CSM. 

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Donut stores across America are marking the dessert's holiday by handing out free donuts: Krispy Kreme is offering one free donut per customer, no purchase necessary, while Dunkin’ Donuts locations are dishing out free donuts with the purchase of a beverage, according to the Monitor.

Canadian donut purveyor Tim Horton’s is offering a doughnut with any purchase if you “like” their Facebook page. 

New York City is celebrating the donut in Madison Square Park, the Associated Press reported, after Mayor Bloomberg declared the day "NYC Donut Day." 

Entenmann’s baked goods will serve the largest box of Entenmann’s doughnuts ever created as part of the event, and is donating $25,000 to the Salvation Army, the AP reported.

Bloomberg took the sugary celebrations in stride, however, as they come one day after the New York Mayor proposed a ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks in restaurants, delis and movie theaters, in a bid to fight obesity in the American city, ABC News reported.

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If you'd like to ignore the Mayor's sugar warnings, however, the Salvation Army has offered up its original donut recipe (complete with two cups of sugar and 1 tub of lard…we can just see Bloomberg cringing.) 

Here it is: 

SALVATION ARMY LASSIES’ DOUGHNUT RECIPE

Yield: 4 doz. doughnuts

5 C flour
2 C sugar
5 tsp. baking powder
1 ‘saltspoon’ salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 C milk
1 Tub lard

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients (except for lard) to make dough.

Thoroughly knead dough, roll smooth, and cut into rings that are less than 1/4 inch thick. (When finding items to cut out doughnut circles, be creative! Salvation Army doughnut girls used whatever they could find, from baking powder cans to coffee percolator tubes.)

Drop the rings into the lard, making sure the fat is hot enough to brown the doughnuts gradually. Turn the doughnuts slowly several times.

When browned, remove doughnuts and allow excess fat to drip off.

Dust with powdered sugar. Let cool and enjoy.