HOLE'S HISTORY IS HALF-BAKED.

Byline: -- Julia M. Scott

Bakers have been satisfying sweet tooths with doughnuts for centuries. But the history of the doughnut -- and how it lost its middle -- has plenty of holes.

Most agree that the Dutch brought the food to the Americas in the 1600s. Back then they called them olykoek, or oily cakes.

But experts differ on why the treats were called doughnut. Some believe the name comes from their early, ball-like shape that made fully cooking the center difficult. Others say a prominent baker stuffed nuts into the middle to disguise the undercooked dough.

Capt. Hanson Gregory from New England is widely credited with putting the hole in doughnuts. But how he did it is disputed.

One legend has it that the quick-thinking sea captain speared a doughnut on a spoke in his ship's steering wheel when he needed both hands during a storm.

Another tale has it that an angel told him in a dream to remove the doughy center. Yet another version has it that Gregory didn't like the nuts often stuffed into the middle and poked them out.

Without the gooey center, the doughnuts cooked evenly and became a hit.