A bacon donut. (You read that right.)

Munchin Donuts + La Brownie Girl

La Brownie Girl at her new shop

Half of my dozen (two bacon, M&Ms, Reeses, Oreo, and galleta María).

The other half dozen (s’mores, banana/Nutella, caramel/pretzel, Snickers, Almond Joy, and Lucky Charms).

Maria Fernanda (MaFer) Treviño, also known as La Brownie Girl, biked around Tijuana delivering brownies to customers and coffee shops that sponsored her products.

Her popularity grew as she made appearances at music festivals and other events. In 2015 she started her own YouTube cooking show, which gained the attention of government projects, nominating her for the Young Entrepreneurship Awards. This caught the attention of other young entrepreneurs.

“I had no idea who they (Munchin Donuts) were,” says MaFer. “They sent me messages that they wanted to work with me in a donut shop, but I was doing my own thing. So I didn't really care at first. But then they invited me to work in this space.”

An inviting black house nestled within a cozy residential area in Playas de Tijuana has been home to Munchin Donuts + La Brownie Girl since May. The inside is divided into two parts — the main room is for the donuts and to the right of it, La Brownie Girl. All baking is done offsite.

Donuts cost 20 pesos (around $1.30) and brownies go for 15 pesos ($1). Any purchase includes a complimentary drink (coffee, milk, or juice).

“We have a little friendly competition between us to see who sells out first. I bring 250 brownies daily, and since we opened I usually run out by 8 pm or earlier.” MaFer and her new partners have been enjoying early success.

Having eaten plenty of brownies from La Brownie Girl before, I opted to try the donuts. Without being able to just choose one, I decided to take a dozen: two bacon donuts, s’mores, caramel pretzel, banana Nutella, Lucky Charms, Almond Joy, Snickers, Reeses, M&M, Oreos, and a galleta María with cajeta (popular Mexican cookie with dulce de leche caramel).

The popular bacon donut (with a bit of maple syrup) tasted like breakfast, nothing new in the trend of gourmet donuts but the first of its kind south of the border.

Once I got home and ate the Snickers donut, I realized I needed to share. I opted to give them away to my roommate and neighbors and tried a small bite of each one. The bacon donut was the best. The rest felt more like a simple donut with added toppings instead of mixing the ingredients to make a new product.