Heavenly Hunks, the Minnesota-based maker of soft-baked oatmeal cookie “hunks” available in approximately 16,000 retail locations nationwide, announced its first expansion beyond cookies with the launch of Dupe Loops, a mini donut brand now available at 212 Target stores across 16 states and on Target.com.
The launch represents an important milestone for Heavenly Hunks, which has grown from a family recipe into a brand producing millions of cookies each day. By bringing Dupe Loops into its portfolio as a sub-brand, Heavenly Hunks is applying the product development, manufacturing and distribution capabilities behind its cookie business to a new category.
Dupe Loops is launching with three naturally shelf-stable mini donut varieties: The Babysitter™, a vanilla donut with vanilla glaze and rainbow sprinkles; The Bruce™, a vanilla donut with chocolate frosting; and The Plain Wayne™, a vanilla donut with vanilla glaze. Each variety is available in a 4-ounce package and is free from gluten, dairy, nuts, soy or artificial colors.
“This is an exciting next chapter for Heavenly Hunks,” said Casey Webber, founder and CEO of Heavenly Hunks. “Over the past 13 years, we have built a brand that families trust, a product people genuinely love and the capabilities required to serve customers across the country. Dupe Loops allows us to apply everything we have learned and the capabilities we have built at Heavenly Hunks to a new category while helping another founder’s original idea reach far more people.”
Dupe Loops began in the home kitchen of founders Jordan and Jillian Darling in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Living with celiac disease and allergies to dairy, soy and nuts, Jordan Darling developed donuts that he and his family could enjoy together.
In 2023, the Darlings began selling yeast-raised, fried donuts from a dedicated gluten-free food truck in the Scottsdale area. For nearly a year, the truck regularly sold out in less than three hours. The enthusiastic customer response demonstrated that the concept could reach well beyond a single food truck—but doing so would require an entirely new type of product.
Rather than expanding the food truck operation, Darling partnered with Webber and the Heavenly Hunks team to transform the original concept into a shelf-stable mini donut designed for national retail. The collaboration paired Dupe Loops’ original mission and loyal following with Heavenly Hunks’ experience in recipe development, large-scale production and national retail distribution.
“I created Dupe Loops for people like me, people who read every label in the aisle and often walk away with nothing,” Darling said. “Walking into a store and seeing a donut I can actually eat is the entire reason I started. Nobody should have to settle for a sad substitute.”
Webber understood the mission personally. A self-taught recipe developer, he spent years reworking the Heavenly Hunks family recipe so more people, including members of his own family with dietary restrictions, could enjoy it. That same commitment to making food more inclusive—without losing the taste, texture or experience people want—became the foundation of the partnership.
Webber and Darling first met in 2021 through a mutual friend at a motorsports club in Arizona. Their friendship eventually developed into a business partnership built around shared values: ingredient transparency, community and making genuinely enjoyable food accessible to more people.
“Jordan created something special because it came from a real need within his own family,” Webber said. “That authenticity is also at the heart of Heavenly Hunks. Our role was to protect what made Dupe Loops meaningful while building a product and operation capable of reaching customers on a national scale.”
Dupe Loops products are Certified Gluten-Free, Certified Glyphosate Free and non-GMO. Heavenly Hunks’ 6-ounce cookies are Certified Gluten-Free, Glyphosate Residue Free, Non-GMO Project Verified, Certified Vegan and dairy-free.
The Target launch will include in-store sampling featuring both Dupe Loops and Heavenly Hunks on Oct. 17 at 50 participating locations across Arizona, California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Texas.
