 He also traces its origins to the "oliekoek" that arrived in America with the Dutch settlers in the early 18th century.By the mid-19th century, the doughnut looked and tasted like today's doughnut, and was viewed as a thoroughly American food.Hanson Gregory, an American, claimed to have invented the ring-shaped doughnut in 1847 aboard a lime-trading ship when he was 16 years old.