As the saying goes, “It’s time to make the doughnuts.”

And at Baker Ben’s Bakery in Walnutport, that means making hundreds of dozens of the sweet treats.

After all, Tuesday is Doughnut Day, also called Fastnacht Day or Fat Tuesday. But whatever you call it, it’s a day to indulge on sugary and rich foods — like doughnuts and fastnachts — before the Lenten season of fasting begins for many Christians.

“Last year, we sold between 300 and 400 dozen — and that was just the fastnachts,” said owner Ben Steitz, the “Ben” of Baker Ben’s.

Unlike traditional doughnuts, the fastnachts are made by mixing mashed potatoes into the dough. It’s a recipe steeped in Pennsylvania Dutch culture.

Steitz explained the process.

“Doughnuts are raised by yeast, so you mix your ingredients together, and let the dough rise,” he said.

After that, the staff “punches down” the dough, and allows it to raise again. Shapes are then cut, and the soon-to-be doughnuts (or fastnachts) are placed in a proof box where moisture and humidity helps the yeast expand, he explained.

“It makes them fluffy and airy,” Steitz noted.

From there, it’s time to bake of fry. At Baker Ben’s, they’re baked on trays that have been brushed with a bit of oil.

While Baker Ben’s always offers “regular” doughnuts — powdered, sugared, frosted and filled — the fastnachts come but once a year.

They’re popular, too, so the bakery plans to make double of what was made in 2024 — meaning between 600 and 800 dozens.

“We’ll be here Monday making them for the (Lehigh Township) fire department fundraiser,” Steitz said.

It won’t end there.

“We’ll pretty much be working all through the night until Tuesday,” he said. “I’ll be here Tuesday until we close.”

The bakery is usually closed Tuesdays but for Fastnacht Day, it will be open from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Regular doughnuts will be available, too, as will muffins, cookies, cakes, pies and other traditional offerings.

Shoppers at Redner’s Markets, which has stores in Nesquehoning and across the region, might have already picked up some fastnachts.

Spokesman Eric White noted that the supermarkets began offering the goodies on Thursday. They’ll likely be available until at least Wednesday.

“We have a little bit of variety,” White noted. “We have them plain, powdered and sugared.”

Giant Food Stores, including its Lehighton site, is also ready for the sugary rush.

“Our teams have already begun planning and efforts will ramp up in the coming days. I can’t speak to a quantity, but fastnachts are very popular, so we expect there to be strong demand — and we’ll be ready,” Giant Food Stores spokeswoman Ashley Flower said.

Giant will offer plain, powdered, sugar, cinnamon sugar and glazed varieties.

Kinsley’s ShopRite of Brodheadsville is also famous for its doughnuts.