McDonald’s Brought Back the Vintage Fried Apple Pie And We Tried It

Happy 250th birthday, America. You sure are getting old, but even though times have changed since your founding, American cuisine sure hasn’t. Apple pie is at the forefront of the country’s most iconic dishes in just about every context—“it’s as American as apple pie!”—and so is fast food. Lo and behold, the ultra-Americana fast food apple pie. Burger King has done a cinnamony version and other chains have taken a crack at the classic. But none—and I mean none—have the illustrious, star-spangled reputation that McDonald’s vintage fried apple pie has.

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The old-school fried pie was born in the ’60s and stuck around until the early ’90s, sustaining a reputation as one of the best fast food desserts of yesteryear and a testament to how much we really didn’t give a damn about saturated fat in the previous century. Those were the days. But in honor of America’s birthday, the fried pie (and saturated fat galore) is back at Micky D’s and I got to try it on release day. McDonald’s is also debuting a 35-foot-long fried apple pie off Route 66 in Chicagoland as part of the biggest fast-food comeback in recent memory. I gotta say, that sounds a lot more Americana than some fireworks and getting so drunk that you fall in the pool with your shirt on (seriously, Uncle Bob—lay off the sauce).

The Iconic McDonald’s Fried Apple Pie

Pros: The crust was on point. It had formed bubbles during the frying process that give it a satisfying tingly quality paired with just the right amount of crunch. Little sugar crystals also added to the crunch factor. A lot of McDonald’s desserts read too sweet on my taste buds, but the fried apple pie was just right in terms of sugar. It also wasn’t nearly as greasy as I was expecting for something fresh out the deep fryer.

Cons: I’m not quite old enough to have ever basked in the glory of McDonald’s OG fried pie, discontinued circa 1992. I’ve also never been to Hawaii, the only U.S. state that offers the fried dessert as a region-exclusive McDonald’s menu item. Even though I didn’t have a standard to hold it up to, I was still pretty disappointed in the pie overall. It didn’t have the rich, indulgent quality that a fried dessert should have. But the worst part was the boring, bland compote tucked away in the tiny hand pie. There were minimal chunks of fruit, and the apple goop they floated in was too thin and barely tasted like anything, least of all cinnamon and fruit. I was also hoping for a nice pop of saltiness to contrast with the sugar, but there was no complexity or nuance going on here whatsoever.