Here’s Who Really Makes McDonald’s Apple Pies

Nothing’s as American as apple pie. And nothing’s as American as McDonald’s. Therefore, McDonald’s handheld apple pie equals the most American food of all time. That said, as much as we love eating all-American foods like corn dogs, why does a burger chain like McDonald’s serve tiny, adorable, individual apple pies? 

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Think about it: in the annals of conversations that never happened, this might be near the top: “How was that Filet-O-Fish?” “Oh, it was great. But it’d be so much better if I could wash it down with some hot, soft baked apples in a buttery crust.” And yet, McDonald’s, home of the McRib and the new Red Bull Dragonberry Refresher, has been selling little hand-held apple pies for decades now. Why? Because one beleaguered pie company CEO decided to stop at a McDonald’s in 1965 and had some really, really good luck. 

Hot Pie Built On A Chance

Yes, your hot (or warm) McDonald’s apple pie began with a cold call. “Cold call” isn’t a term most people know these days (because there’s just no reason to know it). Basically, it refers back to the time when the only way we could communicate was telephone. Businesses would call each other to make sales―and if you had no prior existing relationship with the business you were calling, it was considered a “cold call.” 

You can (and could) also make a “cold call” in person. And that’s what Paul Marshall, CEO of Tulsa-based Bama Companies pie makers did in 1965―dropping in unannounced at the Des Plaines, Illinois McDonald’s with some of his hand-held pies. Having grown up in the family pie-making business, Marshall found himself at the helm at a very interesting time and by the mid-1960s wanted to bring his family’s (mostly grocery store-sold) pies into these new fast-casual restaurants. 

Who Makes McDonald’s Pies?

This is where Lady Luck shows up in like, a full velvet gown, a tiara, a feather boa and probably a t-shirt cannon. Because in 1965 there were over 700 McDonald’s. Granted, that’s not as many as today’s. But the McDonald’s Mr. Marshall just happened to visit had another visitor that day: McDonald’s CEO, Ray Kroc―and Kroc said yes to selling pies. 

Actually, he said “Yes, but.” McDonald’s franchisees worked with Bama Companies to perfect the recipe to their standards, and the actual creator of the pie we know and love is someone named Litton Cochran, who ran a McDonald’s in East Tennessee that became the McD’s classic. Fun, and not at all coincidental, fact: the original recipe was deliciously deep fried, and continued that way until the early 1990s, when McDonald’s switched to baked. Good news for those of us already kind of locked in to sweater weather vibes: McDonald’s is bringing the fried version back―for a limited time. So stop in to a random McDonald’s and get one while you can.