ByMarissa Laliberte
Updated: Feb. 24, 2024
Even if you're a longtime fan of this dessert favorite, there's plenty you don't know about the McDonald's apple pie.
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It’s gotten a makeover recently
In September 2018, McDonald’s debuted a new apple pie with a slightly tweaked recipe. The new version has fewer ingredients, a lattice crust, and sliced (not diced) apples. It’s also healthier and is dusted with sugar on top rather than coated with brown sugar. Learn the secrets that make the McDonald’s apple pie so tasty.
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Those changes don’t come suddenly
Although there are naturally some complaints when people realize that their beloved apple pie has changed, McDonald’s doesn’t just release a new version on the market without any tests. The lattice-crust version had been served in North Carolina and Southern California as early as 2016. Find out which 11 failed McDonald’s menu items didn’t last long.
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Its apples are made in the USA
These aren’t just your typical Granny Smiths. McDonald’s apple pie contains a combo of Golden Delicious, Fuji, Jonagold, Rome, Gala, and Ida Red apples.
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It was created in the 200th McDonald’s location
A franchise in Knoxville, Tennessee, which was the city’s first Mickey D’s, was also where the world’s first McDonald’s apple pie was baked in 1960.
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It was the first McDonald’s dessert
Long before the McFlurry, which only hit menus 24 years ago, the hot apple pie went nationwide in 1968—the same yearthe Big Mac made its debut. Find out more facts you didn’t know about the McDonald’s Big Mac.
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It used to be fried
Some Mickey D’s fans might remember what the apple pies used to be like: fried. Public opinion started to lean away from fried food and more toward baked, so McDonald’s switched to a baked version in 1992. The new version was undoubtedly healthier, though many longtime fans insist that the old flaky, crispy crust was tastier. Find out where you can still find a fried version of McDonald’s apple pie.
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The fried version made a black-market comeback
In 2014, an Idaho food-supply distributor revealed that he had saved a stash of McDonald’s apple pies from its fried phase. The owner of Greenspan’s Grilled Cheese in Los Angeles got his hands on these supposedly extinct pies and started selling Throwback Apple Pies. He wouldn’t confirm or deny if they really were the real deal, but customers confirmed that the pies tasted just like they remembered.This is the most popular Thanksgiving pie in your state.
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It’s not all about apples anymore
The pie menu has expanded beyond the all-American apple. You can get a Strawberry and Crème Pie year-round, and other seasonal offerings have included Pumpkin and Cremeand Lemon.Check outhow the McDonald’s menu has changed through the years.
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Other countries have their own takes
The Philippines offers a banana pie, Germans can grab a blueberry-cheesecake-style option, and Thai McDonald’s sell pineapple pies and corn pies. In Hong Kong, you can get your apple pie à la mode with a chocolate or strawberry topping. Anyone else sensing a “secret menu” item for U.S. consumers to sample? Check out these other McDonald’s secret menu items you have to try.
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It’s part of a Hong Kong wedding package
Does McDonald’s have a special place in your heart? At Hong Kong, you can throw a wedding party at one, complete with rose-shaped balloons, an emcee, and apple pies stacked in a fancy-schmancy “cake” display.
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It’s one of McDonald’s healthier desserts
Sure, McDonald’s apple pie is an indulgence, but it’ll derail your diet less than most other McDonald’s desserts. A baked apple pie has 240 calories, 16 grams of sugar, and 11 grams of fat. Compare that with a small chocolate shake, which has 530 calories, 74 grams of sugar, and 15 grams of fat.
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It was featured in a toy set
The company released a McDonaldland toy set in the 1970s, with action figures of Ronald McDonald, the Hamburglar, Mayor McCheese—oh, and a toy Apple Pie Tree with a face. Awesome or creepy? You decide. Don’t miss these 75 other mind-blowing facts about McDonald’s.
Originally Published: September 17, 2019
Author
Marissa Laliberte
Marissa Laliberte-Simonian is a London-based associate editor with the global promotions team at WebMD’s Medscape.com and was previously a staff writer for Reader's Digest. Her work has also appeared in Business Insider, Parents magazine, CreakyJoints, and the Baltimore Sun. You can find her on Instagram @marissasimonian.
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