McDonald's New Donut Is Designed To "Share" With "Other People"

It's been just about ten months since McDonald's entered the all-day breakfast pastry racket, in an attempt to fill the void after taking away all-day breakfast options like McMuffins and McGriddles at the start of the pandemic last year. The new all-day breakfast menu only featured pastries, not sandwiches, and our review of these items was mixed, with high marks going to McDonald's Blueberry Muffin, middling marks to its Cinnamon Roll, and "no one asked for this and no one wants it" marks for the Apple Fritter. Beginning September 1, a new item will be joining this illustrious trio, and while we normally approach new fast food items with a healthy dose of skepticism (our hearts have been broken far too many times), this pastry has us genuinely excited: the Glazed Pull Apart Donut.

McDonald's

Why the high hopes? Because McDonald's has dabbled in the doughnutsphere before, occasionally offering Donut Sticks on a limited-time-only basis; our experience with these fabled sticks has been wonderful, and the fact that they are not a permanent menu item should be considered a McRib-level outrage. The limited-time-only Glazed Pull Apart Donut is made of fried dough, sugar glaze, and, um... that's about it. Will it be as delightful as the Donut Sticks? Or will this be another pre-packaged, past-its-prime deep-fried disappointment on par with the terrible apple fritter? (If Starbucks can make a halfway decent apple fritter, so can you, McDonald's! Believe in yourself!)

In the event that the new Glazed Pull Apart Donut fails to meet our expectations, perhaps it can be salvaged with a quick dip in a cup of McDonald's perfectly serviceable coffee—the classic trick for reviving most sad donuts. Or, even better, use the Glazed Pull Apart Donut as a vessel for a full-blown menu hack: an elevated McAffogato is an obvious choice, but if you're brave, may we suggest taking advantage of the Donut's available-all-day status and making a donut burger?