Make Your McDonald's Apple Pie Sundae Even Better With Another Addition

Besides its Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets, McDonald's is also renowned for its McFlurries, hot fudge sundaes, cookies, and apple pies. However, while many fans find these treats perfect as they are, they can be even more enjoyable when combined to make new, unique items. The McDonald's ice cream cookie sandwich, which involves placing the frozen dessert between two of the chain's chocolate chip cookies, is a great example. However, it's not the only one. Some fast food desserts are merely good, while others are exceptional. The viral McDonald's apple pie ice cream sundae hack, which fast food content creator Jordan Howlett upgraded with french fries on YouTube, may just fall into the latter category. 

If you've scrolled through social media, you know this off-menu dish often starts with a McDonald's ice cream cone smushed into a cup (if you're having a single serving) or up to six cones if you have a reusable plastic container. The cones are first placed into your container upside down, at which point you smash everything together. If you are eating it on the go, you can break up your warm apple pie into pieces and add it to your sundae right there. However, at home, you'll need to warm the baked good in the microwave for a few seconds before adding it for the perfect temperature contrast. Either way, the creamy, fruity custom treat truly reaches taste bud nirvana when each spoonful is crowned with crisp, salted french fries.

What does a fried potato-topped bite of apple pie a la mode taste like? McDonald's soft serve vanilla ice cream is creamy and the buttery, fried pie crust and cone pieces soak that up as it starts to melt. But that thick apple filling from the pie adds notes of cinnamon that are equally important to this hack. When you add warm, crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside french fries to this dessert, the salt intensifies all that sweetness, and for good reason. In a 2011 PNAS study, researchers found that when salt is added to a sugary food, it can increase the sweetness our mouths experience.   

If you want to experiment with this viral combination, remember, McDonald's also has sundaes that can be used instead of ice cream cones. Try recreating this treat using the chain's caramel sundae. The sweet caramel sauce pairs perfectly when mixed with the apple pie, and those nutty notes from the caramel will become even sweeter when it hits your french fries.

This McDonald's dessert definitely deserves to be ranked with its other offerings. However, if you attempt to recreate this fried apple pie ice cream sundae with french fries, you're going to want to assemble it and eat it rather quickly. Otherwise, you might find the crispy elements get too soggy as the ice cream turns soupy.