7 Wendy's Desserts Ranked From Worst To Best

If you're heading into Wendy's because your sweet tooth is itching or you're adding a fourth course to your burger-fries-beverage combo, your first thought is always going to be a Frosty. And why wouldn't it be, when Wendy's pushes this cup of arctic bliss like a second mascot after the red-haired one herself? But you might be interested to know that Wendy's serves several other desserts that take up space on the counter top, if not in your fast food-loving heart. Maybe it's time to discover what other sweet stuff Dave's Place has hiding up its sleeve.

To get a handle on what's what in Wendy's dessert department, I swooped in and scooped up one of each dessert or dessert-adjacent item on the Wendy's menu, a selection that covers baked goods, creamy Frosty soft serve, and even fresh fruit. I was this close to adding Frosty Cream Cold Brew to the collection but pulled back when I realized a giant cup of caffeine makes a questionable dessert post-suppertime. What resulted is a modest smorgasbord that gives customers a wider selection than just the ice cream commotion would lead you to believe. But seriously, there's a trove of sweet treats on the Wendy's menu, and they deserve a ranking so they and you can know where they stand in the fast food pecking order.

The Triple Berry Frosty is Wendy's summer power play, a replacement for Vanilla Frosty that adds a trio of berry flavors to the original vanilla base in an attempt to take your tastebuds for a seasonal spin. The purple hue is reminiscent of McDonald's ill-advised Grimace Shake, an overly-sweet treat in a fun yet off-putting hue that made sense, given its birthday celebration link to Grimace himself. Can Wendy's do something more special with violet-dyed syrup to make the berries in this patch worth picking for dessert?

Not so much. The strangely artificial candy flavoring that made the Grimace shake grimace-worthy is present here, too, adding weird disappointment that bears a chemical-heavy resemblance to a grape-rasb-blueberry without actually tasting like any of them. It would be better if Wendy's stuck with Frosty flavors that accent the vanilla cream base like its Orange Dreamsicle springtime surprise. Options like Key Lime pie or banana pudding would work better than this unappealing combination. No purple prose could possibly save what turns out to be a less-than version of a Wendy's dessert. Triple Berry Frosty ends up being a dessert treat that's not worth the trip.

There's a stealthy, health-minded dessert lurking on the Wendy's menu for anyone sneaky enough to look, and it comes in the form of Apple Bites, or what everyone in the non-fast food world calls "slices." The reason for this is that Wendy's chops its apple slices into smaller pieces, the size you'd find topping a deluxe salad or decorating coleslaw. They come in a decorated cup clearly designed to appeal to the tots in your troupe, though hungry parents can easily dig into whatever the young ones don't finish. As desserts go, it's a mindful choice that keeps your kids from ingesting more sugar than they probably had in their beverage. But it's not the most heart-swelling choice on the menu.

Don't get me wrong; there's nothing directly bad about Apple Bites, other than their smaller-than-a-slice size that aims them directly for a youth audience. The reason for ranking them so low is that they're apples, which makes a nice healthful dessert but doesn't exactly set the sweet tooth aflame. They also come in a serving that's less than a full apple, which means you'll still be hungry after eating them. Any proper dessert leaves you both admiring your taste in sweet dishes and regretting your decision to eat them so soon after devouring your value meal. Apple Bites are too innocent for that kind of mischief, but your kids are bound to be tricked into thinking they're enjoying a special treat.

Something lightly sweet that can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or as a late-night snack, the oatmeal bar on Wendy's Bakery Menu is an unofficial dessert candidate, thanks to its resemblance to a granola cookie that's been run over by the delivery truck — flattish, rectangular, and rounded at the edges. It's stout and stocky and looks like it could easily serve as a grab-and-go breakfast item. For fans of old-fashioned flavor, it should also slide onto the dessert tray with no problem, even if it isn't as sexy an option as a chocolate chunk cookie or a cup of silky soft serve.

I was rooting for this wholesome bake to be more magnificent than it turned out to be. It has the look of a fresh-baked Clif bar, the ones that taste like cookies rather than gritty bricks of protein powder coated in chocolate. And the flavor is almost there; it's just not emphatic enough in either the brown sugar, cinnamon, or buttery elements to be anything special. You might mistake it for being a healthier option than the other bakes, but it has only slightly better nutritional facts than Wendy's chocolate chunk and sugar cookies. So, what you end up with is an okay oatmeal cookie, about as mid a dessert as you might imagine.

The most basic of the basics in the dessert world, a sugar cookie can offer just a touch of sweetness to balance out a palate that's been busy downing burgers and fries. When done poorly, it's a crumbly mess that can make you wish you would've saved your money. Luckily, Wendy's does an admirable job with its sugar cookies, providing an oversized blond disk that doesn't look as much like a Lofthouse melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookie as it does a pick from the Panera best-of selection.

Rather than being slathered with deceptively tender frosting and showered with multi-hued sprinkles, this cookie is stark and unadorned, displaying the blank purity of the recipe to anyone inspecting for add-ins or toppers that might feel overindulgent. Breaking into the cookie reveals a crusty shell with tender, buttery dough baked to just the right level of chewiness. It's a nice cookie, if not dazzling, but makes a welcome addition to your nuggets and fries if just a touch of sweetness plagues your appetite. While you won't be overwhelmed by the experience, you certainly won't be disappointed, either.

If you're going to cookie, this is the flavor to cookie with. Wendy's Chocolate Chunk Cookie is purported to be made fresh onsite, which is side-eye-worthy enough to make me wonder why we don't see an assembly line of these oven-baked treats on the premises. Maybe they have their own Keebler-style trees somewhere in the back. Regardless, if this chocolate-studded bake is trying to be more than a boxed cookie stuffed in a wax paper wrapper that serves as an alternative to a Frosty, it has quite an aspirational climb ahead of it.

Let me be the first to say the ascent is a sweet ride. This is a shockingly proficient cookie, on par with the best baked stuff you'd find at a Mrs. Field's or Famous Amos, though it doesn't even try to be as bougie as Crumbl. That's for the best; it's a well-done version of a chocolate chip cookie, thicker than necessary to hold cubes of milk chocolate, with a tender crumb and a buttery flavor that comes across as convincingly homemade. If it's a staple of the dessert menu, it's a top choice; if it's a temporary item that's destined for the dustbin of Wendy's Discontinued Items, it will be a sad one to lose. For now, it's a top-three treat you should seriously consider.

Ah, the Chocolate Frosty — otherwise known as the Flavor That Never Goes Away. While you can't say the same about hide-and-seek Vanilla Frosty, this stalwart is always available no matter what jazzy variant occupies the other side of the machine. It's a beloved soft-serve wonder that Wendy's has made a hallmark of its menu from the beginning. Anyone who thinks about dessert at Wendy's is sure to have an instant mental image of a Chocolate Frosty pop into their noggin. It may not be one of Wendy's vegan options, but this cup of creamy goodness does delicious things with milk that Wendy's fans can't get enough of.

Yes, of course, the Chocolate Frosty is going to rank near the top of the list. How could it not, with all its creamy, chocolatey perfection waiting to be devoured after you finish your main meal. It's a sweet standard that doesn't go down without a fight, and it will be a prime contender for peak spot as soon as the novelty desserts go the way of the Fresh Stuffed Pitas (remember those?). For now, it's enough to know that you can't go wrong if a Chocolate Frosty is your favorite treat from the after dinner section of the menu. We'd be right there with you, if it wasn't for one slightly superior selection that pulls off a surprise victory.

Any chance you get to skip the mall food court while still enjoying something from Cinnabon is an occasion for celebration. Maybe that's why finding the Cinnabon Pull Apart standing front and center on the Wendy's bakery menu made my heart leap a little. It has the feeling of a breakfast food you can get your fingers dirty eating after lunch, before dinner, after dinner, late at night, early in the morning ... it may be the most versatile dessert-style offering Wendy's has ever offered. Maybe it's the sugar buzz still wearing off, but out of all the desserts on the list, I was most stoked to give this one a try.

The verdict? Gracious, is this thing ever awesome! It's a little cup filled with a cluster of Cinnabon bits smaller than donut holes and drenched in buttery, vanilla-fied cream cheese glaze. It's like all the leftover pieces of larger Cinnabons have a place of their own to go, so that Wendy's guests can join in on the magic. Though the pull-apart aspect is a fun interactive add-in, there's hardly enough in a single order to share with friends, which is fantastic. Your cohorts can get their own, since you're probably going to want to snarf down your Cinnabon Pull Apart by yourself. You might even want a second one.

There were more desserts than expected on the Wendy's menu, a nice surprise considering the Frosty always hogs the spotlight. They appear in a few places on the menu: the Bakery section, which includes the cookies, oatmeal bar, and Cinnabon Pull Apart, and the Fries and Sides section, where Apple Bites sits unassumingly between piles of nuggets and chili cheese fries. Chocolate and Triple Berry naturally occupy their own section of the menu.

With such a range of items, I ranked them on overall enjoyment first, then gauged taste, texture, inventiveness, and freshness. It's reassuring to know you can take a new Frosty flavor for a taste test if you're game or stick with a simple cookie or bar if sweet isn't your style on any give Wendy's run. Once we'd tried all the desserts, it was easy to figure out how to stack them on the chart using a blend of their second-bite status (ones that required more than one nibble) and return-purchase appeal (ones I'd be willing to buy more than once). Dessert choices are a uniquely personal phenomenon, and my rankings may rankle other Wendy's diners who've tasted these sweets and feel differently about them. Cheers to the freedom of individual taste!