9 Discontinued McDonald's Desserts We May Never Get Back

It's a horrible feeling when you pull up to your favorite drive-thru and you're told that your favorite item is sold out. The absence of whatever it was you had your heart set on is always irritating, but perhaps even more so when it was a sweet treat you were craving. 

Of course, this feeling is amplified tenfold when you find out that you will never enjoy that food again. Fans of McDonald's are no strangers to delicious limited-time items temporarily gracing menus before disappearing as quickly as they arrived, but discontinuation is another pain entirely. Your favorite road trip snack for years could be removed from the menu in the blink of an eye, never to be eaten again.

McDonald's has said goodbye to many of their longstanding menu items over the years and desserts are no exception. Some particularly unpopular discontinuations have seen fans rallying for the return of their favorite sweets, while some have been removed quietly with little to no fanfare. Next time you pull up to that speaker under the Golden Arches, remember not to order these discontinued McDonald's desserts.

This breakfast classic tragically left McDonald's menus only a decade after they were introduced. Cinnamelts are essentially a deconstructed cinnamon bun. These little nuggets of pillowy dough, tossed in sweet cinnamon sugar, and covered in a layer of gooey cream cheese frosting were simply irresistible to many. What set it apart from its bulky cinnamon bun cousins, was the fact it could be eaten with a fork, making it much easier to eat on the go.

Cinnamelts were a fan favorite from their introduction in 2007, through to their discontinuation. It is difficult to pin down the exact date these disappeared, as they seemed to be silently removed from McDonald's menus. However, a Change.org petition was made in 2017 to bring the melts back with over 18,000 signatures and counting.

Unfortunately Cinnamelts weren't making enough money to justify a place on the menu. The construction of the item wasn't simple and the production cost was high while the value on the menu was low. If the Cinnamelts had been flying off the shelves, maybe they could have survived, but sales were dwindling as well.

The Cinnamelts have never returned to McDonald's menus, not even for a short or limited run. McDonald's did introduce standard cinnamon rolls to the menu in 2020, but they lack the charm and convenience of the long-gone Cinnamelts.

McDonald's Brownie Melts are a somewhat elusive menu item. While you can find many reviews of it online, it is difficult to find concrete information about how the product came and went. The Brownie Melts are comparative in many ways to the Cinnamelts. Packed in a similar tray to their cinnamon siblings, these small brownie bites were topped with warm chocolate sauce and a drizzle of cream cheese icing.

A review for The Takeout shows that the item was still available for purchase in 2010, and a YouTube video uploaded in 2008 shows they were likely rolled out soon after the Cinnamelts. It seems their time on the menu was short-lived with many customers finding that they were just too sweet for their tastes. There has been some chatter on internet forums asking what happened to Brownie Melts, but aside from that, it seems this particular menu item was destined to fade into obscurity and the chances of a comeback seem very unlikely. 

The Apple Fritter is the first of three short lived McCafé bakery items on this list. This is a bakery classic with no flash or twists: It is deep fried crispy apple-flavored dough topped with a thin glaze. While it may have been simple, this sweet breakfast item was a delicious way to kickstart any day.

In late 2020, McDonald's rolled out the McCafé bakery menu after years of lacking new bakery items. The items were meant to compete with other fast food breakfast menus, and saw an uptick in sales as people returned to offices for hybrid schedules. Ultimately, it seems the items were not what people were craving long-term and many of the McCafé menu options were axed from the line-up in 2023. 

The Apple Fritter was not the superior apple-centric menu item based on number of calories and the quality of the pastry. Many reviews stated that there was room for improvement in their construction, and even reviewers that enjoyed the pastry had their criticisms. At 510 calories, this item packed less apple flavor and texture than the Apple Pie at 230 calories. A redundant product like this was never likely to stick around for long, particularly with a similar — and arguably, better — competing menu item on offer.

Cinnamon Rolls were another McCafé bakery item that hit menus in 2020. The swirl of baked dough was lined with cinnamon sugar that coated the interior of the spiral, and it was covered in dripping cream cheese icing. Although a cinnamon roll is a perfect breakfast snack, this menu item did not have a long run for McDonald's. 

While not as easy to snack on as the tray of Cinnamelts, this common breakfast item fit in with the other staples of the McCafé menu. The Cinnamon Roll could be ordered for breakfast, lunch, or dessert as it was a part of McDonald's push for all-day breakfast. Just three years after its introduction, McDonald's bid this item farewell. In the vast world of fast food breakfast, these items likely struggled due to their lack of originality; a fast food cinnamon roll is always going to pale in comparison to a local bakery.

This fruity sweet is the final item on this list that was removed with the great McCafé bakery departure. This delicious soft muffin was filled with sweetened blueberries and topped with a sugary crumble. You might think it would be hard to go wrong with a blueberry muffin, but it lived for just three short years on the fast food chain's menu.

Despite being a delicious addition to any morning, the McDonald's Blueberry Muffin struggled with the same issues as the other discontinued McCafé items: low sales and lack of individuality. Many fast food breakfast stops provide a blueberry muffin and by the time this bakery item dropped, most early morning commuters had already found their favorite muffins to satisfy their sweet tooth. At a price of around $2, it would probably be just as easy for consumers to pick up a four-pack of muffins from their local supermarker for only a few dollars more. It is difficult for an item that is easily obtainable elsewhere to have a long tenure on a menu, so it isn't too surprising that McDonald's Blueberry Muffin wasn't in it for the long-run. 

Some of the now-discontinued McDonald's desserts only stuck around for a couple of years, but this healthy treat was available at McDonalds for 21 years. The Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait featured layers of low-fat yogurt with sliced strawberries and blueberries sandwiched between, and was topped with a sprinkle of crispy granola. Sadly, the Yogurt Parfait left menus in 2020 and has not resurfaced since.

This fruity delight was introduced in 1999 and even had the honor of having its own TV ad. The Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait was part of McDonald's Dollar Menu, also a relic of the past (although the company is reintroducing a value menu as part of their big changes in 2025). The Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait was a breakfast, a dessert, and a healthy snack all in one, and it stuck out among other McDonald's treats as a healthier choice when you needed food on the go.

The Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait was removed in 2020 along with many other items, when the restaurant made an effort to simplify their menus for employees in the pandemic with fewer people able to operate stores. The Parfait required some construction, so McCafé bakery items that required less prep took precedence, as they were easier for employees to serve.

Apple Pie is a McDonald's favorite, but did you know that they aren't the same apple pies that debuted on menus in 1968? Today, the restaurant's pies are all baked, changing the texture and flavor of the pies. For decades, fans have been longing for the pies of the past.

When pies debuted on the menu in 1968 they were crispy pockets of dough filled with piping hot cinnamon and apple chunk filling. They didn't have the distinctive lattice of the current baked apple pie, but they had an unmatched crispy crust. The apple pie was actually the very first dessert to be introduced to McDonald's menus to pair with the savory items already on offer.

Pies haven't hit most McDonald's fryers since 1992, and the exact reason for the switch is unclear. A baked apple pie is slightly healthier, so that is the likely reason but this explanation has not been confirmed. If you're desperate for a fried pie — and a possible vacation while you're there – they're still served in Hawaii. People in Hawaii didn't take to the baked pies, so McDonald's kept the fried pies to satisfy customer demands.

Despite heavy competition, McDonald's onced tossed its hat in the ring of the fast food donut world. The Cinnamon Donut was a simple deep fried donut with a cinnamon sugar coating. Despite calls for their return, and many donut items being introduced since their departure, these sweets have yet to resurface.

There is little information about when this item was introduced and retired online. This menu posted on Reddit from the '90s shows that McDonuts were available around 30 years ago, but it is difficult to say exactly when they were discontinued. The Glazed Pull-Apart Donut and Donut Sticks were introduced as limited time items, and even saw resurgences, but the Cinnamon Donuts have not had the same luck. It is clear that McDonald's fans love donuts, as they are quick to purchase these other donut items when they are back on menus. 

Competition in the fast food donut space is stiff: Dunkin', Krispy Kreme, and Tim Hortons have already mastered the craft. McDonald's are primarily known for their burgers and hot breakfast sandwiches, so they don't necessarily need to dabble in donuts. Perhaps the Cinnamon Donut is destined never to be seen again.

Before the warm crispy goodness of the chocolate chip cookie, the McDonald's provided box cookies. These sweet crunchy cookies were shaped like McDonald's characters and the boxes had beautiful illustrations.

McDonaldland Cookies hit menus in 1974 featuring the brand's original characters, Captain Crook, Birdie, Grimace, the Hamburglar, and, of course, Ronald McDonald. The packaging opened much like a Happy Meal, with the two sides of a handle separated to get to the cookies. The packing then became smaller sealed boxes with different illustrations, and finally a bag held the cookies.

The exact year these cookies departed is unclear, but it was sometime in the '90s or early 2000s. McDonald's opted for baked cookies instead and also stopped putting cookies in Happy Meals due to health criticisms. Without a place in a Happy Meal, these cookies became nearly obsolete. However, they are still available in Australia. If you are needing your nostalgia fix, a trip Down Under may just do the trick.

Static Media owns and operates Mashed and The Takeout.