Review: McDonald’s Reese’s McFlurry
Author: indianapoliseater | Filed under: Food Reviews
I was reading a post at SeriousEats.com the other day where they were comparing the various ice cream-type options at Wendy’s (Twisted Frosty), Burger King (Sundae Shake) and McDonald’s (McFlurry) and I realized two things:
1. The reviewer was absolutely right about that Oreo Sundae Shake at Burger King. That thing sucks.
2. I’ve somehow made it through my life never having tried a McFlurry and I couldn’t figure out how or why (I’ve never had a Twisted Frosty either, but I’ve at least had a regular Frosty, so I at have an idea what a Twisted Frosty would taste like).
I had an ice cream craving last Wednesday, so I decided to cruise on over to McDonald’s to try their new limited time offering, the Reese’s McFlurry (by the way, I could almost guarantee this is not just a limited time offering and will become permanent…why wouldn’t it?). I could have gone to Dairy Queen and gotten a Blizzard (the king of all ice cream treats), but I wanted to see how McDonald’s McFlurry stacked up since I have never had one before.
What I Got: Regular Size Reese’s McFlurry $2.35
If you’ve never had a McFlurry, it is similar to a Blizzard. They take their “reduced fat” vanilla ice cream, dump in Reese’s Cup chunks and blend. It’s not very complicated.
When I got mine and saw the amount of Reese’s Cup chunks and the ample portion size of the McFlurry, I was very pleased and devoured the first half in about 1.3 seconds. The taste of McDonald’s thick (I find it to be thicker than Dairy Queen’s) vanilla ice cream was a perfect mix with the peanut butter and chocolate of the Reese’s Cups. Truly, vanilla, peanut butter and chocolate is the best combination of ice cream and candy that there is in my opinion.
The second half wasn’t as wonderful though as I noticed that I was missing something and thought, “hey, where the heck did all the Reese’s Cup chunks go?!” Basically, they only put Reese’s Cup chunks in the top half of my McFlurry and not in the bottom half. I’m not sure if that is standard protocol or if that was just a blending error by the employee that made my McFlurry (maybe someone that has had multiple McFlurrys can help me here?), but I was very disappointed. I like the taste of McDonald’s plain vanilla ice cream, but that’s not what I was paying for here! If I wanted plain vanilla ice cream, I would have gotten a plain sundae for $1 and saved myself the money! I need my Reese’s Cup chunks! C’mon McDonald’s, I’ve got weight to gain here! Oh well.
Would I Buy It Again? Most likely not. I went into this to see how it compared to Dairy Queen’s Reese’s Cup Blizzard and the McFlurry lost. The McFlurry was just boring.
When you compare the two you are really comparing the taste of the soft serve ice cream that they use (Reese’s Cups are the same everywhere) and while I like McDonald’s ice cream in general, Dairy Queen’s is superior. Plus, I know that when I go to Dairy Queen, my Blizzard is going to be made by an ice cream “professional”, so I won’t run the risk of getting screwed out of my Reese’s Cup chunks.
The only time it would be acceptable to choose this over Dairy Queen is if in you are dying for ice cream and there is not a Dairy Queen nearby. Ugh…no Dairy Queen nearby…that sounds like the seventh layer of hell to me.
-IndianapolisEater
Tags: Burger King, dairy queen, Food, Ice Cream, McDonalds, mcflurry, wendy's
I worked at McDonald’s years ago, and have made a fair amount of McFlurrys. They do only put the Reese’s in the top of the cup, but it should have been blending throughout the whole McFlurry. Not all McFlurrys should be like the one you got.
Man, how does one mess up a cup of soft serve with candy in it? Fail, Mcdonald’s!
I’ve gotten some very well-mixed McFlurry’s, and some that aren’t. I must disagree with the DQ ice cream being superior. In these parts, the DQ is often sour-tasting. McD’s soft serve vanilla for me!
P.S. here in Wisconsin, we have the Reese’s PB cups all the time. yum!
Gotta disagree here. I’ve never been disappointed by a McFlurry. If I remember right, they’re cheaper, the line is usually not as long, there is usually a McD’s right around the corner, they are open later typically, and i find the taste to be just as good. This is not a knock on DQ but props to McD’s.
I should start going to your DQ. The one here is not staffed with “ice cream professionals”, as you say.They never seem to be able to get chunks into the bottom of the cup. So I either have to run the risk of making a huge mess by mixing the thing myself or settle for chunkless ice cream at the bottom of the cup.
I’m glad to hear that at least one DQ location is doing it right. I wish they’d all get on board. The purchasing and consuming of ice cream treats should not be an exercise in frustration.
@KC: The “professionals” line was sarcasm at its best. In general though, I find that most Dairy Queens do a better job mixing than this one (I go to one of about four different locations in my area).
@fast eddie: All very good points, although the price is not all that much different (only about 20-30 cents for a similar size) and Dairy Queen does offer more sizes.
@Jenny: Sour tasting? Gross. I’m glad I’ve never run into that problem at the locations that I go to.
I like the Oreo McFlurry, In fact more than the Blizzard. It is a lot cheaper, you get more and they usually put more cookies in it. DQ has been bogus lately, I am about through with it.
I just realized why the McFlurry’s tend to not be mixed well. You know the clear plastic spoon it comes with? That is attached to a mixing machine that, duh, mixes the ice cream. Not the best method, but considering the ice cream is my favorite part, I don’t mind just vanilla at the bottom. =)
I’ve had multiple Reeses Mcflurrys at different MCD’s locations here in New York, and each one I have eaten always has the Reeses in the top half and then it’s just plain vanilla soft serve in the bottom half. I wish we had DQ in NY. DQ Blizzards are my all-time favorite ice-cream treat!
I really hope they discontinue the Reese’s McFlurries soon because we have peanut allergies and until this summer, McDonalds was a “safe” restaurant for us and our kids! BOO HISS McDonalds!
I work there too, it depends on how much you put it/how much of a rush you are when you make it and how well you blend it. Most of us hate making them, we stick the spoon in the mixer and mix it that way so it doesn’t end up blended as well as places that have that actual better equitment…though if you ask for extra reeses or ask them to put it in half way and on the way it works better… there’s just protocol for doing it (we’re supposed to fill it with ice cream, cap it, put the candies on top and then blend it). also the snack size ones you end up getting more candy in each bite
We love the Reese’s McFlurry. It is another gluten free option for my Celiac children and it is delicious. Thank you McDonalds and please keep it on the menu.
We were “forced” to go mickey d’s the other night because DQ on MLK closed at 9 on a Saturday (?). The DQ on tenth street by my old place stayed open until like 11 in the summer. Anyway, I thought at first, man, this McFlurry has a lot of reeses in it! Then after 4 bites i realized they didn’t mix it AT ALL. I was pretty pissed.
With the price + rarity of finding a DQ, I’ve had to find alternatives. Though mom always made the best blizzards, I actually think the Sonic blast stacks up pretty well.
I would not buy this again! Why are the Reese’s only on top? The one I got only had about the equivalent of 1.5 reeses MINIS on top! I thought there was more mixed in since the m&m (which I would otherwise get) has the candies mixed all the way throughout… So I just figured there would be some more. Nope. Waste of money since I could get that much vanilla soft serve way cheaper at dq or somewhere.