From brownies and pies to sundaes and shakes, the fast food dessert game is strong. No wonder when we reached out to chefs to ask them to dish about their favorite drive-thru or delivery dessert, one turned the question back on us: “Is there really a bad fast food dessert?” Fair point, restaurant chef and owner Dominic Iannarelli!
While we had a blast tasting and rating our way through the options for the best fast food desserts and ultimate fast food ice cream treats, it was so tough to choose a favorite that we ended up selecting one from each category. So, we turned to the pros to help us learn more about how to order wisely from this crowded culinary category.
Our Panel of Fast Food Dessert-Rating Chefs
- Jeanette Donnarumma, a Ridgewood, N.J.-based and Emmy Award-winning producer, recipe developer, content creator, and digital media producer
- George Duran, celebrity chef and TV host based in New York
- George Formaro, chef-partner of Orchestrate Hospitality restaurants in Des Moines, Iowa
- Dominic Iannarelli, chef-owner of Prime & Providence in West Des Moines, Iowa
- Emily Susman, the Tulsa, Okla.-based chef, creator of Emma Claire’s Kitchen, and author of “Get Stuffed: Everyday Recipes Irresistibly Transformed”
Qualities of the Best Fast Food Desserts
When it comes to fast food desserts, you can go a lot of different directions. But if you’re seeking out the most satisfying, soul-feeding option, the chefs believe it should be:
- Nostalgic. “I want a fast food dessert to do one thing: hit me like a sugar-coated nostalgia bomb,” celebrity chef George Duran tells Allrecipes. Recipe developer Donnarumma echoes that sentiment, and adds that she “seeks out flavors that remind me of childhood, like vanilla soft serve or melty chocolate.” For restaurant chef and partner George Formaro, soft serve, shakes, and malts in particular, “are among those old-fashioned treats I still love.”
- Indulgent. The best fast food desserts “should feel like a delight, not a sugar overload,” explains chef and cookbook author Emily Susman. There’s plenty of room to play here, according to Donnarumma. The gratification may come from a creamy, gooey, and/or crisp texture. Anything that feels indulgent, honest, and “not like a science experiment” is a contender, Donnarumma says.
- Simple and satisfying. Waxy-textured, crumbly, strongly artificial-flavored, and cloyingly sweet desserts aren’t invited to this party, the chefs say. “I steer clear of dry cookies that taste like they were baked during the Eisenhower administration, as well as overly artificial flavors that scream ‘banana,’ but whisper ‘chemical plant,'” Duran jokes. “And I definitely avoid anything with so much food coloring it looks like it escaped from a unicorn’s digestive tract!” On the other end of the spectrum from the rainbow-hued formulas, you’ll find the classics that keep you coming back for more. When you try a taste, you should want to return for another, Duran believes. “I’m looking for creamy textures, balanced sweetness, and something that actually holds up after the third bite. I want a flavor journey!” And Susman swears that the best fast food desserts “are satisfying without being overly complicated.”
The Best Fast Food Desserts, According to Chefs
After asking each of the chefs to give us the scoop about their favorite fast food dessert, we were surprised to find that the answer was universal: ice cream. Of course, we aren’t going to leave you hanging without specific recommendations, but that is the common theme among all of the chef MVDs (most valuable desserts).
Here are the Top 5 chef-approved fast food desserts, listed in no particular order:
- Culver’s Concrete Mixer: Iannarelli concedes initial devotion to the Dairy Queen Blizzard. But once he discovered how rich and luscious Culver’s custard was, the chain’s rendition of the candy-studded shake “stole my heart,” he says. In Iannarelli’s professional opinion, the best combination of textures and salty-sweet flavors can be found in a Culver’s Vanilla Custard Concrete Mixer made with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Butterfingers. At this Midwest fast food chain, two mix-ins are included, and extras are only 50 cents each.
- McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundae: For “the fast food equivalent of a warm hug from childhood,” Duran drives directly to McDonald’s for a Hot Fudge Sundae. “Creamy vanilla soft serve, a generous pour of hot fudge, and those weird little grooves in the cup that allow you to dig the chocolate fudge off, one magical scrape at a time? It’s essentially a culinary slam dunk,” Duran says. When the cold, milky swirls of ice cream meet the warm, gooey fudge, it triggers “a happy little thermal explosion in your mouth,” he adds. In a nod to the reputation of McDonald’s ice cream machines being frequently broken, Duran says, “Let’s be honest: part of the thrill is the gamble. Will the ice cream machine be down? Who knows!”
- Wendy’s Frosty: Why choose between milkshake or regular ice cream when you can essentially enjoy both in the same cup? Donnarumma swears that the Wendy’s Frosty is “classic for a reason: it’s half shake, half soft serve, and all comfort.” In fact, that was the exact goal of Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas when he dreamed up the Frosty. It should be “thick enough to use a spoon, smooth enough to use a straw, and perfect when enjoyed on the end of a fry,” according to Wendy’s. Similar to how the texture is “Goldilocks,” Donnarumma believes the flavor is, too. “It’s perfectly in the middle: not too sweet, not too heavy, with that malty flavor that keeps you coming back for ‘just one more’ spoonful,” she says. Unlike some other trendy, limited-time-only fast food dessert offerings, the original chocolate Frosty “never goes out of style,” Donnarumma tells us.
- Dairy Queen Vanilla Cone: There’s no need to dress this one up in a chocolate or cherry coating or blend it with candy, Formaro says. The soft serve at DQ is a nostalgic and satisfying delight on its own, he says. “The fast food dessert king is the Queen: Dairy Queen! The technology behind it—the mix, the handling, the texture—is unique and just hits differently.” This is likely due to the fact that the soft serve recipe has lower butterfat and more air than many others on the market, resulting in an ultra-creamy, swirlable, curlable consistency.
- Sonic’s Vanilla Cup: Ditch the cone and keep loads of flavor, Susman suggests. Describing the chain’s soft serve as “silky-smooth and perfectly sweet,” Susman gives a hat tip to Sonic’s “drive-in charm that makes even a simple cup of ice cream feel special,” she says. “Unlike some fast food desserts that can be dense or overly fussy, soft serve is light and refreshing, especially on a hot day.” When the mercury rises, the cup format definitely reigns supreme over a cone, which can quickly turn into a drippy mess that feels more bummer than bliss.
How To Upgrade Fast Food Desserts, According to Chefs
The chefs are already big fans of these frozen desserts, but when we asked them if they had any chef secrets to take these orders to the next level, they agreed once again: Add salt.
“That bit of salt and crunch is like the final paint flourish by Da Vinci, except it’s Da Vinci with a sweet tooth,” Duran jokes…