Since 1968, McDonald's has been rivaling Grandma's apple pie with the retailer's own spin on the all-American classic. However, in light of their recent menu overhaul — which has included a shift from frozen to fresh beef patties and removing artificial preservatives from their chicken nuggets — their old recipe for their very first dessert is now on the chopping block. McDonald's apple pie has almost become an institution with its loyal fanbase over the past decades, and these tweets about McDonald’s changing its apple pie recipe show people are losing it over the updates. Is change always for the best, especially when it involves a gooey apple and cinnamon mainstay that people have come to know and love? Needless to say, the internet is divided.
Per a press release shared on Sept. 12, the golden arches decided to switch up the formula behind one of their most popular menu items in accordance with more "positive changes" they're making to their food.
"Our new apple pie is made with fewer ingredients such as sugar, sliced 100-percent American grown apples and a bit of cinnamon to the filling for flavor to give each one that homemade taste our customers love," Tiffany Briggs, a McDonald's spokesperson, said in the statement.
The fresh-baked tart, which now features a lattice design with sugar sprinkle topping rather than the cinnamon and sugar layer that customers have come to recognize, also features differences in flavor. The restaurant has added cinnamon to the filling "for more flavor," as well as making sure that there are 100 percent American apples inside instead of the diced mixture that was previously used. The biggest changes that customers have noticed? The fact that the tart is now fresh baked and that there is less sugar inside, according to INSIDER.
"Our new freshly baked Apple pie recipe is in line with other positive changes we have made," Briggs continued in the statement. "We removed, for example, artificial preservatives from our Chicken McNuggets and switched to real butter in our breakfast sandwiches because those changes matter to our guests."
Unfortunately, a lot of guests aren't having it.
OK, rioting in the streets might be a bit much, but it's safe to say that customers have ~ feelings ~ about the new recipe.
On the other side of the aisle, people are also taking to social media to reveal that they're digging the healthier updates.
Wherever you stand on McDonald's new apple pies, they're probably not going anywhere. In response to one customer's tweet asking if the change was permanent, the chain's verified account replied, "Hi, Megan! Our new apple pie is made with fewer ingredients such as sugar, sliced 100-percent American grown apples and a bit of cinnamon to the filling for flavor to give each one that homemade taste our customers love."
This isn't the first time that the chain has tried switching up the dessert offering. According to Eater, the company has tried 40 different variations of the apple pie, including strawberry, pineapple, and even sweet corn in Thailand, plus they stopped deep frying them back in 1992 (which also caused some grumblings among its fan base then, too). Considering that McDonald's chicken nuggets, burgers, and breakfast sandwiches have already gotten the healthier treatment, I wouldn't be surprised if other menu items also get a makeover in the coming months.
