McDonald's Peanut Butter Crunch McFlurry Review: Not Very Peanut Buttery, But Still Very McGood

McDonald's answer to Dairy Queen's Blizzard — the McFlurry — was born in Bathurst, New Brunswick by Canadian McDonald's franchisee Ron McLellan in 1995. Two years later, his creamy dessert innovation was being gobbled up by the rest of Canada, with regional candies and cookies such as Fudgee-O, Smarties, Oreo, and Coffee Crisp as mix-ins. The US had its first taste in 1998, with the all-American trio of M&M's, Oreo, and Butterfinger as the original toppings du jour. Limited-time McFlurry flavors have come and gone through the years, and the newest on offer is the Peanut Butter Crunch McFlurry.

The Reese's Peanut Butter Cup McFlurry was last seen at McDonald's sometime in 2019, and four long years later, fans can finally rejoice now that peanut butter in some form has returned to McFlurry cups. While there may not be Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in this version, there are still plenty of bits and pieces of chocolatey goodness mixed into the ice cream to scoop up, and we're here to spoon-feed you all the important details.

McDonald's thick, white ice cream in a cup serves as a canvas for whatever add-in topping a customer chooses for their McFlurry. In this particular swirled mess, with no official branded candy or cookie affiliation, what the Peanut Butter Crunch actually tastes like is in the mouth of the beholder. In this beholder, it was a mishmash of confections and baked goods with no real rhyme or reason.

It was surprising how peanut butter was not the lead taste in this mash-up. The same was true with a smell taste, and visually there was not much peanut butter to see. What does shine through are the crunchy cookie biscuits and chocolate bits, but once the top layer of our McFlurry had been devoured, there didn't seem much of anything left besides ice cream and a few bits of everything that wasn't peanut butter.

On the surface, and by name, the Peanut Butter Crunch McFlurry is made up of two elements — vanilla reduced-fat ice cream and peanut butter chocolate crunch pieces. Dig deeper into its actual ingredients list and it runs the gamut of sweetness from milk to sugar, cream, unsweetened chocolate, chocolatey coating, cocoa powder, corn biscuits, peanut butter, fudge-coated peanut brittle, peanut butter yummy chow, peanut butter cereal squares, and natural vanilla extract. There's a lot more in there, but it will take less time to eat this McFlurry than it would to recite the rest of the ingredients.

The Peanut Butter Crunch McFlurry is a no-go for people who wish to avoid wheat, peanut, soy, or milk products, and it may also contain egg and tree nuts. This 510-calorie dessert checks in with 16 grams of total fat, 78 grams of carbs, 59 grams of total sugars, and 220 grams of sodium. The feel-good news is that there are 12 grams of protein, so there's that!

The Peanut Butter Crunch McFlurry is only available at participating McDonald's. It first became available on August 9, 2023, and will be available for a limited time only. 

Like all items at McDonald's, the Peanut Butter Crunch McFlurry can be ordered directly at the counter, in-store kiosks, drive-thru, and even in advance using the company's handy app. McDelivery is also an option for some, as the company has partnered with popular services such as DoorDash, GrubHub, and Uber Eats.

Additional add-ons for this McFlurry are available for a small cost, including a topping of M&Ms, crushed OREO, Hot Fudge or Caramel sauce, and even an extra helping of Peanut Butter Crunch pieces. Whipped cream is also an option, at no extra charge.

After a solid meal at McDonald's, a creamy dessert is just the ticket to soften the greasy blow. A McDonald's plain vanilla cone is a simple pleasure, and a sundae is a double pleasure, but a McFlurry is for those who need something a little extra, with a lot of extra goodness within. The Peanut Butter Crunch McFlurry is no exception, although it's probably best to pay the extra cost for an additional add-on of Peanut Butter Crunch Pieces.

Frozen dairy products don't stay frozen forever, so it's best to order your Peanut Butter Crunch McFlurry when you're good and ready to eat it. On hot August nights and days, melting can be an issue, so be sure to eat it right away or rush it home to your freezer.

It's been quite a summer for McDonald's with its introductions of new, limited-time-only products. It all started off with the buzzy and meme-friendly Grimace Birthday Shake, which didn't taste like berry, followed by the savory masterpiece that is the Cheesy Jalapeño Bacon Quarter Pounder with Cheese (so darn cheesy the word cheese appears twice in its name!). And here we are now with the Peanut Butter Crunch McFlurry, which on paper sounds like a late summer welcome addition, but in actuality can't deliver on the lead two words in its namesake: Peanut Butter.

Maybe the batch of Peanut Butter Crunch McFlurry we had didn't have the proper ratio of cookie bites to chocolate bits to peanut butter, or maybe it did and that's just how it is. While it may not have had that rich peanut butter flavor we were hoping for, it was still crunchy, creamy, delicious, and a worthy dessert to order. However, next time, maybes McDonald's should partner back up with Reese's to give the people the McFlurry they really want, and deserve.