Embrace Fall And Hack Your Own Apple Pie McFlurry From McDonald's

If you love both McDonald's and the fall season, then you'll want to know about this hack. Next time you go to McD's, order a McFlurry and an Apple Pie. Ask them to blend the two together, or simply blend them yourself, and voila — you have a portable version of hot apple pie à la mode, just in time to watch the leaves turn.

There is one small hitch, or maybe just more of a consideration: No, it's not down to whether the ice cream machine at your local McD's is dirty or broken – it's down to which flavor of McFlurry you want to order with your Apple Pie.

Will it be M&M? Or Oreo? Or maybe Peanut Butter Crunch? Peanut butter and apple are, after all, a classic combo. Then again, there's nothing wrong with going for plain old vanilla. It is obviously the most common pairing when apple pie à la mode is involved.

Internationally, some McDonald's diners haven't even needed a hack to get their pie à la mode. In 2014, McDonald's in Japan added the item to its menu for a brief while, offering it with a choice of chocolate or strawberry syrup. We haven't been so lucky here in the States.

Blending together your own Apple Pie McFlurry also brings together one of McDonald's more recent additions to their dessert selection with their oldest. The Apple Pie was the very first dessert item added to the McD's menu, debuting nationwide in 1968. Though it technically wasn't the first sweet item — milkshakes had been on there since at least 1949 — the Apple Pie was the first item that was specifically designed as a dessert.

The McFlurry, meanwhile, was first invented by a McDonald's franchisee in Canada in 1995 and was made available across the United States a few years later. However, there have been some updates to the McFlurry formula in recent years, albeit made in a surreptitious way. In 2016, McDonald's corporate made the decision to phase out as many artificial flavors in its ice cream as possible. Six months later, they were gone, and hardly anybody seemed to notice.

The Apple Pie has gone through its own changes in recipe, too. Initially served fried, corporate made the decision in the early '90s to switch to the healthier baked version we know today. In 2018, the formula was switched up once again, with the current lattice work on top and a reduction of sugar.

In other words, the collision of the McFlurry with the McDonald's Apple Pie is the meeting of two immensely popular fan favorites on the McD's menu. But even with the McFlurry getting most of the ice cream love at McDonald's, we shouldn't forget the humble and much neglected sundae. Those are still on the menu — provided, of course, that the ice cream machine is in service — and are still offered with either hot fudge or melted caramel on top. Either make a good pairing with ice cream and an Apple Pie. Caramel and apple in particular seem to drum up all the images of, well, caramel apples.

There have also, as many McDonald's diners will remember, been variants on the Apple Pie, though all of them have been limited, seasonal options. The Strawberry & Crème Pie has made sporadic appearances over the years and can sometimes be found at some limited locations. Canadian McDonald's, meanwhile, offers a strawberry pie on its menu. Either would work very well blended in with a McFlurry or a regular McDonald's sundae. Finally, if McDonald's decides to bring back the Pumpkin & Creme Pie, your options for fall fast food pie and ice cream will get a lot more interesting.