With such a dedicated base of McFlurry fans, McDonald's (MCD) can't really hide when it's testing a new flavor at even just a few restaurants. The fast-food giant is reportedly testing a peanut butter crunch McFlurry at select restaurants in Pasadena, California.
As first spotted by a reporter for fast food outlet Chew Boom, the new frozen dessert is available for $3.59 at certain restaurants across the city. This McFlurry, which is a combination of the chain's vanilla soft serve ice cream with various candies and toppings, reportedly comes with peanut butter, chocolate, and cookies.
"No shortage of cookie action with this, guys," Ian Keiner, the YouTuber behind the popular Peep THIS Out! channel, says in a video review of the new McFlurry. "It looks like it's a peanut butter-type cookie mixed in with chocolate, but I'm really getting very vibrant peanut butter flavor with it. It goes so well with the vanilla and this is just a very, very tasty dessert.'
McDonald's did not immediately respond to TheStreet's request to confirm whether it was, in fact, launching a Peanut Butter And Crunch McFlurry nationwide.
A Brief History Of The McFlurry
First launched in 1997, the McFlurry quickly became a success across McDonald's restaurants — common add-ons include Oreo cookies and M&Ms.
But over the years, the brand has also launched a series of other limited-time and seasonal flavors such as one with Cadbury Crème eggs for Easter in Canada and Bubblegum Squash (not the vegetable but rather a local world for marshmallow) in Australia. In the United States, many fans still talk about the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups McFlurry — while it was discontinued around 2012, a Twitter (TWTR) account called "Bring Back The Reeses McFlurry" continued posting about it for years.
The good news is that, for those who loved the Reese's version, the new Peanut Butter Crunch McFlurry is also full of peanut butter and likely to have a similar taste.
"I'm getting a Reese's vibe with this, guys, and that's a beautiful thing," Keiner said in his video review.
But What's Up With All These Broken McFlurry Machines?
Demand for McFlurrys remained consistently strong over the years — so much so that, over the last year, broken machines have become the subject of many an internet meme.
Customer complaints over coming in for a McFlurry and being told that the machine making them was broken have become frequent enough to catch the attention of the Federal Trade Commission. Back in September, the Wall Street Journal reported that the agency had launched a "preliminary investigation" into frequent breakdowns of McFlurry machines across different franchises (but was clear to specify that an investigation did not mean that there was any reason to suspect wrongdoing.)
