As the United States of America prepares for its 250th anniversary, one of our most iconic enterprises is pulling out the stops in celebration.
McDonald’s has decided to celebrate the birth of a republic by resurrecting a legend of its own: the original fried apple pie. In an age when our political class keeps insisting we can’t turn back the clock, the Golden Arches said, “Hold my fryer.”
With America’s 250th birthday around the corner, McDonald’s is bringing back a fan-favorite that it calls a “national treasure.”The OG Fried Apple Pie will be back at participating restaurants nationwide for a limited time this summer.Back in the 1960s, East Tennessee Owner/Operator Litton Cochran created a fried apple hand pie. It became a local fan favorite and eventually a McDonald’s classic.“There are certain things that just take you back – and the Fried Apple Pie is one of them. It’s something that people love and remember from growing up.” said Eric Cochran, McDonald’s Owner/Operator. “When Ray Kroc was trying to come up with a dessert for McDonald’s, my Grandad, Litton Cochran, suggested a Fried Apple Pie as a classic that people would love. My Grandmom, Jo Cochran, spent months perfecting the recipe. Bringing the Fried Apple Pie back for fans this summer to celebrate America’s 250th just feels right.”
Many of the comments celebrating this announcement noted how hot this dessert was served.
McDonald’s replaced its original fried apple pie with a baked version in 1992 in the misguided rush to align with pseudoscience that was coming out about fat and cholesterol.
1992: The year McDonald’s replaced the fried apple pie with a baked version in most of the U.S., responding to growing consumer awareness of fat and cholesterol consumption. The U.S. Department of Agriculture first published its food guide pyramid the same year. Fried apple pie remains on McDonald’s menus in some other countries, including Mexico, Australia and China.
Since 1992, there have been many revelations that food science is the most unsettled science of all.
One of the big changes enacted by President Donald Trump’s team is the complete revision of the food pyramid that drove the fried apple pies off the menu in the first place. The new guidelines also call for real dairy with all of the fat (and flavor). It also separates whole grains from processed grains, with the carbohydrates now residing at the bottom rather than the top of the pyramid.
Some even believe it should be at the top of the pyramid.
It turns out the fried apple pie was McDonald’s original dessert and was created by one of its franchises in Tennessee.
McDonald’s Apple Pie is a fast food icon, but the crispy, spiced apple pie that’s on menus today is not the same one Ray Kroc introduced in the 1960s. Kroc was known for asking his franchisees to experiment with new menu items—that’s how we got the Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish, and, of course, Fried Apple Pie, which was Mickey D’s first-ever dessert.The hand pie started as a family recipe of Litton Cochran, an East Tennessee McDonald’s owner and operator. Cochran’s wife, Jo, spent months perfecting it, and the Fried Apple Pie became a local legend—then, eventually, a nationwide favorite….Beginning June 23, the original recipe Fried Apple Pie will be back at drive-thrus nationwide. McDonald’s Fried Apple Pie is filled with 100% American-grown apples in a golden, flaky crust that’s fried for the same crispy, crunchy bite you may remember from nearly 35 years ago.
If you order the pie, make sure to eat it carefully so as not to burn your mouth!
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