McDonald's Hash Brown Ice Cream Sandwich Is Actually Amazing
We know what you might be thinking: “There’s no way I would try this.” But hear us out on this one because even though your first instinct would be to keep scrolling, it would be a big mistake. Huge. Potatoes and ice cream aren’t as wild as you think. Sweet and salty is, of course, an amazing combination. In fact, the Idaho Potato Commission not only recommends recipes for the salty spuds plus melty ice cream, but they collaborated earlier this year with NYC cult fave Van Leeuwen on a malted milkshake and fries pint (it was a limited edition, and it’s sold out).
So, this trend actually isn’t as repulsive as you may think. And even though it would be nearly impossible to figure out who the originator was of the original potato and ice cream combo, we’re here for it in all forms, especially the easy-to-make ones like this. As one TikToker commented on the viral McDonald's Hash Brown Ice Cream Sandwich vid (which is up to 6.3 million views), "I'm confused but intrigued." Girl, same.
View the original article to see embedded media.
Related: McDonald's Reimagines Classic Menu Items for the Best Burgers Yet
What is in the McDonald’s Hash Brown Ice Cream Sandwich?
Only two ingredients: An Oreo McFlurry (a small McFlurry is plenty of ice cream) and two hash browns (or as one TikToker puts it "It’s basically a giant French fry lol ??"). Be sure to order the items separately as this is not a standard menu item on the McDonald’s menu. There is an “Oreo McFlurry Sandwich” you can order, but this will give you a McFlurry with chocolate chip cookies (a more traditional ice cream sandwich). The total for my ice cream dream came to $7.24. A bit steep for one ice cream sandwich given that I could buy a whole box of ice cream sandwiches (or two) for that much, but this was the price to pay to have a little trending fun.
Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel
What does the McDonald’s Hash Brown Ice Cream Sandwich taste like?
While I was lifting the sandwich up to my mouth, I did have an “OMG what am I doing?!” moment. The TikToks are all about this trend though, and people are raving. Taking a friend with me to this drive-thru potato party made me feel better since we were both about to experience something a little weird. The first bite, we concluded, was actually pretty amazing. The salty potato pieces mixed with the sweet melty vanilla soft serve plus the Oreo cookies were nothing short of fantastic.
It checked off all the flavor and texture boxes: salty, sweet, creamy, crunchy, hot and cold. It was melting fast, though, and true to the TikToks, we made this in the car, so it was a couple of bites to get what all the hype was about and then pulling out a container of Wet Wipes in a major way. If you’ve ever snacked on chocolate-covered pretzels, dipped a crispy fry into a milkshake or eaten chicken and waffles smothered in maple syrup, you’ll appreciate the true sweet and savory nature of this secret Mickey D’s menu item.
View the original article to see embedded media.
Related: McDonald's Shakes Up Its Spring Menu With Curious New McFlurry Flavor
How to order and assemble the McDonald’s Hash Brown Ice Cream Sandwich
This one is pretty simple since it’s only two ingredients but the catch is that you have to be fast about assembling and eating it or else it starts to melt quite quickly (hot hash browns plus cold soft serve equals 30 seconds to mess). None of the videos I saw on TikTok were waiting for the potatoes to cool down, so I didn’t either. And everyone was assembling it in their car sitting in the parking lot, so I did too (this is scientific research, people). If I had to do it over again—and I just might—I would wait for the hash browns to cool off before assembling.
Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel
The other tip with this trend is you have to time it just right. McDonald’s doesn’t serve breakfast past 10:30 a.m.—so that means no hash browns at any other time of day—and some locations don’t have their ice cream machines going until lunch (McDonald’s says some stores use the breakfast shift to clean the ice cream machines), so be sure to ask ahead or get there in that in-between sweet spot. My friend and I went around 10:15 a.m. and after an *agonizing* "will they or won't they?" at the drive-thru (they had to check and see if the machine was running), the ice cream gods came through and we got lucky.
TikTokers are going crazy for this sweet and salty snack (with one commenting "I just wanna say thank you for inventing the best hash brown ice cream sandwich in the world… this has changed my life..") and putting their own spin on it, saying "try the french fries with a caramel sundae." Perhaps maybe the next viral combo?
View the original article to see embedded media.