The Discontinued McDonald's Brownie Snack That Deserves A Comeback

Among the pantheon of GOATed desserts, brownies have a special place in our hearts. Sure, there's a chewy addition we like to add to boxed brownies to make them more exciting, but who doesn't love having the baking done for you? Some time late in the first decade of the 2000s, McDonald's released a scrumptious brownie dessert that we're still dreaming about. Anecdotal evidence suggests it was only available in certain markets, and it didn't last long before being discontinued, but, despite being only a blip in the annals of drive-thru history, it lives on in our hearts big-time. We're talking about McDonald's Brownie Melts, a close cousin of the better-known Cinnamon Melts.

Brownie Melts featured little chunks of cubed brownie drenched in hot fudge and drizzled with white icing (some say it was the same cream cheese icing as the cinnamon melts). They were something of a cross between monkey bread and a brownie sundae minus the ice cream — although, man-oh-man, we bet these things absolutely slapped when topped with McD's soft serve! Unlike the lengthy parade of Golden Arches failures on our list of discontinued McDonald's menu items we're glad disappeared, Brownie Melts were a divine creation that we absolutely want back. Were the Brownie Melts a calorie-laden sugar bomb? Yes, and some haters on the internet think that's why they got 86'd. Still, there are plenty of folks on forums and social media who agree with us that these gooey trays of fudgy brownie goodness were gone too soon.

The Australian outlet of Buzzfeed ranked Brownie Melts high among its list of discontinued Macca's (that's McDonald's in Down Under-ese) items that needed a renaissance, proving that American consumers weren't the only ones obsessed with this sweet treat. "The hell happened to brownie melts?!" reads a 2010 post headline on Talk Bass forums, with the OP elaborating, "A few months ago they decided to stop selling them. This has saddened me." On a 2009 YouTube video dedicated to the Brownie Melts, a comment lamented, "I miss these so much!!! they were my fav back in 2009/2010."

Except for a handful of faithful standbys like apple pies and McFlurries, McDonald's desserts tend to come and go. For every beloved sweet like the cherished strawberry creme pie, which comes back on a seasonal rotation, there are some desserts that up and vanish forever. The Cinnamon Melts that seemed to have inspired Brownie Melts are also gone now, inspiring their own legions of disappointed online fans. In fact the entire McCafe Bakery line, which included an apple fritter, classic cinnamon roll, and blueberry muffin, got the axe in 2023. What we've learned from experience is that, if you fall in love with a new dessert item at McDonald's, enjoy it to its fullest, because you simply never know when it might be cruelly yanked away.