Fast-food restaurants provide a range of tasty options for those seeking a quick meal or unable to cook at home. These restaurants also offer sweet desserts after meals and satisfy sweet cravings.
I like ordering these desserts during my cheat day if I want a creamy flavor sensation. But, of course, many fast-food destinations offer flashier dessert options than standard ice cream cups.
Need to know which tempting, irresistible treats to sample? Check out my list of the best fast food desserts to satisfy your sweetest cravings.
Wendy’s Frosty
Topping off this list of the best fast food desserts is Wendy’s Frosty.
This iconic dessert has a rich, creamy texture that you can scoop with a spoon or slurp with a straw.
It’s available in a vanilla or chocolate flavor. Consider dipping your fries into a Frosty of any flavor for a sweet and salty sensation that makes going to Wendy’s worthwhile every time.
Wendy’s Frosty comes in four sizes, each varying in calorie and sugar content, offering plenty of variety for diners who prefer keeping track of what they eat daily.
Its notable ingredients include milk, sugar, cream, and whey.
Popeyes Cinnamon Apple Pie
Although many equate the best fast food desserts with being cold, Popeyes Cinnamon Apple Pie is warm from the inside out.
Its crunchy and perfectly fried crust makes it stand out from creamier desserts.
This dessert’s blend of cinnamon and apple gives it a sweet and spicy flavor profile that your taste buds will enjoy as it melts in your mouth.
It’s less than 300 calories, making it ideal as an occasional treat without worrying about going over your daily calorie requirements.
I like eating this hot dessert on a cold night. Its ingredients include apples, cinnamon sugar, puff pastry, and butter.
Taco Bell Cinnamon Twists
Taco Bell Cinnamon Twists are the perfect dessert to enjoy if you want something vegan or vegetarian-friendly.
It has a light, crispy exterior and an appealing twisted shape that tempts you to grab more than one.
They’re cholesterol-free, low in fat and sodium, and contain less than 200 calories, making them a great alternative to other desserts without sacrificing sweetness.
They’re a great change of pace to Taco Bell’s savory dishes.
Taco Bell Cinnamon Twists don’t contain many allergens, but their wheat and gluten content might not agree with people with specific dietary sensitivities.
Their ingredients include cinnamon, sugar, wheat flour, and soybean oil.
Chick-fil-A Frosted Lemonade
Chick-fil-A Frosted Lemonade is a sweet and cold dessert you can enjoy after indulging in a hot chicken sandwich.
This sweet concoction tastes like a mixture of a vanilla milkshake and a glass of lemonade, making it a go-to dessert for beating the summer heat.
It has a sweet yet sour flavor profile that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
They offer a variant made with diet lemonade, giving it a lower calorie, sugar, and carbohydrate content than their regular Frosted Lemonade.
Its ingredients include sugar, lemon juice, whole milk fat, and nonfat dry milk. Consider slurping it slowly to prevent brain freeze.
Sonic Blasts
Sonic Blasts are another one of the best fast food desserts you’ll enjoy after a hearty meal.
This treat has the look and taste of a classic vanilla milkshake enhanced with sweet candy that gives it extra texture and flavor.
I prefer ordering a Sonic Blast with M&Ms or Oreo cookie pieces to give it a chocolatey flavor kick.
Their Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and Snickers Bar variants give it a sweet and nutty flavor, but it might be better for those with peanut allergies.
McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundae
McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundae is a classic dessert I remember ordering a lot as a child.
This soft-serve ice cream melts in your mouth with every scoop. I like mixing the sundae’s warm and thick hot fudge with a spoon to spread its flavor.
This sundae is the perfect treat to enjoy on a hot day. Many love dipping their fries in it.
The sundae’s reduced fat vanilla ice cream contains sugar, milk, cream, and guar gum. Its hot fudge topping contains sugar, nonfat milk, and cocoa.
It’s 330 calories per serving and contains 44 grams of sugar and 260 milligrams of calcium.
Chick-fil-A Icedream Cone
If you prefer a fast food dessert that’s simple yet appealing, consider indulging in a Chick-fil-A Icedream Cone.
This soft-serve vanilla cone is the perfect treat to end your night after enjoying a crispy chicken entree.
Although they don’t offer other ice cream flavors, it’s sweet and creamy. As a fan of vanilla ice cream, I love ordering if I have room for something else.
It’s made of whole milk, sugar, nonfat milk, and cornstarch, among other ingredients.
Its cone is made with enriched flour and has a light crunch that adds texture to the treat if you prefer biting it after licking your ice cream.
McDonald’s M&M McFlurry
The classic McDonald’s M&M McFlurry is another one of the best fast food desserts if you prefer ice cream with a twist.
It’s soft, cold, and creamy, like most fast food ice cream options, but its mini milk chocolate M&Ms give it a crunchy, chocolatey touch that keeps it from tasting too plain.
I love mixing the M&Ms and making the McFlurry look more colorful.
McDonald’s M&M McFlurry is one of their most filling dessert options, containing 640 calories per serving.
Like most McDonald’s flavorful ice cream desserts, it’s made of milk, sugar, cream, and corn syrup.
White Castle Fudge-Dipped Cheesecake On-a-Stick
If you’re looking for a fast-food dessert that’s perfect on the go, consider trying a White Castle Fudge-Dipped Strawberry Cheesecake On-a-Stick.
It’s a sweet and tempting treat that’s perfect for any occasion.
Its fudgy coating is soft yet enticing and blends well with its strawberry-flavored center.
Its graham cracker bottom adds extra texture that’s chewy yet rough.
Although I prefer ordering fast food desserts whenever I crave them instead of whenever I go to White Castle, it’s a great option for anyone looking for desserts with less than 200 calories.
It contains strawberries, cream cheese, chocolate liquor, and eggs.
Arby’s Cherry Turnover
Arby’s Cherry Turnover is the perfect dessert after enjoying a hearty roast beef and chicken entree for a long week. It has a savory, soft yet crispy, freshly-baked crust and a sweet cherry center.
It has the warmth you can expect from a baked cherry turnover, so consider eating it before it cools for its fullest, fruitiest flavors.
It contains 390 calories, making it an excellent option for anyone craving a dessert that’s less than 500 calories.
Its ingredients include cherries, enriched flour, margarine, and sugar. It’s an excellent change of pace if you prefer something other than ice cream.
Jollibee Peach Mango Pie
Sweet on the inside and flaky on the outside, Jollibee Peach Mango Pie is another tasty dessert worth sampling when dining out alone or with others.
I’m a fan of its gooey texture. It comes in a small cardboard box for enjoying it on the go.
I like pairing it with their Pineapple Quencher juice to enhance its fruitiness.
The most prominent ingredients in Jollibee Peach Mango Pie are Philippine mangoes, peaches, wheat, and white sugar.
Jollibee Peach Mango Pie contains 270 calories, making it an excellent treat under 300 calories. It contains three grams of protein and no trans fats.
Shake Shack Concrete
Don’t let its name fool you. Shake Shack Concrete is one of the best fast food desserts I love to order whenever I crave something sweet and thick.
It’s a frozen custard that’s slowly blended to enhance its creaminess and thickness.
Although this fast-food dessert has been discontinued recently, I enjoyed its sweet flavors and decorative toppings.
Like most frozen treats, its ingredients include sugar, cream, and milk. I preferred ordering Shake Shack’s Shack Attack Concrete, a chocolatey delight in every spoonful.
Despite being unavailable on most Shake Shack menus, you can find several copycat recipes online to recreate it. For now I’ll order their milkshakes instead!
Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard
The Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard is another sweet and creamy delicacy worth trying during your next trip to Dairy Queen.
Soft-serve ice cream is a staple for many fast-food destinations, but this flavor remains one of my favorite blizzards.
Despite its high sugar and fat content, it’s a refreshing treat for any time of the year.
The Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard is available in four sizes: mini, small, medium, and large.
Their largest option contains over 1,000 calories. I prefer ordering a mini or small one to stay on track with my diet. Its ingredients include sugar, nonfat milk, and cocoa.
Jack in the Box Mini Churros
Consider trying Jack in the Box Mini Churros if you crave something bite-sized for dessert.
They have a light, crisp texture, enhanced by their cinnamon sugar-dusted surface.
I like licking the cinnamon flakes while letting them rest inside my mouth. Every serving comes with five Mini Churros.
These Mini Churros taste great with a refreshing sweet cream iced coffee and are low in cholesterol.
This dessert might appeal to anyone without wheat, egg, dairy, or egg sensitivities. Its ingredients include cornstarch, wheat gluten, and oat fiber.
Despite being coated with cinnamon sugar, its sugar content is lower than some of the other options on this list.
Auntie Anne’s Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Nuggets
Last but not least on this list of the best fast food desserts is Auntie Anne’s Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Nuggets.
These bite-sized treats have a light cinnamon sugar glaze that keeps them tasting sweet.
Their cinnamon layer is thick, so you don’t have to worry about bare pretzel nuggets.
They taste great with light cream cheese dip or a refreshing lemonade mixer.
You can make this dessert vegan-friendly by ordering it without butter, or making them at home with a copycat recipe. This dessert is a tasty option for anyone who isn’t sensitive to dairy, soy, or wheat.
Although its calorie content might be high to some, ordering it without butter cuts its fat content in half.
What’s Your Favorite?
Have you tried all of the desserts on this list?
Tell us your favorite dessert from a fast food restaurant in the comments!