Fast Food Chocolate Chip Cookies Ranked From Worst To Best
When we hear the words "fast food," images of hamburgers, fries, chicken nuggets, and other savory delicacies immediately come to mind. However, many of the dessert selections available at fast food joints are not to be overlooked — specifically, any and all cookies packed with chocolate chips. We've dug deep and channeled our sweet tooth to rank fast food restaurant chocolate chip cookies from best to worst.
Ranking each and every fast food restaurant chocolate chip cookie may sound like a big endeavor, but fear not, for the Mashed team has done the dirty work and tried a bunch of these sweet treats for you. If you would like to find the best fast food chocolate chip cookie, look no further. Next time you find yourself craving a fast food sweet treat, pull up this list and let it be your guide as you try to find the best fast food chocolate chip cookie to pair with your delicious drive-thru meal.
11. Kentucky Fried Chicken
Last on our list is a place known for its chicken and "finger lickin' good" food, Kentucky Fried Chicken. The world-famous fried chicken joint features significant family-size portions and buckets of comfort food. When we took a look at the dessert menu, we were shocked at the lack of variety and the small size of the chocolate chip cookie.
KFC's small chocolate chip cookie landed low on our fast food chocolate chip cookies list because of its size and lack of flavor. We are chocolate lovers at heart and did not think this fast food chain's cookie packed enough of a chocolate punch for our liking. Overall the taste was nothing overwhelming and felt very average. One plus we found while ordering online through KFC's website is choosing if you would like one, three, or a dozen chocolate chip cookies. The twelve cookie option aligns with the more significant portions and meals that Kentucky Fried Chicken offers. KFC's cookie landed on the bottom of our list due to the simplicity, lack of flavor, and smaller-than-expected portions.
10. Whataburger
If you are from Texas, you understand the hype around Whataburger. A regional fast food chain that is all over the South and Southwest, Whataburger specializes in — you guessed it — in burgers. To our surprise, Whataburger also offers chocolate chip cookies on their dessert menu. When we think of burgers and fries, our go-to sweet treat is a milkshake, but we will never turn our nose up at a chocolate chip cookie. Other Whataburger dessert items include fruit chews, hot apple pockets, and a cinnamon roll.
Whataburger serves their chocolate chip cookies in plastic wrappers; do not expect cookies that taste like they were baked in-house that day. Rather, you might find that they taste, as Delish's Jackie Iadonisi put it, "kinda chalky." While they're not totally terrible, we don't know if they will necessarily spark cravings in the future. Sure, it does the trick if you need a little chocolate treat, but overall we will be heading to other fast food chains to get our cookie fix.
9. Qdoba
The next chocolate chip cookie up for consideration was brought to you by Qdoba, a fast-casual Mexican restaurant that allows you to build your burrito, bowl, or quesadilla. Other Mexican restaurant chains offer desserts like buñuelos, churros, or tamales dulces, but Qdoba's range happens to include a chocolate chip cookie.
We rate the chocolate chip cookie a 7 out of 10. Because Qdoba serves their cookies in plastic packaging, our tasters assumed Qdoba's cookies were made at a different location and delivered to the restaurant. Overall, the cookie was a solid consistency, provided sweet flavor, and was not too dry like many plastic-wrapped cookies that tend to sit in a case for extended periods. Next time you're ordering at Qdoba and want a treat, don't hesitate to reach for one of the cookies. They may not be the best we have ever tried, but they will curb any sweet craving.
8. Subway
Subway's infamous $5 footlongs are not the only claim to fame for this fast food sandwich chain. Everyone raves about Subway's chocolate chip cookies, so we knew we had to try them and add our thoughts to the fast food chocolate chip cookies ranked from best to worst list. Unfortunately, for the Mashed taste testers, the Subway chocolate chip cookie did not live up to the hype.
Subway's cookies could not have tasted less homemade. We know all fast food chains make food in large quantities, but there was no extra care when it came to the dessert in question. Though Sweety High called it "a strong take on the classic chocolate chip cookie," we found that the chewy treat was thin and did not pack a ton of flavor. We were disappointed, to say the least. Additionally, if you've ever been to a Subway store, you're surely familiar with the smell of the bread — and that smell can stick to the cookies. It's safe to say this cookie did not give us the chocolatey flavor the others did.
7. Arby's
As Arby's states on their website, they're all about "Inspiring Smiles Through Delightful Experiences" — and we felt our chocolate chip cookie tasting experience was exceptionally delightful. Arby's has a wide variety of proteins and sides, most notably their famous curly fries and Jamocha shakes. This time we headed right to the dessert menu to see if the cookies lived up to the others on our fast food chocolate chip cookies list.
Alas, Arby's only offers Triple Chocolate cookies and Salted Caramel & Chocolate Chip cookies — and while they're good, they might not do the trick when you're looking for a classic chocolate chip cookie.
The Triple Chocolate cookie is packed with tons of Ghirardelli chocolate, and the other variety is cookie dough stuffed with salted caramel and Ghirardelli chocolate that's been baked to perfection. Overall, both of the cookies are high-quality and delicious. Unapologetically decadent, they have the most calories of every cookie we have ranked, over 400 per cookie. Can there be too much of a good thing when Ghirardelli chocolate is involved?
6. Burger King
Next on our chocolate chip cookie list is fast food royalty. One may argue that Burger King is synonymous with the Whopper, a classic burger that boasts a quarter pound of flame-grilled beef, tomatoes, fresh lettuce, mayonnaise, ketchup, crunchy pickles, and sliced white onions on a big ole bun. But let us not forget about Burger King's dessert offerings. BK serves up delicious shakes, soft-serve cones, and of course, for the purpose of this article, chocolate chip cookies.
Burger King's differentiator when it comes to chocolate chip cookies is they sell them in a pack of two. We appreciate the extra dose of sweetness in every order. (That said, Insider felt the two cookies could be a bit bigger.) Overall, the Burger King cookies are moist, chocolatey, gooey, and very tasty. Next time you find yourself at Burger King, don't sleep on the chocolate chip cookies. While they aren't the best we've had, they're still quite good and a pleasant addition to any burger and fries meal.
5. Wendy's
When you think of Wendy's desserts, the first thing that comes to mind is their famous Frosty treat. Well, after researching every fast food menu we could find, we discovered there was more to the dessert offerings at Wendy's than the classic chocolate or vanilla Frosty. Wendy's serves delicious chocolate chunk cookies that, as their site promises, "grandma would love." These soft-baked cookies are full of semi-sweet chocolate chunks and prepped in-house.
We love that although Wendy's cookies are bigger and hence have more calories, they have lower sugar content than most of the cookies previously mentioned. Wendy's cookies may not get the hype they deserve, but we came up with a treat you won't be able to ignore next time you visit your local Wendy's. Order the iconic Wendy's Frosty and a cookie, and crumble the cookie in your frosty. This way, you can enjoy two delicious Wendy's desserts in one; think of it like Wendy's version of the Dairy Queen Blizzard.
4. Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A's chocolate chip cookie is next on our list, and we agree it's the perfect addition to any chicken sandwich and waffle fry combo. This chocolate chip cookie tastes just like what mom used to make. Compared to many others on the list, this chocolate chunk cookie gives us that homemade feel. Chick-fil-A bakes a thick, dense, and borderline oatmeal cookie texture in their chocolate chunk cookie. We appreciate the uniqueness Chick-fil-A brings to the traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe, and the flavor does not disappoint.
Chick-fil-A sells a tray of chocolate chip cookies, so you can share the chocolate deliciousness with the whole party. Chick-fil-A is proud of the fact they make their food fresh daily, and the cookies are no exception. These cookies pack a big punch filled with semi-sweet dark and milk chocolate chunks, and wholesome oats for an old-fashioned touch. Chick-fil-A offers two tray sizes that contain either 12 or 24 chocolate chunk cookies. Don't sleep on this dessert next time you pay the Chick-fil-A drive-thru a visit.
3. Panera Bread
Panera Bread has quickly become one of America's most popular fast-casual dining options. Though Panera Bread is now known for its sandwiches, soups, salads, and you pick two combos, it originated as a small cookie shop in Boston. Today, the restaurant carries a variety of sweet treats, like its famous Chocolate Chipper Cookie, croissants, cakes, brownies, and more.
Panera Bread bakes their Chocolate Chipper Cookies with semi-sweet chocolate chunks and milk chocolate, the perfect combination of chocolate morsels. These Chocolate Chipper Cookies are physically larger than our top choice, and have the additional calories to match. Panera Bread chocolate chip cookies fall into the same size and nutrition level as Starbucks, but when it comes to sweets, we like to live a little, so we'll ignore the calorie and sugar numbers for now.
Panera made our top 3 for two additional reasons outside their taste and size. The chain offers dessert catering, which means you can share the Chocolate Chipper Cookies with the whole family. (We're ready to place our catering order now.) Lastly, we learned a customer hack you would want to note for later: If Panera Bread ever messes up your order, you are entitled to receive a free treat (per Spoon University).
2. Starbucks
Next on our list is America's favorite coffee chain, none other than Starbucks. Famous for their coffee, Frappuccinos, shaken teas, and breakfast sandwiches, you may not have guessed their cookies would rank so high on our list of fast food restaurant chocolate chip cookies. Starbucks offers a wide variety of sweet treats, including but not limited to cake pops, brownies, and giant chocolate chip cookies.
Starbucks' chocolate chip cookies taste fresh from the bakery, unlike some of the cookies served by other fast food chains. This treat is on the larger end of the cookies we ranked and is stuffed with giant chocolate chunks — in other words, a chocolate lover's dream. Our taste testers highlighted this cookie delivers the fall apart melted goodness that you can only expect from a homemade chocolate chip cookie.
Finally, if sugar intake and calories are of concern, Starbucks falls in the middle of the cookies we tasted. The giant chocolate cookie comes in at 360 calories and 31 grams of sugar. If you have a sweet tooth and want consistent baked goods with your latte, keep Starbucks on your radar.
1. McDonald's
McDonald's is best known for its 100% beef hamburgers, including the Big Mac and Quarter-Pounder. But did you know that McDonald's has soft-baked chocolate chip cookies that are not to be slept on? Please continue reading to find out why McDonald's climbed to the top of our list.
The McDonald's chocolate chip cookies offered the perfect balance of chewy and crispy. If you are looking for a classic cookie, these cookies pack the right amount of chocolatey goodness. The more chocolate, the better, in our opinion, but overall the chocolate chips in the McDonald's cookies are not overwhelming; that said, this cookie tastes very sweet.
The McDonald's chocolate chip cookies are the lowest priced (we love a good bang for your buck) and lowest calories. According to our UberEats receipt, each cookie is only 0.59 cents or $1.75 for the pack of three. And only 170 calories per cookie, which means you won't have to think twice about digging your teeth into this sweet treat.