Review: McDonald's - Cinnamon Roll

McDonald's Cinnamon Roll features buttery, flaky pastry dough layered with cinnamon and drizzled cream cheese icing.

It sells for $2.69 in my area but I got one for free with the purchase of a coffee via an offer in the app. I also picked up a Panera Vanilla Cinnamon Roll for $3.29 to compare.

My particular McDonald's Cinnamon Roll was a little off in the "roll" department as it was more than a bit off-kilter. It came served warm in a paperboard box.

The roll leaned slightly in the pastry dough direction. I wouldn't call it flaky but it was a bit heavy, a bit buttery, and a bit rich. It was also a little dry and firm, which made me think it wasn't fresh. I would guess they're frozen and reheated but I can't be sure.

There was just a touch of gooey-ness to the filling as well as a pleasant cinnamon flavor.

The cream cheese icing felt more like your typical sugar icing than cream cheese other than just a slight creamy tang to it. It was pretty thin and sweet but not excessively so.

Overall, McDonald's Cinnamon Roll turned out fairly well. I liked the slight buttery richness, which set it apart from the standard cinnamon roll you might buy at the supermarket. I probably wouldn't make a trip to just to get one but might order one if I was already at McDonald's.

In comparison, Panera's Vanilla Cinnamon Roll is lighter and is more of the type that I normally see. It's more like bread than pastry dough with a soft, airy, and moist crumb. It seemed fresher than the McDonald's Cinnamon Roll; like it was probably baked that morning. It was noticeably bigger than the McDonald's version. I don't recommend heating it up in the microwave for a few seconds as it became chewy when I did that.

The icing was also similar to McDonald's version but was even more glaze-like. I didn't really detect a vanilla flavor to it though.

Between the two, I would probably go for the McDonald's version just because I like more pastry-ish cinnamon rolls in general.

Nutritional Info - McDonald's Cinnamon Roll
Calories - 560 (from Fat - 150)
Fat - 17g (Saturated Fat - 8g)
Sodium - 490mg
Carbs - 92g (Sugar - 46g)
Protein - 9g

Nutritional Info - Panera Vanilla Cinnamon Roll
Calories - 620 (from Fat - 160)
Fat - 18g (Saturated Fat - 8g)
Sodium - 490mg
Carbs - 109g (Sugar - 72g)
Protein - 8g