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McDonald’s adding doughnuts to all-day menu — sort of

The Glazed Pull Apart Donuts, to be available Sept. 1, each consist of seven bite-size, tear-apart segments. (McDonald's)

(NEXSTAR) — McDonald’s is bolstering its bakery offerings with bite-sized doughnuts.

On Tuesday, McDonald’s revealed plans to debut Glazed Pull Apart Donuts on the McCafe Bakery menu, marking the first new addition to the McCafe Bakery line since its debut in 2020. The limited-time treat will be added to the menu on Sept. 1 at participating McDonald’s restaurants nationwide.


The doughnuts, available all day, are described as a twist on the traditional doughnut, each consisting of seven tear-apart segments designed to make it “shareable” if the customer so chooses.

McDonald’s originally launched its McCafe Bakery line in Oct. 2020, months after reporting slumping breakfast sales as more Americans began working from home amid the pandemic. At the time, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski admitted that the chain may have lost “focus” on the mornings after turning its attention to lunch and dinner offerings, Restaurant Business Online reported in July 2020.

“We were not as focused as we were rolling out other things like [fresh beef Quarter Pounders],” he said in a statement obtained by Restaurant Business Online. “The other dayparts for us took on more time and energy and investment.”

By introducing Pull Apart Donuts to the McCafe Bakery menu, McDonald’s may also be hoping to replicate the success of an earlier breakfast item. In 2019, then-CEO Steve Easterbrook partly credited Donut Sticks — a short-lived, churro-like offering — for encouraging breakfast sales, according to an earnings-call transcript from The Motley Fool.