Dunkin' Donuts Went And Added 7 Holiday Menu Options, So Of Course We Had To Try Them To Tell Y'all How They Are
Hello, we're Krista and Chris, and when we heard that Dunkin' Donuts was adding some new holiday-themed items to their menu, we had to run to the place that America runs on to try their festive offerings.
The new menu items launched on November 2 and go through December 27. They include a Toasted White Chocolate Signature Latte, a Cookie Butter Cold Brew, a Cookie Butter Donut, a Pancake Wake Up Wrap Up, and (not pictured below) a Cranberry Orange Muffin, Peppermint Mocha Signature Latte, and Holiday Blend Coffee.
Dunkin describes their holiday items as such:
Cookie Butter Donut: A classic donut with cookie butter buttercream filling, topped with maple-flavored icing and a sprinkling of crushed cookies.
Pancake Wake-Up Wrap: A maple-flavored pancake with egg, melted cheese, sausage, or bacon, and served with a side of syrup — you can also order this without meat.
Peppermint Mocha Signature Latte: Available hot or iced, this peppermint mocha latte is topped with whipped cream, mocha drizzle, and a dusting of hot chocolate powder.
Toasted White Chocolate Signature Latte: White chocolate latte with whipped cream, caramel drizzle, and cinnamon sugar!
Holiday Blend Coffee: Medium roast blend features sweet notes of molasses and dried fruit.
And, if you're curious, here's how much each item costs in LA because that's where we got 'em!
This is how everything looked as served — no bright lights, flattering poses, and glamour shots, just a good old-fashioned take it out the bag, put it on the table, and snap a shot.
***Dunkin is also offering a cranberry orange muffin, but they didn't have it at the location we went to, so we didn't get to try it.***
Holiday Blend Coffee — $2.84
CHRIS: This...was coffee. In fairness, we drank it black, with no sugar or cream to taste it in its purest form, but unfortunately, I didn't taste any hint of anything warranting a holiday label. It reminded me of an early morning stop on a road trip when you grab gas station coffee. Not bad, just not unique or memorable!
KRISTA: I mean, I hate to compare this to hotel coffee but I would be lying if I said it was any better than that. Blind taste-testing this, never would I EVER have guessed this was a Dunkin' specialty holiday coffee. It was so sub-par that I even wondered if they mistakenly gave us the wrong order. Swing and a miss!
Toasted White Chocolate Signature Latte — $4.34 for a small
CHRIS: Not only did this one taste good, but it had a candle-esque sweet fragrance as you bring it to your lips. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would absolutely have it again!
KRISTA: Meh. I think this one would have been a lot better iced. It just wasn't as good as I hoped it would be and the white chocolate flavor was barely there. It was just OK and it didn't hit the spot for me, unfortunately.
Peppermint Mocha Signature Latte — $4.34 for a small
CHRIS: We tried this beverage hot instead of iced (as the Dunkin' employee recommended) and it was fine! The peppermint was faint, so I would've liked a little more razzle-dazzle taste-wise because, with holiday drinks, it's nice to feel like you're really tasting the season in every sip.
KRISTA: I was disappointed I could not taste the peppermint! Maybe it accidentally got left out? I do love their coffee and cold brew so tasting this one was a little perplexing to me as I thought it would be delightful. It just felt like a mocha drink to me.
Cookie Butter Cold Brew — $3.94 for a small
CHRIS: THIS IS TOP-TIER. Excuse the photo above, which doesn't look as aesthetically pleasing as it should because the foam sort of disappeared into the cold brew, but it has incredible flavor and isn't overwhelmingly sweet, while also delivering on the cookie butter label, even having little pieces of cookie floating throughout it. They may sink to the bottom (see photo below), but it's nothing a little stir or a straw can't solve. If cold brew didn't ignite my anxiety like gasoline on a fire I would've drank the whole cup!
KRISTA: Shout it from the rooftops that this baby IS a winner! It was sweet, but not too sweet and even though it tasted more like brown sugar vs. cookie butter to me, it was absolutely delicious. I would HIGHLY recommend this one.
A bonus look at all the little cookie butter pieces:
Bacon Pancake Wake Up Wrap — $3.94
CHRIS: Whewwww this was tasty. McGriddles must be shaking in their cakes because this is legitimate competition. It wasn't as sweet as the McDonald's breakfast classic, but I bet if you dip it in a little syrup it hits spectacularly. There's also an option for a sausage version, but they ran out of pancakes. Tragic, but again, it's probably because they're so good that everyone bought 'em up!
KRISTA: As someone who has never had one of those pancake wrap items (I am a waffle person, OK?), I was pleasantly surprised by this. The pancake had great flavor, was soft, and it paired perfectly with the flavor of the egg, cheese, and bacon. I would order this again.
Cookie Butter Donut — $2.24
CHRIS: FIRE. This thing is so good. I'm realizing that cookie butter needs to make the leap from seasonal to mainstream, because it's just too dang good to only smeared and sprinkled on things occasionally. This donut is filled with cookie butter as well (see below) so it doesn't cheat you on taste!
KRISTA: My first bite, I didn't get the filling so I thought it was just a really good donut. But, my second bite, when I did get the filling, it was NEXT LEVEL. This is realllllllly good and I liked it because the filling wasn't jelly-like or overpowering. It just added that perfect flavor of cookie butter to compliment the rest of the donut. This one is very good.
CHRIS: Dunkin' dun' done it again — I really enjoyed these new items, the cold brew, donut, and pancake wrap being my top three! Given that their presence will be fleeting, best believe I'll be back for seconds, and I will track down the cranberry orange muffin that's eluded me!
KRISTA: Although many people go to Dunkin for coffee, I gotta say the holiday-themed coffees didn't deliver as much as I had hoped. The cold brew was the only one I really enjoyed. That being said, their holiday food options crushed the lineup!
