McDonald's Egg McMuffins Used To Come With These Sweet Condiments - Tasting Table

"When Herb Peterson, who owned locations in Santa Barbara, California, began developing the Egg McMuffin in 1971, he took inspiration from a classic eggs Benedict recipe. However, after realizing that packaged Hollandaise sauce wasn't ideal, Peterson replaced it with a slice of cheese and topped the sandwich with Canadian bacon. By 1972, the Egg McMuffin had made its debut on menus as a 63-cent open-faced sandwich, served alongside two sweet condiments: honey and jam."

"But, just three years later, as the Egg McMuffin was changed to a closed-faced sandwich, those condiments disappeared from the sidelines. "We needed a unique product that could be held in the hand, just like our hamburgers, and eaten conveniently, even in a car," Peterson explained during a 1987 interview with KEYT News. The honey and jam offered a sweet contrast to the Egg McMuffin. But, when it came to convenience, the mess outweighed the reward - at least in McDonald's mind anyway."

"While decades have passed since customers were treated to a McDonald's Egg McMuffin with honey or jam, a 2022 video shared to McDonald's Corporate's TikTok page hinted that a reincarnation was possible. In the clip, Chef Mike Lingo tried an Egg McMuffin topped with grape jelly. And, although he was admittedly "kinda scared" at first, Chef Lingo was ultimately a fan. "Surprisingly, it's delicious, a little salty, a little sweet. We might be onto something here. This might be going on the menu. We'll see," he teased."

Herb Peterson developed the Egg McMuffin in 1971, modeling it on eggs Benedict but replacing Hollandaise with cheese and adding Canadian bacon. The sandwich debuted in 1972 as a 63-cent open-faced item served with honey and jam. Around 1975 the sandwich was converted to a closed-faced, handheld format and the sweet condiments were removed to reduce mess and increase convenience. In 2022 a McDonald's corporate TikTok showed Chef Mike Lingo trying an Egg McMuffin with grape jelly; he found it surprisingly good and teased the possibility of adding a grape-jelly variant to menus, though it has not been officially added.

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