McDonald's just added 'Donut Sticks' to its breakfast menu - here's our verdict

• McDonald's released their first breakfast-only McCafé bakery item on Wednesday, February 20: Donut Sticks.
• Donut Sticks are served until 10:30 a.m. and will only be available for a limited time.
• McDonald's says they are "deep-fried sticks of dough, coated with cinnamon sugar," and have an average national price of about $1.69 for half a dozen.
• We spoke with Business Insider's retail correspondent, Kate Taylor, for her take on the fast-food giant's latest limited-release item and to see if they are comparable to competitors like Dunkin'.

Following is a transcript of the video:

Kate Taylor, Retail Correspondent: A big part of the reason why McDonald's is doing this is because they're trying to kind of fix their breakfast strategy. A limited release, both kind of makes it a lesser risk for McDonald's. It also drives interest where, it's not gonna be around forever, so people have to come get it now. It's a little bit of a trick for McDonald's to get people to establish their breakfast routine. Where they come by every day, they're getting their coffee, they're getting their donut sticks and hopefully, it sticks. There was a lot of drama when I first reported that McDonald's was going to have donut sticks in January where people were saying, oh this is just like Dunkin' Donuts. And they had Donut Fries that they debuted last year. McDonald's people were a little bit offended by the comparisons. McDonald's actually tested their own donut sticks before ' rolled out their Donut Fries, so, there's a little bit of competition there.

[The Taste Test]

Medha Imam: It smells very cinnamon-y... Just from here and like it smells like a bakery.

Stephen Parkhurst: Smells like a doughnut. Doesn't really feel like a doughnut. It feels a little too flabby.

Nick Fernandez: A really nice scent coming out, nice and sweet. Not overpowering though. It's like a nice, caressive nostrils. I was kind of expecting it to be more like a french fry. And not like, so lumpy.

Kate Taylor: This is more irregular than I expected. It kind of, like it almost looks like a little fried chicken drumstick.

Irene Kim: I think this one's misshapen. I need to take out another one. Oh, this one's more misshapen.

Imam: Okay. I'm gonna go for it. Wait, that's surprisingly good. That's good.

Kim: A little weird. It's just cinnamon-y, which is good. But it doesn't really taste like anything.

Parkhurst: Honestly the problem with these is I think they need a bit more flavor. They need a bit more sugar.

Taylor: They taste pretty much exactly how you would expect it to taste. It's fried dough.

Fernandez: Mm, that crunch. That's a good crunch. It's not super overwhelming, as far as flavors. It's very simple, it's also not too sugary which is nice.

Jackie Adell: After you're done chewing it, it goes away really fast. It doesn't really linger in your mouth.

Kim: I don't know, this feels wrong. It's like they robbed Auntie Anne's or something. I think maybe eating this with a cup of coffee could be good.

Parkhurst: McDonald's doughnut would be fine in a pinch. I can't see this ever being the thing I would go to first.

Taylor: I would like of like some dipping sauce with it. Like maybe a little bit of chocolate dipping sauce would be nice.

[Final Thoughts]

Fernandez: So I actually was able to try the Dunkin' Donut Fries when they came out in the summer of 2018. And they were good. I just didn't feel like they were much of a pastry. They were just kind of like a really sugary snack. But this has more of a croissant with some sugar on it. I like the texturing better. And the flakiness of it. It just tastes more like a traditional little baked good.

Parkhurst: I would need never seek these out specifically. I would never go to McDonald's just for these. But I could see myself if I just wanted coffee and was like, oh what the hell. What's an extra dollar?

Imam: I've been really getting into McDonald's espresso lately. And I'm always eyeing the chocolate chip cookie. But now I can eye the doughnuts, so that's exciting.

Taylor: I would not turn this away if someone brought it in the office. I would definitely go and like, grab some. But, I don't know if I would go out of my way to have some.

Adell: But I don't know if I would go out of my way to buy them.

Kim: So I've had Dunkin' Donuts Donut Fries which I think are kinda superior to this. It was really light. It was make really well. They tasted super fresh. These are super chewy. But the Dunkin' Donuts Donut Fries were kind of like croissant dough and it just felt like they had shaped them, and those were coated in cinnamon and sugar. Whereas these feel kind of flaky but not in a good way. Somethin's missing, I don't like it. Also, where'd the lumps come from?