This Secret About Chick-Fil-A Brownies Was Hidden (Until Now)

 Part of the reason why Chick-fil-A has a cult following is that its food tastes so fresh, including its desserts like hand-spun shakes and gooey chocolate cookies. These goodies are deliciously straightforward and have nothing to hide — but the chocolate fudge brownies are a different story. These treats are harboring a secret Chick-fil-A employees know that customers don't: They're previously frozen, and may be left to sit out for much longer than you would assume.

Self-proclaimed Chick-fil-A employees across the web state that its brownies are pre-baked, shipped to stores frozen, then thawed for sale. While freshly-baked brownies would obviously be better, this practice isn't super off-putting in and of itself. After all, Chick-fil-A's delicious chicken is also frozen before being fried. The bigger issue is that the restaurant allegedly puts no time limit on how long the brownies sit out. "Brownies don't exactly have a set time because they are almost like they are non-perishable," one Redditor said. Compare this to Chick-fil-A's fries, which are swapped out for a fresh batch after as little as five minutes on shelves, according to some workers.

Brownies may also be thawed quite early in the day, making them several hours old by dinnertime. "At my store we would take out one to two boxes of brownies for the entire day, and that was usually enough to meet demand," one Reddit user said. But that's not even the worst case, as other workers claim that Chick-fil-A may sell brownies that are up to three or four days old.

Unfortunately for Chick-fil-A, its customer base has noticed that its brownies aren't the freshest. While some diners adore the chocolatey squares (perhaps because they received a freshly-thawed brownie), the majority of online feedback calls the treats acceptable, but nothing special. Other customers outright criticize the brownies as dry, crumbly, and stale- or strange-tasting. "It tasted like a piece of cardboard with cinnamon and chemicals," one Reddit user said.

Even those who like Chick-fil-A's brownies point out that the chain's chocolate chunk cookies are superior, and usually cost 60 cents less, to boot. "[Brownies] are pretty good, but for the price they are pretty small," said one Redditor. "The cookies are a better value IMO." Another commenter emphatically declared, "Cookie [is better] and anyone who says brownie is a heretic. Brownies are cold, crumbly and generic. Cookies are warm and flavorful." This lines up with employee testimonies that Chick-fil-A's cookie dough arrives pre-mixed and frozen, yet the cookies are baked in-house, putting them a step above.

If you're now dreading getting a Chick-fil-A brownie as a free reward item, don't worry. To take this treat from "blah" to genuinely enjoyable, customers recommend microwaving it until warm and gooey. If you also order a cup of Icedream, you can create Chick-fil-A's sweetest secret menu item: an ice cream sandwich. Slice the brownie in half, sandwich the Icedream in the middle, and you have a creamy, chocolatey treat that would be pretty darn tasty even with an older brownie.