Review: Taco Bell's Milk Bar Birthday Cake Churros Are A Gift For Fast Food Lovers

New fast food items don't always work. Whether it's a spinoff of a beloved star — think McDonald's Chicken Big Mac – or revolutionary, menu-busting specialties like KFC's controversial Double Down, it's hard to know whether promotional items will hit it big or fall flat. But we love a new release and collab as much as the next fast foodie, especially when names like Taco Bell and Milk Bar are thrown around. The former does novelty menu items as well as any fast food player in the game (Baja Blast immediately comes to mind) while the latter is renowned for its elevated-yet-approachable desserts and signature birthday cake flavor.

So when Taco Bell's Milk Bar Birthday Cake Churros were announced, we had high hopes. There are few desserts more quintessentially Tex-Mex than churros, and Milk Bar's name alone all but ensures thoughtful, sweet refinement. But could these crispy, creamy confections make our fast food birthday wishes come true? The companies hosted a lavish, colorful release party in New York City to introduce the churros, and we showed up to taste them for ourselves.

These eye-catching churros represent Taco Bell's second collaboration with Milk Bar. The first came in 2022 with Strawberry Bell Truffles, arguably the fanciest dessert in the fast food chain's history. You could argue these new churros aren't as high concept, but they're still plenty imaginative, filled with birthday cake flavored icing and coated in Milk Bar birthday sand (a sweet, grainy mixture of sugar and confetti sprinkles). The churros are also served warm, as any good churro should be.

It turns out the concept behind the Birthday Cake Churros is as festive as the dessert looks. Christina Tosi, chef and founder of Milk Bar, said the dessert and collab with Taco Bell is centered around celebrating everyday moments and treating yourself to something sweet. Indeed, the churro release party echoed that sentiment loudly, complete with neon lights, disco balls, and Taco Bell-themed cocktails. Your typical order of Birthday Cake Churros probably won't be quite that ornate, but their sprinkle-themed packaging is certainly designed to evoke a party mood.

While Taco Bell and Milk Bar have worked together before, the aforementioned 2022 campaign was limited to a small number of stores. Milk Birthday Cake Churros, on the other hand, are going national and are now available at Taco Bell locations throughout the United States. The Tex-Mex chain celebrates its birthday in the month of March, so you can consider this an early celebration.

If you want to try the dessert, though, you should act quickly. The promotion only lasts for two weeks or as long as supplies last, and given the hype, we'd expect them to go sooner. You can grab one churro for $1.99 or two for $2.99, though prices may vary depending on location. That pricing is on par with other Taco Bell desserts, and comes in a bit under many of Milk Bar's most notable options — the bakery's famous Compost Cookies, for example, average out to about $4.50 apiece, so the churros feel like a decent deal.

Churros don't exactly qualify as a health food, but in case you're counting, two of these clock in at 569 calories. The Milk Bar Birthday Cake Churros also contain 37 grams of fat, 240 grams of sodium, and 6 grams of protein per pair.

The ingredient list is also fairly straightforward: sugar, cream and cornstarch for the icing; enriched wheat flour, vegetable shortening, sugar, and cage-free eggs for the churro dough; and cinnamon, sugar, and sprinkles for the coating. 

The Milk Bar Birthday Cake Churros were presented to us in tall shot glasses, which, again, likely won't happen at your local Taco Bell. But the presentation highlighted the churro's size — it's pretty hefty for a fast food dessert. The birthday sand quickly clings to your fingers and gets everywhere, which is expected, but the bright, pinkish hue it produces makes the mess worth it. The first bite was predictably sweet, but not cloying — an enjoyable crunch from the churro's fried exterior followed by an ooze of icing. Texturally, you can't do much better.

Perhaps most surprising was just how well the birthday cake icing complemented the churro's flavor rather than clashing with or overpowering it. Churro dipping usually involves chocolate — if you've ever eaten one in Spain, you know. Birthday cake flavor is much closer to vanilla and doesn't feel like it would be a natural pairing at first glance, but it's subtle here and plays well off the churro's cinnamon (ahem, pink) sugar sweetness and lets it shine. If the icing weren't present, this would still be a good churro, but it's boosted by the birthday cake. You definitely have to keep an eye out for icing dripping out of the back end, and be careful if you decide to break it in half — the icing in the middle is piping hot. But as long as you aren't keen on cross sections for a mini photo shoot, you should be fine.

While big name collaborations sometimes feel forced, this one both sounds right as a concept and works in practice. The carb-filled salty savoriness of Crunchwraps and Cheesy Gordita Crunches practically insists for something sweet afterward, but if the ensuing dessert is too saccharine, your taste buds might be in trouble. The Birthday Cake Churros strike that soft sweetness chord well, giving you just enough. It's worth noting again that, independent of the setting and names involved, this is simply a nice treat. The churros can certainly follow your regular Taco Bell meal, but we can also imagine ordering a few of these on their own to satisfy a sweet tooth.

While Taco Bell's Milk Bar Birthday Cake Churros might not be around for long, we recommend snagging a few of these while they're available. Just be sure to ask for extra napkins, and maybe bring a party hat while you're at it. After all, it's a celebration.